Frost, Family, and Football

Nebraska…the climb back begins

When Nebraska hired Bo Pelini after firing Bill Callahan, I must admit, I chugged the Kool-Aid hard, betting that Pelini would bring Nebraska back to respectability. Come on, Tom Osborne was the athletic director at the time, this would breed success. All we needed was someone that knew the college game, would get with the program, recruit Nebraska kids, rekindle the walk on program and we would be set.

Did Pelini have some fire?  Sure, he did, and we needed that in the program at the time. Did Pelini have any head coaching experience? No, but he had been at Nebraska, he could rely on Osborne and I felt good about that.  That first game with Pelini on the sidelines, I just had a feeling that things were going to turn around and the Callahan era would evaporate and soon all would be right in college football. Nebraska had taken their lumps, but now we were ready to go.

At the end of the Pelini cycle, I knew it was inevitable that he would be fired.  You can’t challenge your boss time after time and expect things to continue onward, smooth and normal.  It was time to get rid of him and I wasn’t all that disappointed to see him go.

When Mike Riley was hired, at first, I really didn’t like the hire, but then, based on my knowledge of his time at USC, the fact that they had tried to rehire him as their coach and the fact that he had roots with Bear Bryant at Alabama, I thought, you know, maybe it will work out.  He certainly was the anti-Bo and I could appreciate that, but in the back of my mind, I really needed to see it on the field.

When Riley started with the BYU game, I wasn’t as excited as I was nervous.  We hadn’t lost our first game of the season in so long, I generally didn’t think anything of it before that day.  That day though, I was worried. Little did I know how prophetic that feeling was, as we lost on a Hail Mary and seemed like we were outcoached. It also seemed as if we were out hustled.  As the season wore on it didn’t increase my expectations, but we seemed to recruit well. I thought, maybe, but excitement never really was the term I’d use to describe the Riley era at Nebraska.  Mostly empty promises, a team that wasn’t well prepared and an apathy that was starting to set in.

I know I don’t just speak for myself, but probably most Husker fans when I say this season is different.  When Scott Frost was hired, I had some idea that it was going to happen, but we had been snake bit before with coaching hires and I knew it wasn’t a certainty that he would come home.  I wanted so bad to be excited about Husker football again, but until Coach Frost was on that camera wearing a red tie, I just couldn’t let myself get all wrapped up in it. I’d put my emotion into Pelini and if Frost had decided to stay in Florida or take the Tennessee job, I really feared what could happen if I let myself have too much hope.

The day did come though.  Frost was hired, and I don’t know if I had felt that much excitement about Husker football in a long time.  It rekindled something inside me that I didn’t know existed anymore. I’m not a spring chicken, my college years were spent watching kids my age win three national titles.  As a Husker fan, I knew I was spoiled by that. It was ok to be spoiled. I knew in my heart that I had lived a great Husker life and maybe that fire gets doused a little bit as you become a parent.  It doesn’t flicker as hot when you worry about work, your kids, your spouse, car payments, coaching youth basketball, parents passing away or any other part of your “life” that really isn’t about Husker football.

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Frost has brought it out of me though.  Last Saturday I took my boys down to watch practice and I could feel it in the air.  There is an excitement again in Memorial Stadium. You can’t describe it, but you know it when you get in there.  On Sunday, I was so pumped, I knew I couldn’t wait for this Saturday. Monday came and finding out that Tristan Gebbia was leaving the program dampened the excitement for a bit, but then I thought, you know what, Coach Frost is still here.  He knows what this program is about.

The next thing you know, it’s Thursday and I don’t want to wait any longer!  It’s time for Husker football, it’s time to watch all that hard work that the coaching staff and the players have put into football, not just for themselves but for us.  Coach Frost understands that. For the first time in a long time, I understand it too. It’s about all of us. It’s about you, me, the players, the coaches, the administration, the state of Nebraska.  I don’t know about you, but I’m as excited as I was 20 years ago. It’s funny, Tom Osborne said he has that same feeling. Who knew!

On with the Rewind:

Adrian Martinez…As my good friend said, my prediction that Martinez was going to be the starter wasn’t really going out on a limb, it was either him or the other guy, I had a 50/50 shot to be right so I shouldn’t pat myself on the back.  Fair enough. What I do know is that a lot is riding on that young man to play well this year. I was surprised a little with Gebbia leaving, but I know how hard it is to be in college and not get what you want out of a sport you love.  I wouldn’t put myself in his category, but I transferred in college too for reasons that involved sports. Sometimes you need to look out for number one. I wish Gebbia had stayed, but it’s Martinez’s team now. I have a lot of faith in the young man, I wish him a long, healthy career at Nebraska.  

Defense…Looking back at last season’s team, the term Blackshirts really doesn’t fit anymore.  I think that defensive coordination Erik Chinander feels that way too. He wants the defense to earn that title back.  I think they will look much better this year. They are deep on the defensive line and they have enough linebackers that have experience that they should improve.  It won’t take much to do that from 2017, but we sure could use a 2009 like resurgence. Is that possible with this group? Only time will tell, but I’d like to at least get to the middle of the pack in the Big Ten this year.

Offensive Line…This is going to drive the bus for the Huskers this season.  If Greg Austin can get these cats on the same page, the offense has plenty of weapons to make teams suffer when Nebraska has the ball.  There isn’t a lot of developed depth on this line, but the interior of Jerald Foster, Cole Conrad and Tanner Farmer have a lot of starts on their resume.  If they are competent in the least, Martinez may not have to worry so much about what he can do when pressured. That would help a lot with the true freshman’s growth this season.

Scott Frost’s Playcalling…More than anything else, I’m excited for this.  We have had some decent offense since Coach Osborne roamed the sidelines, but Coach Frost seems to have a gift when it comes to getting the most out of an offense.  In today’s college football, that is the name of the game. Will his prowess on the headset be enough to bring the Huskers back to bowling this year? I think so, I’m very anxious to see it on Nebraska’s home turf instead of Oregon or Central Florida

Season’s Prediction…Like a lot of people, I’m going to hold my 10-2 guess in my back pocket and look to pull that out in 2019.  I’ll be the first to admit that I think Nebraska’s schedule is overrated, I don’t think it’s as difficult as some make it out to be.  Coach Riley has been competitive with most of the teams in the West division at one time or another in the last 3 years. If he can do it, I’m almost assuredly positive that Scott Frost can.  All of that in mind, I think that first year head coaches have a lot of things to climb over, and I’m guessing this team will end up around 7-5. It’s not that I don’t think they will be good, they may be, but there is so much unknown.  My goal for this team is to improve as the season goes on, don’t get blown out by more than four touchdowns in any game and give us a glimpse of an offense that will be top rate by next season. If the Huskers do that, I think we can all call this season a success. 8 wins would be gravy, any more than that, look out!

Score Prediction:     Nebraska 37 – Akron 14

Akron has some playmakers.  Their quarterback is super athletic and will look to make plays with his feet as much as his arm.  I would bet though, Akron won’t have seen a stadium quite like this one. It’s Scott Frost’s opening game, it’s going to be super amped.  I expect it to be a mad house and I expect Nebraska to come away clean. I’ll say 37-14, but If it’s a wider margin than that, Martinez will have had a great game and the team will be further ahead than I thought.  I hope that’s the case and my score is WAY off. Let’s get this thing started already! GBR!!!