Congrats Frank for being the all time wins coach in the MAC

[The Big Red Lebowski]

Can we all just agree that Frank has been a very good mid major coach and was a great assistant coach at Nebraska and leave it at that? Both of those things are elite accomplishments that he and his family should be extremely proud of and there are a limited number of people that could do either of these things as well as he has. Very impressive feats.

In hindsight, he was a great head coach at Nebraska. He never had a losing season, won a Big 12 title in 1999 and had three finishes in the top ten. NU has not won a conference title or had a top ten finish since. We may never again. There are no guarantees - Frost or no Frost.

While clearly not the same challenge Frost faces, Frank did have to do some rebuilding. Much of Tom's old guard left between 2000 and 2003 - some retired, some let go. Firing Frank before he was allowed to fully transition from Tom's old staff and succeed or fail on his own accord is the biggest mistake in NU football history and ground zero for the dismantling of Nebraska football.

 

[Skerfan]

In hindsight, he was a great head coach at Nebraska. He never had a losing season, won a Big 12 title in 1999 and had three finishes in the top ten. NU has not won a conference title or had a top ten finish since. We may never again. There are no guarantees - Frost or no Frost.

While clearly not the same challenge Frost faces, Frank did have to do some rebuilding. Much of Tom's old guard left between 2000 and 2003 - some retired, some let go. Firing Frank before he was allowed to fully transition from Tom's old staff and succeed or fail on his own accord is the biggest mistake in NU football history and ground zero for the dismantling of Nebraska football.

Ill stick with my original statement and out of respect for Frank I won't argue with yours.

 

[Huskerhunter]

Some of you are so much better at coaching evaluation than Tom was. Im impressed.

T.O. was not and is not infallible. All strengths have a double edge and can flip to weaknesses. A strength of T.O.'s was/is loyalty. Excessive loyalty can be a weakness. I'm a big T.O. fan but the deification of him wears on me (and probably him too).

 

[gypsyhusker]

T.O. was not and is not infallible. All strengths have a double edge and can flip to weaknesses. A strength of T.O.'s was/is loyalty. Excessive loyalty can be a weakness. I'm a big T.O. fan but the deification of him wears on me (and probably him too).

Do you mean that you know more about selecting a head football coach than Tom?
My post isn’t about Tom the football god. Just stop putting that into people’s mouths/posts. The coaches he hired were fired after successful seasons. It’s verifiable history. Every armchair AD would hire Saben. Guys getting paid $1mill a year to hire coaches made terrible hires.

 

[The Big Red Lebowski]

Tom naming Frank was the biggest no-brainer decision in Nebraska football history, just ahead of Moos hiring Frost. Nebraska fans have been lamenting that Wisconsin and Alvarez stole our formula and punked us with it. Well, a big part of the formula is continuity and consistency in system and coaches. That’s why Tom named Frank.

Maybe Frank goes 4 more years and actually fails by a normal standard and not a Tom Osborne at peak powers standard. We’d still have been in better shape to move forward than after 4 years of Bill Callahan.

 

[gypsyhusker]

Tom naming Frank was the biggest no-brainer decision in Nebraska football history, just ahead of Moos hiring Frost. Nebraska fans have been lamenting that Wisconsin and Alvarez stole our formula and punked us with it. Well, a big part of the formula is continuity and consistency in system and coaches. That’s why Tom named Frank.

Maybe Frank goes 4 more years and actually fails by a normal standard and not a Tom Osborne at peak powers standard. We’d still have been in better shape to move forward than after 4 years of Bill Callahan.

Tom named Frank before it was a no brainer. I’m not arguing with you I am agreeing with you.

 

[wcbsas]

In hindsight, he was a great head coach at Nebraska. He never had a losing season, won a Big 12 title in 1999 and had three finishes in the top ten. NU has not won a conference title or had a top ten finish since. We may never again. There are no guarantees - Frost or no Frost.

