Frost to Get Another Season on Restructured Contract
November 8th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
Excellent news.
A sentiment shared by the rest of the B1G, I’m sure. Which should tell Nebraska what it needs to know about this decision.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:10 PM ^
I'm afraid his luck is about to totally change and Nebraska will just start winning every close game. In another universe not that different from this one, the Huskers are 10-0.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:34 PM ^
With Nebraska being our next yearly West opponent, I firmly believe this to be true.
November 8th, 2021 at 5:40 PM ^
The other universe being Scott Frost's mom's diseased brain.
November 8th, 2021 at 7:00 PM ^
Tertiary syphilis
November 8th, 2021 at 4:21 PM ^
Excellent news indeed and a sentiment that our rivals know very well when we restructured Harbaughs contract last year.
:)
November 8th, 2021 at 4:38 PM ^
Comparing Frost to Harbaugh is laughable. Frost hasn't had a winning record or made a bowl game.
November 8th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
It was a reference to our RIVALS who were really pleased with Harbaughs restructured contract this year.
I get it. There are people who really appreciate 8-4 records with losses to our rivals each year.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:45 PM ^
Just to be clear here:
Jim Harbaugh is 57-23 at Michigan.
Scott Frost is 15-27 at Nebraska.
Not really apples to apples.
November 8th, 2021 at 5:34 PM ^
And to be clear, again, our RIVALS were elated to hear the news of coach Harbaughs contract extension this year.
November 8th, 2021 at 5:54 PM ^
Not really apples to apples.
Totally agree. One is Nebraska, one is Michigan. They should not be judged on the same things.
November 8th, 2021 at 6:31 PM ^
Michigan's last three coaches:
Rich Rodriguez (.405)
Brady Hoke (.608)
Jim Harbaugh (.713)
Nebraska's last three coaches:
Bo Pelini (.713)
Mike Riley (.500)
Scott Frost (.357)
November 8th, 2021 at 5:04 PM ^
It is good for the Big 10 and I hope he continues to struggle. I work with a guy who is a Nebraska alum and a huge football fan. Asked him a couple of weeks ago if he felt Frost was still the man. He did and strongly supports him. But his biggest reason was if we fire him who do we get then? Have to say I kind of agree with that logic
November 8th, 2021 at 6:20 PM ^
That is idiotic logic. These aren't highly specialized doctors like heart valve replacement specialists where there are really less than 10 in the whole country who are considered experts. There are lots of great football coaches out there. It's not that hard.
November 8th, 2021 at 8:34 PM ^
Who cares who you get? If the current coach isn't working, you have to change. Read through some resumes', do some interviews, and hire the best guy you think you've found.
If it isn't working, what's the worst that can happen with a bad hire? It continues to not work...
November 8th, 2021 at 3:25 PM ^
I find it so funny that Alex Drain's preseason hot take of Nebraska going 4-8 and keeping Scott Frost is coming true.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:11 PM ^
Except they might finish 3-9. Their last two games are against Wisconsin and Iowa.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
Iowa's offense is so putrid I think Nebraska will beat them
November 8th, 2021 at 3:26 PM ^
what does Scott Frost's mom think of this
November 8th, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
November 8th, 2021 at 6:07 PM ^
Those firings are "effective immediately". I'm a little surprised they didn't let them finish the season. Is he promoting some GAs to finish out the schedule? What a tire fire. It’s a Nebrassacre.
November 8th, 2021 at 7:46 PM ^
But kept their Special Teams coach?
November 9th, 2021 at 12:05 AM ^
He doesn't have one. The LB coach oversees them.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:27 PM ^
Probably makes sense for them. Way too expensive to fire him. Plus Nebraska has been super close with tough teams all year (while also losing inexplicable games). You can see if that was a fluke or legit improvement in the system. Plus make it cheaper if they do eventually fire him.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:21 PM ^
I agree it makes sense for them. I'm not sure what has gone wrong for them this season, but they've progressed from a relatively talentless, hopeless team when Frost arrived into a dangerous one that loses games because it's uncontrollably sloppy and anti-clutch.
Nebraska isn't a premier coaching job anymore, so it makes sense to stick with a guy who has at least gotten them this far (and who showed at UCF that he can take a team much farther) rather than starting over with what would likely be a middling hire.
At least Frost is recruiting at a pretty high level for a team that isn't close to any major bases of talent - his teams have averaged around the #20 recruiting class ever since he's been at Nebraska. So even if they have to fire him at the end of next year, he'll leave some decent talent for the next guy. They might even be the most talented team in the B1G West.
November 8th, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
His margins of defeat this year: 9, 8, 7, 7, 5, 3, 3. With a few breaks here and there, he could easily be 5-5 or even 6-4 this year. Still not fantastic. I agree though that they may be better off giving him a little more time to right the ship; it's going to be difficult to get a home run hire into Nebraska right now.
Having said that, he's had Adrian Martinez at quarterback the entire time he's been at Nebraska and Martinez is still making the kind of mistakes that cost teams games. I don't even mean the fumble against Michigan, which was a bit of fluke; I'm thinking of the safety at Minnesota, which was just a bad decision all around.
Part of that may be that they just don't have enough talent and Martinez feels he has to play hero ball in order for them to win. That's still on the coach, though.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:31 PM ^
We at Nebraska realize we have hit our ceiling. It is a commitment to committing. we commit, and then we commit some more. a commitment and confidence in a team that will have a new Martinez next year to confuse opposing fans. What will keep them grounded is that the new Martinez will also commit turnovers at an alarmingly high rate. We realize that things will only get worse, so we will continue to commit to shuffling chairs on the Titanic.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:40 PM ^
Yes but you really outhit that iceberg.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:39 PM ^
so close! Row that boat! oh wait, not that guy.
