CHICAGO — The buzz surrounding Nebraska’s new head football coach Scott Frost was evident. The 43-year-old coach was blitzed by the media Monday on how he plans on reconstructing Nebraska into a premier program in the Big Ten and nationally. The Nebraska legend looks to take a 4-8 team from a year ago and make them into a competitor in the Big Ten West this season and beyond. Frost seems to believe that plan has already been put into place by his mentors.
“[Tom] Osborne had the formula figured out.” Osborne, the greatest coach in Nebraska football history, built a blueprint on how to win in Lincoln. Frost was witness to that, as he was a part of the 1997 national title team. Frost wants to listen to Osborne more than the previous regime, and no longer wants to push away the legend. Frost made it clear he wants his former coach around.
“Coach Osborne is my hero and the best man I know.”
Osborne’s greatest trait was developing players as well as anyone during his tenure in Lincoln, and Frost talked about how he wanted to bring that tradition back to Nebraska with walk-ons, academic support, and developing a top-notch strength and conditioning program.
Frost understands that this rebuild will take time and won’t happen overnight but has tremendous confidence he’ll get it done. A lot of that confidence comes from the knowledge he gained while working under Chip Kelly at Oregon. Frost’s thoughts on Kelly’s influence, “Very Grateful.”
Not only did Kelly’s offensive scheme rub off on Frost, but Kelly’s preparation during the week showed Frost what is needed out of a high-level college football team.
“We told them to practice better than everybody and once they saw the results, they bought in.”
Frost applied this attitude at Central Florida and turned an 0-12 team into undefeated Peach Bowl champions in the space of two years. Using Osborne’s knowledge and Kelly’s methods, Scott Frost can put a product on the field he’s proud of and more importantly, return Nebraska to national prominence.
“Nebraska used to reflect the people of the state. Nebraska’s best asset is its people.”
