Why we're excited about the return of the prodigal son
It's finally college football season, and everyone is celebrating by buying a 30 rack of cheap beer, preferably Keystone. This is one of the best times of the year every single year, but as a Nebraska fan, this year has a little more excitement than we've had in awhile. Wunderkind and offensive genius Scott Frost, mastermind of the high powered Oregon offenses, National Champion quarterback, defending National Champion head coach, and male model, has come back home to Lincoln to coach the Huskers.
(I mean, seriously, look at this guy.)
It would be an understatement to say that spirits and expectations are high. I've even got caught up in the hype, wearing my UCF National Championship hat, telling people that Nebraska is going to win the next 12 titles. People respond by telling me I'm crazy, and that maybe a whole case of Keystone is too much to have at lunch. Both are probably fair. The facts are pretty simple though. Scott Frost was the OC for Oregon from 2013 to 2015, right in their hay day, learning from Chip Kelly and taking over play calling when Kelly left for the NFL. Frost took a ZERO win team in UCF, and in TWO years, led them to an undefeated season, and a National Championship. (Don't even start with me, saying they didn't actually win it. 50% of Alabama's titles are claimed the same way UCF's was. 3 of them the NCAA literally don't acknowledge. Don't believe me? Here. Boom. Sources. So if you want to take UCF's away, you have to take away everyone else's claimed titles. And that's not happening. Just shut up and enjoy the madness of it.)
Like I said, we're jacked up. I would say we haven't been this excited since the 2010 season, Nebraska's last in the Big 12. Started at number 8 in the country, Taylor Martinez at QB, and eventually rose to number 5, after absolutely embarrassing K-State in Manhattan. Remember that game? Remember, K-State fans?
(Yeah, you remember. But I figured I'd leave this here just in case.)
There hasn't been much to be that excited for since then, and it's been tough for a fan base that was so used to being so successful for so long. So for the first time in a long time, definitely in the last 3 years, we have hope. That's not why we're really excited though. Whether anyone will admit it to you or not, the real reason that everyone is so excited about Scott Frost is that Scott Frost is too good for us right now. Nebraska isn't the job that it used to be. That's been a tough problem to work through for Husker fans. We consider ourselves a national power, the likes of Alabama, USC, Michigan, Ohio State. The truth is that we haven't been that team since the 90's, and the rest of the country doesn't see us that way anymore. Florida and Florida St are both better jobs than Nebraska right now, and Scott Frost could have had either of them this offseason. He could have had Oregon too, which I think is probably a better program right now. He could have had any open job in the country, and most of the ones that weren't open. He chose to come back home though, in an attempt to restore Nebraska to it's former glory.
(Yeah, this glory)
We're hopeful. Recruiting is going to be hard, way harder than it was for him at UCF. Florida has about a billion good players, and there was only so many that Florida, Florida State, and Miami can take, and that let him get some real talent at UCF. (Lane Kiffin is doing the same thing at FAU). It's going to be harder to convince them to come to Lincoln, Nebraska at first. The Big 10 is still the best conference top to bottom in the country. There's gonna be bumps in the road, especially with a true freshman behind center. We aren't expecting 12 wins this year, but we are expecting to get back on the right path, the path to being nationally relevant year in and year out. And we're on that path because Scott Frost returned home to save us. I'm not saying that he's Nebraska Football Jesus, but I'm also not not saying that either. GBR.