November 8th, 2021 at 6:15 PM ^
In your Titantic metaphor, they just threw 4 offensive coaches overboard.
3 of the guys he brought with him from UCF. I thought UCF had a good offense when he was there. They would have scored more than 17 against OSU if they had a better FG kicker and the refs knew what defensive pass interference is.
November 8th, 2021 at 7:22 PM ^
Could it be as simple as finding the right QB? Martinez is talented to an extent but his improvement has plateaued if not regressed. He could actually return next year on the COVID freebie train but do they want him back? Do they have anyone else in the pipeline?
November 8th, 2021 at 3:36 PM ^
Husker fans aren’t thrilled:
The financial calculations here are interesting. Presumably they couldn’t find cause to fire him and get out of that ridiculous buyout. A year after the Covid season with no fans, paying $20 million might be tough to swallow. But the flip side is that season ticket sales are going to be brutal in 2022. Buy two Cokes, get two Husker tickets?
November 8th, 2021 at 4:19 PM ^
Keep him for six more years!
November 8th, 2021 at 4:26 PM ^
Season tickets don't matter too much as a financial calculation, for two reasons. First, they pale in comparison to the TV money Nebraska gets from the B1G. Second, Nebraska football is a cult, and has sold out every game since 1962, which has included some pretty dire seasons in the last 20 years.
Maybe they can't raise season ticket prices as much as they could with the promise of a fresh new coach, but that's balanced by not needing to pay Frost's buyout.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:34 PM ^
While the Big Ten is comparatively rich in terms of TV money, its payout per school ($54 million last year) is still less than what a lot of its schools make from ticket revenue. I don’t know what Nebraska tickets cost, but Memorial Stadium holds 85,000 so they should be making more from stadium revenue than from TV.
I’ve scanned the Nebraska boards a bit this year. It sounds like their sellout streak is pretty wobbly if it’s even legit (they are accusing their AD of massaging the numbers) and a lot of fans are threatening to stop buying tickets. We’ll see if they’re serious.
November 8th, 2021 at 5:07 PM ^
You're right - I should have been more clear.
What I meant is that the effect that keeping Frost could possibly have on ticket revenue is relatively small. Even if the fanbase has completely given up hope, they're still going to pack 70,000-80,000 in there.
For a factual parallel, Michigan averaged just over 105,000 fans for home games in 2014, which was Hoke's last year and featured the catastrophic Minnesota game at the beginning of the B1G schedule, compared to just over 112,000 fans for home games in 2011, which was the magical Sugar Bowl year. We can argue about whether the 105,000 number is perfectly accurate, but the point is that attendance declined about 6% in a horrific year with a dead-man-walking coach versus a year when we went to a BCS bowl. That kind of difference is a relative drop in the bucket with regard to athletic department revenues.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:41 PM ^
Nebraska's sellout streak is a farce. They've had to rely on boosters buying thousands of unsold tickets to keep the 'streak' alive.
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sports/nebraskas-sellout-streak-continues-but-it-needed-some-help/
November 8th, 2021 at 5:53 PM ^
This is true. But the extra couple thousand tickets that the boosters buy are given to grade school children from lower income families, which is pretty cool.
November 8th, 2021 at 6:12 PM ^
Best blog response to the Frosty news:
pgainey
Newbie
- We are ok with losing as long as we get a bit of a discount.
November 8th, 2021 at 6:32 PM ^
Frost is a failure so far and that will only get a bit better at most. Yet they will fill that stadium next year. They have great fans there.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:39 PM ^
I guess they see potential in the way their defensive has been playing this year.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
Ain't winning but out hitting.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:43 PM ^
This is a bold move that I think will actually benefit Nebraska in the long run. They've been so close to so many big wins that you would think by sheer luck they can go 8-4 next season and give the fanbase some hope. Plus, who do they go out and hire if they can him?
November 8th, 2021 at 3:51 PM ^
Shoot they haven’t been bowl eligible in like what…5 seasons? When people start calling for Jim’s head I laugh but then I don’t because they’re serious. Take a look around the country it can be a lot worse. There are only a handful of programs doing more than UM, it’s the same tired 4-5 teams in the CFP and the difference with Ohio state is that entire school from te president , board of trustees on down is all in on football. Frosts Hire at Nebraska was analogous to Harbaugh’s here…o know not the same but similar circumstances. Jim’s done a great job I’d like him here as long as he wished to be.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:46 PM ^
What other options do they honestly have? Turner Gill? If anyone can recruit kids to Nebraska, he's probably the best option.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:56 PM ^
Whoa. I gotta log into corn nation tonight!
I think this is the right move for them. They fire him now this will set their program back several more years.
November 8th, 2021 at 3:56 PM ^
As bad as his record is the last few years, it is clear Frost is making progress there. I would not be shocked to see his team win the West in the next few years... provided they don't jettison him first.
November 8th, 2021 at 4:09 PM ^
He’s gone 4-8, 5-7, 3-5 and 3-7 there. He’s in danger of posting his worst record yet in 2021. Progress?
Losing close games now might be meaningful if they had everyone coming back next year, but they don’t. The one part of their team that is functional is their defense, and it’s going to lose a bunch of seniors after this year. This was supposed to be their breakthrough year, not next year.
I’m thinking they just didn’t want to pay.