Scott Frost fired at Nebraska: Coaching candidates to lead Huskers | FOX Sports
A look at potential Nebraska coach candidates, BYU makes a statement, plus a lookahead to Week 3 and more from Bryan Fischer.
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Scott Frost Fired at Nebraska: Coaching Candidates to Lead the Huskers
by Bryan Fischer, FOX Sports College Football Writer
College football is a sport built on controlled chaos. More often than not, the results follow the script dictated by which team has greater talent, coaching and resources.
But occasionally, often on weeks least expected, those governors are removed and disorder reigns supreme from noon until midnight. That's what happened across the country on Saturday, from No. 1 ranked Alabama holding on for dear life in Austin all the way down to a whopping four FCS programs upending FBS teams
While it cannot be considered jaw-dropping at this point, the biggest reverberation of Week 2 came in Lincoln as Georgia Southern went to Nebraska to pull off a 45-42 upset in which the Eagles racked up the most yards ever by a visiting team at Memorial Stadium — not Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma or any of the storied programs that have rolled into town, but a Sun Belt program with a completely new coaching staff that is transitioning the roster away from the option.
A few hours later, Cornhuskers athletic director Turd Alberts pulled the trigger and showed head coach Scott Frost the door after the program’s 10th consecutive one-score loss and a 16-31 overall record.
Parting ways with a once-beloved alum did not come lightly, but the nature of the team’s performances in winnable games left Frost with dwindling support amid key figures and a locker room that was starting to show signs of tune out. Alberts’ decision to make a move now will cost the school a buyout in the region of $15 million — a figure that could have been cut by $7.5 million if he waited until October — but according to a high-ranking source in the athletic department, fan base apathy was starting to take hold, and the historic home sellout streak that dates back to 1962 was becoming more and more difficult to save (donors purchased several thousand tickets this year to give to local youth to keep it going).
"We needed to do something. We needed to inject something into this team," Alberts said Sunday. "I can tell you that I really wanted this thing to work. Our donors wanted it to work. Everybody wanted it to work. In a way, it’s unfortunate and sad that we’re here today."
Perhaps the Huskers’ opponent served as a final push in ways beyond just the score line. A year ago almost to the day, it was Clay Helton getting axed by USC that set the coaching carousel alight and opened up speculation surrounding the future of a blueblood program. A few weeks later, Georgia Southern AD Jared Benko fired coach Chad Lunsford, citing the old adage that if something must be done tomorrow, it may as well be done today to get a head start on the market. Benko told FOX Sports this summer that having months to run a search, instead of days or weeks, was a huge benefit and allowed for interviews with 17 different candidates before finally tapping Helton in early November.
That helped Helton quickly evaluate the entire operation, from coaching staff to roster. Extra time to recruit and scout the transfer portal paid off when the Eagles landed quarterback Kyle Vantrease from Buffalo. The sixth-year senior scampered into the end zone Saturday night to put the final nail in Frost’s tenure after throwing for 409 yards.
Ultimately, Nebraska is in a good position moving forward despite Frost, widely considered to be a home-run hire, instead proving to be a bust. The Big Ten is flush with cash from new media deals, a $155 million football facility set to open in the summer and not much competition expected at the top of the coaching market as in years past. Crucially, the fan base understands a return to the glory runs of the 1990s isn’t in the cards, but consistently getting to bowl games and competing in conference play is a reasonable baseline that’s quite achievable.
"Resources won't be an impediment in hiring the kind of coach we want to lead Husker program," Alberts said. "We’re also not going to try to win the press conference. At the end of the day, we need to hire the right leader and the right fit."
What does that fit look like? Here’s a look at some potential candidates to take over the Cornhuskers:
Matt Rhule, Carolina Panthers
Rhule has several years left on his deal and wants to succeed in the NFL, but his seat is undeniably warm in Charlotte. If he gets fired, he'll be a top candidate in college football after turning around both Temple and Baylor through terrific player evaluation, and instilling toughness on and off the field. Timing could be tricky, with the NFL season stretching on so long, but the Penn State alum would be perfect for reviving the Cornhuskers.
