Will Scott Frost Be Nebraska’s Kliff Kingsbury?

[Landlord]

Look, here's the thing:

If we were looking for a head coach for next season, what needs to be acknowledged is that it's a very unique situation. These kinds of decisions don't happen with perfect circumstances in a laboratory or a vaccuum, they happen with the hand you're dealt.

Frost's resume, thus far, is stunning, and it's only a matter of time before he gets his shot. Who else on the list has been under the likes of Bill Walsh, Tom Osborne, Bill Parcels, Chip Kelly and others? Who else on the list has been a successful (thus far) offensive and defensive coordinator, and rised up the ranks like him? He doesn't have the years, but that's no fault of his.

So would he be the guy? He could be. Don't act like he couldn't. Truthfully, I don't know and neither do you. But, what I do know is that decisions based on fear are bad decisions. So if Eichorst looks at the situation and comes to the conclusion that the only thing making him hesitant about this hire is being scared of failing on a gamble, well that's a bad reason not to hire in my opinion. You can't be afraid of failure, because it just might mean missing out on something superb while settling for something safe.

 

[caveman99]

Baylor and T A&M don't have first time HC's. Stanford and Oregon are examples of HC's that took over programs that were built into perennial powers already and both current HC's were a part of that effort so they were already aware of how the program was run and what made them successful; a transition in this scenario is not comparable IMO. That leaves just 3 on your list.

Yes this has been addressed already:

Uhh... Both Kevin Sumlin and Art Briles coached at Houston before going to the Big XII.

My mistake. Replace them with Gundy and Fisher in that case. Or just look at all of the successful head coaching hires of the last 15 years and see how many were and weren't first time head coaches.

More evidence against the "We need a big time name head coach hire" myth:

Rich Rodriguez had great success at West Virginia as a first time BCS coach (he was coach at a few rinky dink schools I've never heard of for two years or something). But then, as a proven head coach hire, has been mediocre at Michigan and Arizona.

Dan Hawkins had great success building Boise up when he was promoted from assistant. Yet, with the head coaching experience, drove Colorado into the dumpster.

Chris Petersen took over for Hawkins as a first time head coach and has done a phenomenal job and is the first name out of most Husker fans' mouths.

Kyle Whittingham succeeded Urban Meyer of all people at Utah, as a first time head coach, and has done a tremendous job there as well.

Look at those examples of first time HCs and look at the common denominator. Rarely are the ones that have to rebuild a program successful. Even FSU was stocked for Jumbo Fisher as they recruited well under Bowden, even if they weren't winning as much. They also had had some decent success not too far before Fisher taking over so it wasn't as hard to re-establish FSU as a destination for top recruits, especially in FL.

Look, you could actually make a similar case for NU, albeit with fewer natural advantages. NU has a decent stockpile of talent as well, regardless of what the recruitnicks think; you don't win 10 games and consistently get ranked each year otherwise. NU has a huge budget that could probably be increased a bit to upgrade recruiting a bit. Frost would have the luxury of understanding the culture and challenges. He knows How to recruit the West Coast and the 500 mile radius from his time at UO and UNI. His offensive style is a run first mentality, which I think would play well. He also coached D at the collegiate level and played S in the NFL so he can also relate to that side of the ball and also have a good feel for what is and isn't working there. There is a lot to like about Frost IMO, my biggest issue is he doesn't have the program builder/leadership experience. Does he have the ability to be a CEO?

 

[Landlord]

Look, you could actually make a similar case for NU, albeit with fewer natural advantages. NU has a decent stockpile of talent as well, regardless of what the recruitnicks think; you don't win 10 games and consistently get ranked each year otherwise. NU has a huge budget that could probably be increased a bit to upgrade recruiting a bit. Frost would have the luxury of understanding the culture and challenges. He knows How to recruit the West Coast and the 500 mile radius from his time at UO and UNI. His offensive style is a run first mentality, which I think would play well. He also coached D at the collegiate level and played S in the NFL so he can also relate to that side of the ball and also have a good feel for what is and isn't working there. There is a lot to like about Frost IMO, my biggest issue is he doesn't have the program builder/leadership experience. Does he have the ability to be a CEO?

That's a good post that I agree with, and my uneducated guess to the answer to your last question is yes. I think Frost has 'CEO' written all over him. Further, Darin Erstad's success thus far has me convinced that being qualified on paper doesn't mean much more than the paper it's printed on if a guy has the skeleton of a leader and the intangibles of a front-runner/innovator. I trust Eichorst to be able to discern those things.