While clearly not the same challenge Frost faces, Frank did have to do some rebuilding. Much of Tom's old guard left between 2000 and 2003 - some retired, some let go. Firing Frank before he was allowed to fully transition from Tom's old staff and succeed or fail on his own accord is the biggest mistake in NU football history and ground zero for the dismantling of Nebraska football.

Hindsight is a wonderful mechanism. I think all of us would have preferred Frank over what followed. Every word your wrote above is accurate and correct. I’m a skeptic but knowing what I know now I sure would love to see what would’ve happened if FS would have been allowed to continue.

 

[wcbsas]

Tom naming Frank was the biggest no-brainer decision in Nebraska football history, just ahead of Moos hiring Frost. Nebraska fans have been lamenting that Wisconsin and Alvarez stole our formula and punked us with it. Well, a big part of the formula is continuity and consistency in system and coaches. That’s why Tom named Frank.

Maybe Frank goes 4 more years and actually fails by a normal standard and not a Tom Osborne at peak powers standard. We’d still have been in better shape to move forward than after 4 years of Bill Callahan.

Tom didn’t have the right to name Frank ... he was the coach not the AD. During a time when our AD had one foot out the door.

Continuing with FS would have been far preferable than the SP/BC debacle.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

Tom didn’t have the right to name Frank ... he was the coach not the AD. During a time when our AD had one foot out the door.

Continuing with FS would have been far preferable than the SP/BC debacle.

Dr. Tom basically had "Carte Blanche" to do what he wanted with anything concerning Husker football at that time.

 

[wcbsas]

Do you mean that you know more about selecting a head football coach than Tom?
My post isn’t about Tom the football god. Just stop putting that into people’s mouths/posts. The coaches he hired were fired after successful seasons. It’s verifiable history. Every armchair AD would hire Saben. Guys getting paid $1mill a year to hire coaches made terrible hires.

TO set up FS to fail. Insisting that FS keep coaches that we’re loyal to TO. Guys who couldn’t or wouldn’t recruit. TO worked his butt off recruiting more so than many HCs during that era. He did so because he was a great closer and because he had guys who didn’t recruit all that well.

 

[The Big Red Lebowski]

Hindsight is a wonderful mechanism. I think all of us would have preferred Frank over what followed. Every word your wrote above is accurate and correct. I’m a skeptic but knowing what I know now I sure would love to see what would’ve happened if FS would have been allowed to continue.

I was careful to use the word hindsight, because I wasn’t riding shotgun on the Frank express in 2003. At the time, I thought his job depended on beating CU and was surprised he got canned anyway. I wasn’t singing his praises though. Like almost everyone, I thought 9 wins at Nebraska was a floor not a ceiling.

I needed to experience 17 years of mostly crappy football to understand just how dirty we did Frank back in the day.

 

[wcbsas]

Dr. Tom basically had "Carte Blanche" to do what he wanted with anything concerning Husker football at that time.

What he could do and what he should have done are two different things. Being too close to the situation some times doesn’t give you the objectivity to make the right decision.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

What he could do and what he should have done are two different things. Being too close to the situation some times doesn’t give you the objectivity to make the right decision.

Just for fun, who do you think should have replaced Tom? Solich was the obvious choice at the time. I honestly can't think of any other coach who would have been a better fit at that point in time.

 

[jmcsundance]

And I will also add Nebraska's third best coach in the Huskers modern history! When you are a 165 pound fullback you have to be tough

I will never forget Solich running up the gut as a 5'7" 160 lb. fullback. Nails. Then my D1 college classmate FB is the same height and weight. All-Conference. Then my grad school roommate a former 5'6' 160 lb. All State FB from Georgia. All Nails. All inspirational. Just amazing.

 

[wcbsas]

Just for fun, who do you think should have replaced Tom? Solich was the obvious choice at the time. I honestly can't think of any other coach who would have been a better fit at that point in time.

First of all I think if TO wasn’t beholding to a promise he made to FS that he would have coached for another 5 years or so. FS just interviewed and finished as a runner-up to Glenn Mason for the HC at Minnesota.

Second my choice way back then was Barry Alvarez. A Nebraska alum in his 7th year as HC at Wisconsin.