Matt Campbell, Cockeye State
The Cyclones picked a good weekend to finally get a victory over Big Ten rival Cockeye, underscoring how Campbell has built the program into a consistent winner despite resources on the lower end of the Power Five. His development of players would be highly attractive at a place like Nebraska, but it remains to be seen if he'd depart for a job like this given how picky he's been about his next move beyond Ames. Last year's flirtation with USC is an indication he could be more open to a move, but it will be on the Huskers to show they have the right alignment to make sense over potential NFL jobs in the future.
Lance Leipold, Kansas
Leipold fought an uphill battle to land bigger jobs but has proved a lot of people wrong the past few years, making the jump from Division III to successfully turning around two middling FBS programs in Buffalo and Kansas. It helps that he's a former Huskers assistant and knows the state as well as pretty much any. He's only been in Lawrence for two years, but at age 58, won't have many more opportunities to take a marquee job like this.
Mickey Joseph, Nebraska (interim head coach)
A former Husker quarterback, Joseph is highly regarded as a recruiter and played a pivotal role in LSU's 2019 national title run. He has limited previous head coaching experience (13-7 at NAIA school Langston) but will have nearly a full season to prove he's the man for the job in Lincoln, not unlike Dabo Swinney once did for Clemson.
Luke #2ndChoice, Cincinnati
It never hurts to ask, and Nebraska would be wise to at least see if a "Godfather" offer could lure #2ndChoice out of Ohio. He took the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff last season, developed a host of NFL players and would be about as big a splash hire as one could make. He seems content enough with the program moving to the Big 12 next year, however, and may simply continue to wait it out until his alma mater Ohio State opens eventually.
Chris Klieman, Kansas State
Klieman brings a championship pedigree from his time at North Dakota State and has positioned the Wildcats to contend for the Big 12 this year and beyond. He's coached all over the Midwest and his defensive background could be viewed as a big plus given the issues the Blackshirts have experienced lately. He's working with a familiar AD in the Little Apple, though, and knows the path to success is going to be much easier in the newly constructed Big 12 than it would be in the Big Ten despite the increased resources.
Dave Doeren, North Carolina State
Could Doeren trade in one shade of red for another? He's developed NFL talent with the Wolfpack and lifted the program to a high level of consistency while contending with the likes of Clemson in the ACC Atlantic. He guided Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl and nows the Big TEn from his time running Wisconsin's defense, too. Doeren has flirted with openings like Tennessee in the past, and after nearly a decade in Raleigh, could develop into a hot name once again with a veteran, top-20 team in 2021.
Troy Calhoun, Air Force
There are different challenges at the service academies that make life extra difficult for coaches, but Calhoun has still consistently overachieved across 16 seasons at his alma mater. His option-based offense has been an impediment to some when he's interviewed for Power 5 gigs, but Nebraska might be more welcoming to a return to familiar ways. Calhoun does have a personality that benefits from being in Colorado Springs, so Nebraska would have to get comfortable with him being in the fishbowl that comes with the state's highest profile position.
Bill O'Brien, Alabama (offensive coordinator)
It’s a matter of if, not when, O’Brien gets another head coaching gig after a successful stint in the Nick Saban image rehab machine. He remains highly regarded for his work at Penn State following the school’s scandal (and resulting sanctions) along with four division titles with the Houston Texans. He developed the reigning Heisman Trophy winner last season and has the Tide primed to make it back to the national title game, too.
Bronco Mendenhall, former BYU & Virginia head coach
Full disclosure, I host a podcast called "HeadCoachU" that has been chatting with Mendenhall about his philosophy of running a college football program. He is using this year away from coaching to be with family but is eager to return to coaching at the Power 5 level this cycle after turning the Cavaliers from a two-wins team into a New Year’s Six bowl team. The former Oregon State linebacker would mesh well with Alberts and has helped fix defenses everywhere he’s been while putting up points on the other end. Much like Helton at GSU, he could get to work early.
Josh Gattis, Miami (FL) (offensive coordinator)
Last season's Broyles Award winner as the nation's top assistant, Gattis has extensive Big Ten experience from stints at Penn State and Michigan. Leading the Wolverines to the league title and College Football Playoff in 2021 is a big line on the résumé, and he has the benefit of being a small branch from the Nick Saban coaching tree as well.
