Stryker: Keeping It Simple
Reshuffling his coaching staff was an important move. Finding a few difference-making players, either in the traditional high school recruitment process or through the transfer portal, remains vital. But the most important step Scott Frost can take to fulfill the promise he brought to Lincoln in December 2017 is a ruthless commitment to quenching his innate need to be the smartest guy in the room.
That sounds easy, but obviously is not, as Husker Nation knows from painful experience.
Nebraska’s inability to play physical, fundamentally sound football in a conference that absolutely demands it has exacted a heavy toll: four consecutive losing seasons and a 15-29 record for Frost. It only makes sense that a recommitment to the roots of Husker football greatness is the best way out of this wilderness. Fortunately, this is an easy sell in Lincoln. Frost knows this — or at least he seemed to know it four years ago, when he regularly invoked Tom Osborne, but then again, knowing and doing are two different things.
Frost has one last opportunity to get it right. It’s a key moment. Mickey Joseph is back, and he’s already delivered a much-needed shot in the arm for Husker recruiting. Offensive coordinator Mark Whipple brings decades of street cred as a former head coach and a developer of quarterback talent. Donovan Raiola is an intriguing hire, an offensive line coach who won’t need much persuading to light a fire in the room that contains the Huskers’ largest concentrated area of underdeveloped talent. Speaking of underdeveloped talent, it’s plentiful. Nebraska could surprise. Nebraska could break out, if everyone pulls in the same direction.
Will everyone get a clear, continuous, focused message from their head coach that a dependable power running game and solid special teams play are non-negotiables? I really wonder. If Frost had emphasized the basics from the jump, he wouldn’t be standing at the edge of a cliff right now. This is not rocket science, and maybe that’s the root of the problem.
Frost’s tendency to overthink it is his biggest fault, but super-intelligent coaches can win big in college football, if they’re smart enough to keep hammering a few key concepts every day. Just ask Osborne.
We recently heard John Cook credit Osborne for advice more than a decade ago that helped Cook clear his head and avoid burnout. Frost also drops references to T.O. from time to time (although not much recently). I wonder, when was the last time Frost spent more than half an hour alone with his old mentor, and on that occasion, did Frost actively seek advice about what he needs to change to win in the Big Ten?
If the rumblings are true, if Frost promotes Bill Busch to coach special teams and brings in a good recruiter as his running backs coach, then the table is set for significant improvement in 2022. He has the people to make it work, he just needs the right priorities. Given a few hours alone together in a duck blind, Osborne could offer Frost a lot of good advice about how to handle a talented coaching staff.
Like everyone else, I envisioned Frost ushering in a brighter era for Husker football. I don’t think anyone envisioned Frost bringing in truckloads of blue-chip players, but we did envision him building depth and reviving the walk-on program. Nobody conceived he would preside over horrific special teams play, which screams of inadequate development of walk-on players and failure to build a “team-first” culture. Frost made a big deal about beefing up the walk-on program. He’s increased the numbers, for sure, but so far, he really hasn’t used those numbers to his advantage.
Frost has talked for years about rebuilding the culture, and in some ways, it appears he’s made progress. But when I think of Husker football culture, I consider the value of all these small, team-oriented details — things like coaching a gunner to catch a punt inside the 5-yard line when he has the opportunity to pin the opponent deep — that might never get players to the NFL, but will win ballgames. Imagine him challenging his players to make that a priority.
Imagine Frost resurrecting and actually scheduling Osborne’s four-station drills during spring practice and fall camp to give his second- and third-team players more daily repetitions, like he said he would in 2018. Since reporters get very little access to practices, it’s hard to dogmatically state that Frost has abandoned the concept of four-station drills, but then again, there’s precious little evidence to support the concept that he’s actually running them week by week.
Is there enough time to cover all the needed details in practice? If not, then Frost should consider moving football practice back to afternoons, if he can’t get everything accomplished in his preferred early-morning time slot.
It’s important to point out that Frost has made some improvements. Penalties were a great scourge in his first two seasons, but Frost has turned that around, to the point where the Huskers were rated 26th among all major college teams in fewest penalty yards per game in 2021.
Perhaps most importantly, Frost admitted he needed help running his offense. He acknowledged that four of his offensive coaches — from all accounts, all good friends of his — were not getting the results the Huskers needed, and he fired them. In their place, he’s already hired a couple of men qualified to question his game-day offensive strategy, and he’s rid himself of the load of play calling. Those are good moves. Keep it simple. Keep your coaches focused on a couple of key big-picture goals, and let them sweat the daily details.
Finally, let’s note that walk-on success stories are there to be found. Luke Reimer is the most notable one. Nouredin Nouili is another, as is Chancellor Brewington, who developed a reputation as a ferocious blocker from his tight end/H-back position in goal line situations. What if the Huskers built on that? Imagine a beefed-up Brewington leading Jaquez Yant into the hole on third-and-2, clearing the way for a key first down to help the Huskers run out the clock and secure their first win over Iowa in eight years.
Imagine Whipple thinking that scenario makes a lot of sense, and elevating the concept of H-backs as lead blockers into a big priority as he plans for 2022, or Joseph instilling physicality into his pass receivers to the point where Omar Manning and Zavier Betts getting yards after contact is a common sight.
What a concept, getting the simple stuff right, and doing it over and over. It’s a no-brainer. It’s the only thing that will redeem the Frost era.