 

[Redux]

How about Nebraska makes a move for Helfrich AND Frost?

 

[Landlord]

How about Nebraska makes a move for Helfrich AND Frost?

 

[Stumpy1]

How about Nebraska makes a move for Helfrich AND Frost?

This is how I feel about Frost being considered the HC here.

 

[caveman99]

Look, you could actually make a similar case for NU, albeit with fewer natural advantages. NU has a decent stockpile of talent as well, regardless of what the recruitnicks think; you don't win 10 games and consistently get ranked each year otherwise. NU has a huge budget that could probably be increased a bit to upgrade recruiting a bit. Frost would have the luxury of understanding the culture and challenges. He knows How to recruit the West Coast and the 500 mile radius from his time at UO and UNI. His offensive style is a run first mentality, which I think would play well. He also coached D at the collegiate level and played S in the NFL so he can also relate to that side of the ball and also have a good feel for what is and isn't working there. There is a lot to like about Frost IMO, my biggest issue is he doesn't have the program builder/leadership experience. Does he have the ability to be a CEO?

That's a good post that I agree with, and my uneducated guess to the answer to your last question is yes. I think Frost has 'CEO' written all over him. Further, Darin Erstad's success thus far has me convinced that being qualified on paper doesn't mean much more than the paper it's printed on if a guy has the skeleton of a leader and the intangibles of a front-runner/innovator. I trust Eichorst to be able to discern those things.

Perhaps, and frankly I wouldn't be opposed to Frost. I just wonder if someone like Tim Deruyter might not be a bit better option. He is a first time HC at Fresno State and has revitalized that program in just his 2nd year on the job. They are undefeated and may be the BCS crashers this year. That program had a decent base built by Pat Hill, but like Bo, Pat Hill was having consistency issues in the latter part if his tenue and couldn't seem to win the big games anymore, much to BSU's credit. Deruyter is a relatively new coach, has deep ties in CA, which is a key recruiting local for NU, has experience in turning Defenses around, and has also shown he can run a program not just a Defense.

 

[Redux]

How about Nebraska makes a move for Helfrich AND Frost?

My sarcasm is wasted on those who just want to watch the world burn...

 

[louisianared]

I think that it really doesn't matter how much experience the person has, you simply bring in the right person for the job. If Scott Frost is a capable coach I have no problem bringing him in as a head coach.

I remember in the late 1980's LSU was looking for a new head coach. One of the names being sent out was some young coach from Duke. A LOT of LSU fans went nuts thinking they would actually hire someone from a place like Duke. I always wondered whatever happened to that Steve Spurrier guy???

 

[clyde40]

So we'll say the current staff is "grasping at straws" as we turn around and lobby for Scott Frost to be our next head coach.

 

[kchusker_chris]

So we'll say the current staff is "grasping at straws" as we turn around and lobby for Scott Frost to be our next head coach.

the performance of our current staff has no relation to the performance of the following staff. the only thing we are certain of right now is Bo Pelini is not getting the job done. everything else is up in the air.

 

[junior4949]

Look, here's the thing:

If we were looking for a head coach for next season, what needs to be acknowledged is that it's a very unique situation. These kinds of decisions don't happen with perfect circumstances in a laboratory or a vaccuum, they happen with the hand you're dealt.

Frost's resume, thus far, is stunning, and it's only a matter of time before he gets his shot. Who else on the list has been under the likes of Bill Walsh, Tom Osborne, Bill Parcels, Chip Kelly and others? Who else on the list has been a successful (thus far) offensive and defensive coordinator, and rised up the ranks like him? He doesn't have the years, but that's no fault of his.

So would he be the guy? He could be. Don't act like he couldn't. Truthfully, I don't know and neither do you. But, what I do know is that decisions based on fear are bad decisions. So if Eichorst looks at the situation and comes to the conclusion that the only thing making him hesitant about this hire is being scared of failing on a gamble, well that's a bad reason not to hire in my opinion. You can't be afraid of failure, because it just might mean missing out on something superb while settling for something safe.

I'm on your side. When one considers where he's been and what he's done offensively, it's pretty impressive. He was recruited and played for the father of the west coast offense. He played two years under TO running the power game. He's been on Oregon's staff and knows the all popular spread inside and out. Then, we look to what he's done on the defensive side of the ball. Walsh won Super Bowls. I'd assume he knew a thing or two about defense. Frost played defense at Stanford as well. He played defense in the NFL. He's extremely well rounded as far as football is concerned, much more well rounded than Bo is.

