“If Scott Frost isn’t the guy, then who is?”
Looks like we’re about to find out. Disrupting the first NFL Sunday slate of the year, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced that it has fired head coach Scott Frost after the program’s historically-bad loss at home (the most yards given up at Memorial Stadium, ever) to Georgia Southern.
No one can say they didn’t see this coming. Losing in Ireland to Northwestern likely put him in the coffin, but losing to Georgia Southern at home put him in the ground. Honestly, you cannot blame Trev Alberts or anyone at the university for this decision. You have to make this move while the season could technically still be saved. As much as this may garner a laugh or an eye roll – the Big Ten West is wide open.
I’ll be the first to admit that I thought Frost was THE guy. He was the Golden Child. He came home to save a program in extreme disrepair. Did he do more damage than saving? I don’t believe so. The program was in a horrendous state after Mike Riley, and some would say it has never recovered from firing Bo Pelini. Some old heads would even argue that the program hasn’t recovered from firing Frank Solich.
The first guy you hire after a tumultuous era of the program is never going to be your long-term solution. I think Frost shook things up enough and set enough of a standard that the program can get back on track. Eventually. Hopefully. It can’t get worse, right? I like the move. I don’t care that the program could’ve saved money had they waited until Oct. 1. To me, firing him now shows the fans that the administration still thinks the season is salvageable, it wants change now, and the money doesn’t matter. I guess that’s promising?
I will say, I am in a bit of mourning. I really wanted him to work out. Hell, the entire state of Nebraska wanted him to work out. Not just to move the program back into the win column consistently, but because of what he meant (and still means) to the history of the program for his time at quarterback. However, the storyline was too good to be true.
The real storyline is something of nightmares. Nebraska fans have been to hell and back during the Scott Frost era and he has the numbers to prove it. Frost went 16-31 during his tenure, repping a .340 win percentage — the second-worst in program history (among coaches who coached at least 20 games) only behind Bill Jennings (sporting a 15-34-1 record from 1957-61). Frost lost 22 of those 31 games by one possession. Not to mention the very good and very real chances late in those games to win. Last season’s team holds an FBS record for losses by one score with eight. 10 of 11 losses in the last two seasons were by one score. He lost 10 straight one-score games, including in Week 2 against Georgia Southern. The Week 2 loss was the most yards ever given up in Memorial Stadium with 642, and the first time Nebraska has lost a game when scoring 35 or more points in Lincoln. I will die on the hill that Adrian Martinez doesn’t have a singular clutch bone in his body. Although, I think I need to also admit that Scott Frost doesn’t either. Or at least, doesn’t know how to manage the clutch moments.
As the old saying goes, “the show must go on.” Nebraska hosts No. 6 Oklahoma in Memorial Stadium on Saturday. I think the firing, albeit Nebraska having two bad losses, has made this game must-watch television if it wasn’t already.
Enter the Fighting Mickey Josephs.
