Frost wants to locate OC first, plans to 'turn over' more of offense to new hires
ByBRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON 43 minutes ago
Scott Frost's first priority is on finding an offensive coordinator, and that coordinator could have a say in some of the other assistant hires, the Husker head coach said during a Wednesday session with the media in which he offered some clues about his direction moving forward.
And, yes, Frost said he has talked to Husker athletics director Turd Alberts a lot about his head coaching role, and tweaking how he manages the position moving ahead.
"This job is bigger than a lot of other jobs. There's just a lot more that has to be done on the field and off," Frost said. "Frankly, I've been wearing myself a little thin trying to run the offense and call the offense, and it isn't just gameday. It's all week long, and there are areas of the program that I could spend more time with if I wasn't so occupied with that. He talked to me about that. I agree. I appreciated his advice on that. And I'm going to do the best I can to put together a (coaching) team that allows that to happen."
Frost later repeated he was prepared to "turn over" more to the offensive coordinator hired.
"It's not going to be easy. I've got to find somebody that I trust," he said. "I'm an offensive guy. I'm always going to have something to do with it. There's things about being a coach at Nebraska that I haven't been able to enjoy because of all the time I've been spending trying to fix problems and dig ourselves out of a hole and get the team better. And I spend a lot of time offensively too. Not that I didn't have the right guys. I can't say enough good about them. But I really need to be able to trust somebody. I'll still be involved, but that will take a lot off my plate and I think help me even better in some other areas."
If you think Nebraska's offensive scheme is dramatically changing with new hires, probably think again. However, Frost did note he's had a staff on offense that has often been like-minded, and a twist could be of benefit.
"We've been really good on offense. When we have the right guys, we've been elite on offense," Frost said. "I'm not necessarily looking for wholesale changes. I did have a lot of guys around me that knew a lot of the same things I knew. And that has worked. I think it could still work, but I'm kind of looking for some fresh ideas to help. Not necessarily wholesale changes, but if we think that gives us the best chance to get a little bit better than we will. Kind of early stages of identifying people. Have a pretty good idea of what I want it to look like. We'll see where we land."
Positions left open are the offensive coordinator, QBs coaching role, wide receivers and running back – though labels could be moved around. Sean Beckton, the tight ends coach, was the lone coach on that side of the ball retained, as Frost parted ways with OC/WRs coach Matt Lubick, QBs coach Mario Verduzco, running backs coach Ryan Held and O-line coach Greg Austin.
He praised those coaches' character and ability, noting that a guy like Verduzco would often be in at 3:45 in the morning.
The timing of staff change was challenging, he acknowledged, "but everything is going to move really fast here after the season with recruiting and signing day," he said. "And it's kind of important to get guys in place to get guys done. With a bye week and time to evaluate, I thought that was the best time."
"We've come so close in so many games and it's hard to think we can be doing exactly the same things and get it over the top," Frost said. "It's not any person's fault, any one of those coach's fault. Sometimes there just needs to be a little different voice, and maybe little changes that can make a difference."
The sooner the better on making the new hires, he added, but he knows he might not be able to announce anyone new until the regular season is over since guys are coaching other places.
In the meantime, analysts will step into bigger roles for the last two games. Ron Brown will handle RBs, Frank Verducci on O-line, Mike Cassano on WRs, Steve Cooper on QBs to finish season, Frost said.
"The players deserve our best effort to help them in these last two games. They're going to give their best effort in these last two games. ... So that's where my focus is right now."
Frost said there "are a lot of people" helping him identify coaching possibilities, but it will be his decision at the end of the day, as letting go of the coaches was.
He said "potentially" the Huskers would hire a full-time special teams coordinator, while crediting Mike Dawson with running it. "Our special teams have vastly improved. Our specialists, we need to continue to get better in those roles. But our coverage units, when you watch the tape and compare to where we've been, I'm really happy with the progress we've made there. So I think that's just when we put the puzzle together, figure out if (a full-time special teams coordinator) is a possibility or not. If it is, I would love to."
What about a QBs coach going forward? Might Frost handle more of that in the re-shifting?
"I certainly would love to do it. s I'm trying to back away from some of those roles a little bit, that probably doesn't make a ton of sense," Frost said. "But I have to see how the whole puzzle fits together. The first person I'm looking for is an offensive coordinator and we'll fit the puzzle together from there."
As for when the decisions to make these changes came together? It's been an ongoing conversation in recent weeks, and that includes talk about readjusting Frost's contract, which the coach said he suggested but included Alberts fine-tuning the idea. While the full revised contract hasn't been released, Frost will make $4 million in the year ahead instead of $5 million, and more importantly perhaps, his buyout will drop from $15 million to $7.5 million next year.
"Turd and I talk every week. Some of it's about that (football) stuff, some of it's about the premier of 'Yellowstone,'" he said. "The idea has been going forward for a couple weeks here. For me it's an easy decision (taking a salary cut). I'm in this business primarily because I love the players, I love the mentoring side of this job. I love being around the guys all the time. I took this job because I love Nebraska and I love this university. It would break my heart to think we've made the improvements we've had and gotten it so close in so many games and not get an opportunity to see it through.
"So it's an easy decision for me to make any sacrifices I have to (to) have the privilege to continue to be here."