I believe it is naive to think Frost isn't on anyone's radar either. Knowing all that Bill Snyder has done for KState, I'd assume they'd give him another shot to name his successor. The first time was a dismal failure, but I'd be willing to bet Snyder is watching what Frost is doing at Oregon considering he used to be on his staff. If Oregon would happen to make the title game and do exceptionally well offensively, I'd bet Frost would get some HC offers.

Here's the biggest problem with Frost. I don't expect an immediate turn around. It would more than likely take more time for him to right the ship than the Husker faithful could stand. I'd even go out on a limb and say it would probably take him close to a decade to make us the contender we want to be. Urban Meyer also isn't going to do any new Husker coach any favors. It's conceivable Ohio State owns the B1G much like they did for quite some time under Tressel.

 

[junior4949]

So we'll say the current staff is "grasping at straws" as we turn around and lobby for Scott Frost to be our next head coach.

the performance of our current staff has no relation to the performance of the following staff. the only thing we are certain of right now is Bo Pelini is not getting the job done. everything else is up in the air.

Isn't it a little premature to say Bo isn't getting the job done? I'm going to go out on a limb and say Minnesota this year is better than the 1992 Iowa State Cyclones that beat Frazier and TO. Bo has led us to three conference title games. I saw on tv where they said he's only one of five coaches to have won 9 or more games that last five years. Bo needs to make some changes and has some hard decisions to make, but I'm not willing to say he isn't getting the job done just yet.

 

[caveman99]

Look, here's the thing:

If we were looking for a head coach for next season, what needs to be acknowledged is that it's a very unique situation. These kinds of decisions don't happen with perfect circumstances in a laboratory or a vaccuum, they happen with the hand you're dealt.

Frost's resume, thus far, is stunning, and it's only a matter of time before he gets his shot. Who else on the list has been under the likes of Bill Walsh, Tom Osborne, Bill Parcels, Chip Kelly and others? Who else on the list has been a successful (thus far) offensive and defensive coordinator, and rised up the ranks like him? He doesn't have the years, but that's no fault of his.

So would he be the guy? He could be. Don't act like he couldn't. Truthfully, I don't know and neither do you. But, what I do know is that decisions based on fear are bad decisions. So if Eichorst looks at the situation and comes to the conclusion that the only thing making him hesitant about this hire is being scared of failing on a gamble, well that's a bad reason not to hire in my opinion. You can't be afraid of failure, because it just might mean missing out on something superb while settling for something safe.

I'm on your side. When one considers where he's been and what he's done offensively, it's pretty impressive. He was recruited and played for the father of the west coast offense. He played two years under TO running the power game. He's been on Oregon's staff and knows the all popular spread inside and out. Then, we look to what he's done on the defensive side of the ball. Walsh won Super Bowls. I'd assume he knew a thing or two about defense. Frost played defense at Stanford as well. He played defense in the NFL. He's extremely well rounded as far as football is concerned, much more well rounded than Bo is.

I believe it is naive to think Frost isn't on anyone's radar either. Knowing all that Bill Snyder has done for KState, I'd assume they'd give him another shot to name his successor. The first time was a dismal failure, but I'd be willing to bet Snyder is watching what Frost is doing at Oregon considering he used to be on his staff. If Oregon would happen to make the title game and do exceptionally well offensively, I'd bet Frost would get some HC offers.

Here's the biggest problem with Frost. I don't expect an immediate turn around. It would more than likely take more time for him to right the ship than the Husker faithful could stand. I'd even go out on a limb and say it would probably take him close to a decade to make us the contender we want to be. Urban Meyer also isn't going to do any new Husker coach any favors. It's conceivable Ohio State owns the B1G much like they did for quite some time under Tressel.

I don't get this statement at all. People on this board and elsewhere are acting like NU is a perennial 3-5 win team. Blowout losses aside, this program is actually pretty darn competitive right now. You don't win 9-10 games a year without a solid base. I personally think Bo did a good job stabilizing a somewhat sinking ship and making NU a winning program again, he just doesn't seem to be able to take the next step and is even regressing a little bit. The next coach will have a pretty good stable of talent on hand to start with that will allow them to win immediately, maybe not NC caliber, but definitely in position to compete for Conference Titles and BCS games. Get NU to a BCS bowl in the first 1-2 years and momentum is gained to take that next step, upgrade recruiting from good to really good and upgrade results to the elite, i.e. Top 10 program, level.

 

[Redux]

Lets please see how the season plays out for Bo before we go sh#t canning him