Others who could get into the mix:
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
Jeff Monken, Army
Bryan Harsin, Auburn
Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina
Willie Fritz, Tulane
Matt Entz, North Dakota State
Gary Patterson, Texas analyst
Jim Leonhard, Wisconsin (DC)
Alex Grinch, USC (DC)
Tom Herman
by Bryan Fischer, FOX Sports College Football Writer
College football is a sport built on controlled chaos. More often than not, the results follow the script dictated by which team has greater talent, coaching and resources.
But occasionally, often on weeks least expected, those governors are removed and disorder reigns supreme from noon until midnight. That's what happened across the country on Saturday, from No. 1 ranked Alabama holding on for dear life in Austin all the way down to a whopping four FCS programs upending FBS teams
While it cannot be considered jaw-dropping at this point, the biggest reverberation of Week 2 came in Lincoln as Georgia Southern went to Nebraska to pull off a 45-42 upset in which the Eagles racked up the most yards ever by a visiting team at Memorial Stadium — not Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma or any of the storied programs that have rolled into town, but a Sun Belt program with a completely new coaching staff that is transitioning the roster away from the option.
A few hours later, Cornhuskers athletic director Turd Alberts pulled the trigger and showed head coach Scott Frost the door after the program’s 10th consecutive one-score loss and a 16-31 overall record.
Parting ways with a once-beloved alum did not come lightly, but the nature of the team’s performances in winnable games left Frost with dwindling support amid key figures and a locker room that was starting to show signs of tune out. Alberts’ decision to make a move now will cost the school a buyout in the region of $15 million — a figure that could have been cut by $7.5 million if he waited until October — but according to a high-ranking source in the athletic department, fan base apathy was starting to take hold, and the historic home sellout streak that dates back to 1962 was becoming more and more difficult to save (donors purchased several thousand tickets this year to give to local youth to keep it going).
"We needed to do something. We needed to inject something into this team," Alberts said Sunday. "I can tell you that I really wanted this thing to work. Our donors wanted it to work. Everybody wanted it to work. In a way, it’s unfortunate and sad that we’re here today."
Perhaps the Huskers’ opponent served as a final push in ways beyond just the score line. A year ago almost to the day, it was Clay Helton getting axed by USC that set the coaching carousel alight and opened up speculation surrounding the future of a blueblood program. A few weeks later, Georgia Southern AD Jared Benko fired coach Chad Lunsford, citing the old adage that if something must be done tomorrow, it may as well be done today to get a head start on the market. Benko told FOX Sports this summer that having months to run a search, instead of days or weeks, was a huge benefit and allowed for interviews with 17 different candidates before finally tapping Helton in early November.
That helped Helton quickly evaluate the entire operation, from coaching staff to roster. Extra time to recruit and scout the transfer portal paid off when the Eagles landed quarterback Kyle Vantrease from Buffalo. The sixth-year senior scampered into the end zone Saturday night to put the final nail in Frost’s tenure after throwing for 409 yards.
Ultimately, Nebraska is in a good position moving forward despite Frost, widely considered to be a home-run hire, instead proving to be a bust. The Big Ten is flush with cash from new media deals, a $155 million football facility set to open in the summer and not much competition expected at the top of the coaching market as in years past. Crucially, the fan base understands a return to the glory runs of the 1990s isn’t in the cards, but consistently getting to bowl games and competing in conference play is a reasonable baseline that’s quite achievable.
"Resources won't be an impediment in hiring the kind of coach we want to lead Husker program," Alberts said. "We’re also not going to try to win the press conference. At the end of the day, we need to hire the right leader and the right fit."
What does that fit look like? Here’s a look at some potential candidates to take over the Cornhuskers:
Matt Rhule, Carolina Panthers
Rhule has several years left on his deal and wants to succeed in the NFL, but his seat is undeniably warm in Charlotte. If he gets fired, he'll be a top candidate in college football after turning around both Temple and Baylor through terrific player evaluation, and instilling toughness on and off the field. Timing could be tricky, with the NFL season stretching on so long, but the Penn State alum would be perfect for reviving the Cornhuskers.
Matt Campbell, Cockeye State
The Cyclones picked a good weekend to finally get a victory over Big Ten rival Cockeye, underscoring how Campbell has built the program into a consistent winner despite resources on the lower end of the Power Five. His development of players would be highly attractive at a place like Nebraska, but it remains to be seen if he'd depart for a job like this given how picky he's been about his next move beyond Ames. Last year's flirtation with USC is an indication he could be more open to a move, but it will be on the Huskers to show they have the right alignment to make sense over potential NFL jobs in the future.
Lance Leipold, Kansas
Leipold fought an uphill battle to land bigger jobs but has proved a lot of people wrong the past few years, making the jump from Division III to successfully turning around two middling FBS programs in Buffalo and Kansas. It helps that he's a former Huskers assistant and knows the state as well as pretty much any. He's only been in Lawrence for two years, but at age 58, won't have many more opportunities to take a marquee job like this.
Mickey Joseph, Nebraska (interim head coach)
A former Husker quarterback, Joseph is highly regarded as a recruiter and played a pivotal role in LSU's 2019 national title run. He has limited previous head coaching experience (13-7 at NAIA school Langston) but will have nearly a full season to prove he's the man for the job in Lincoln, not unlike Dabo Swinney once did for Clemson.
Luke #2ndChoice, Cincinnati
It never hurts to ask, and Nebraska would be wise to at least see if a "Godfather" offer could lure #2ndChoice out of Ohio. He took the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff last season, developed a host of NFL players and would be about as big a splash hire as one could make. He seems content enough with the program moving to the Big 12 next year, however, and may simply continue to wait it out until his alma mater Ohio State opens eventually.
Chris Klieman, Kansas State
Klieman brings a championship pedigree from his time at North Dakota State and has positioned the Wildcats to contend for the Big 12 this year and beyond. He's coached all over the Midwest and his defensive background could be viewed as a big plus given the issues the Blackshirts have experienced lately. He's working with a familiar AD in the Little Apple, though, and knows the path to success is going to be much easier in the newly constructed Big 12 than it would be in the Big Ten despite the increased resources.
Dave Doeren, North Carolina State
Could Doeren trade in one shade of red for another? He's developed NFL talent with the Wolfpack and lifted the program to a high level of consistency while contending with the likes of Clemson in the ACC Atlantic. He guided Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl and nows the Big TEn from his time running Wisconsin's defense, too. Doeren has flirted with openings like Tennessee in the past, and after nearly a decade in Raleigh, could develop into a hot name once again with a veteran, top-20 team in 2021.
Troy Calhoun, Air Force
There are different challenges at the service academies that make life extra difficult for coaches, but Calhoun has still consistently overachieved across 16 seasons at his alma mater. His option-based offense has been an impediment to some when he's interviewed for Power 5 gigs, but Nebraska might be more welcoming to a return to familiar ways. Calhoun does have a personality that benefits from being in Colorado Springs, so Nebraska would have to get comfortable with him being in the fishbowl that comes with the state's highest profile position.
Bill O'Brien, Alabama (offensive coordinator)
It’s a matter of if, not when, O’Brien gets another head coaching gig after a successful stint in the Nick Saban image rehab machine. He remains highly regarded for his work at Penn State following the school’s scandal (and resulting sanctions) along with four division titles with the Houston Texans. He developed the reigning Heisman Trophy winner last season and has the Tide primed to make it back to the national title game, too.
Bronco Mendenhall, former BYU & Virginia head coach
Full disclosure, I host a podcast called "HeadCoachU" that has been chatting with Mendenhall about his philosophy of running a college football program. He is using this year away from coaching to be with family but is eager to return to coaching at the Power 5 level this cycle after turning the Cavaliers from a two-wins team into a New Year’s Six bowl team. The former Oregon State linebacker would mesh well with Alberts and has helped fix defenses everywhere he’s been while putting up points on the other end. Much like Helton at GSU, he could get to work early.
Josh Gattis, Miami (FL) (offensive coordinator)
Last season's Broyles Award winner as the nation's top assistant, Gattis has extensive Big Ten experience from stints at Penn State and Michigan. Leading the Wolverines to the league title and College Football Playoff in 2021 is a big line on the résumé, and he has the benefit of being a small branch from the Nick Saban coaching tree as well.
Others who could get into the mix:
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
Jeff Monken, Army
Bryan Harsin, Auburn
Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina
Willie Fritz, Tulane
Matt Entz, North Dakota State
Gary Patterson, Texas analyst
Jim Leonhard, Wisconsin (DC)
Alex Grinch, USC (DC)
Tom Herman
