And here we go again. The Frost resentment, or second guessing, or whatever we want to label it, for unknown reasons rears it's ugly, but expected, head. Just a reminder, if people are hearing information as to what they believe the staff is doing, and that is coming via some 18-20 year olds, then you might as well be asking a 5 year old how a vase got broken in the living room. 'Well, I was standing there, but not by the vase, and I wasn't running, and it fell...but I wasn't running'. As for the feeling of AM being a little less focused, if people don't think the approach of most players is different if they are fighting for the starting job, or returning as the starter, then you must have hung around some far more dedicated individuals. Being a little too comfortable isn't shocking. Coaches see it, and in most cases they know it's just a matter of time before that lackadaisical attitude is adjusted by a punch in the mouth, usually delivered by an opponent. I think AM's problem was he never got a chance to adjust back into that aggressive mindset. Injuries and ancillary factors slowed him getting that edge back. If you don't think it was addressed, at least subtly by the staff, then we may not have been paying attention to the gushing accolades given LM as being a film nerd and gym rat who couldn't get enough. If there had been more physical maturity with Luke, you might have seen Frost handle things a little more aggressively. For whatever reason, he never seemed that enamored with Vedral (I have no explanation for this) which may have also influenced how that was handled. His comment about the QB room this year made it apparent he is happier with the level of experience and talent. If the boldness of that statement hurts feelings, or causes someone to curl up, then I think he'll live with that, and look to whoever is mentally toughest.
As much as we all second guess, until we are all able to sit down and have beers with the staff, getting to hear all of the behind the scenes stuff, then none of us has a clue what the thought process was behind the handling of the team. One of my most eye opening experiences was getting to play golf at an alumni event with a former coach. He explained a ton of the things he did over the years, many of which I thought he was an idiot for doing, and why he did them. It was in some ways maddening, and others extremely understandable. He made some decisions based on how mentally strong certain players were, not just how talented, but by who could better deal with the disappointment of being benched or not starting. He started a guy who he knew wasn't as good, but he also knew he was young, and likely going to be a key player for years to come. The young kid wasn't as mentally tough as the senior, and coach's concern was he'd go into a shell and lose confidence, making him useless over the short term and possibly hurting his development long term. I still think he was wrong, in part because the senior was my roommate, but I now understand the juggling act he was trying to manage. Just for the record, an injury got the senior back on the court to become all conference, and the young kid went on to be an all time top scorer and All American, so I guess coach was both right, and wrong, in his assessment.
And some might point to JD as a clear indicator of team disconnect, but that completely ignores numerous posts in the past, ones long before the drama started, that suggested he was an odd guy, not a leader, and not really anyone who seemed completely invested in the program. He definitely played hard, he may have liked his teammates, heck, some guys may have loved him as a teammate, but did he ever really love the University of Nebraska, it's traditions and history? I really don't think so. I also don't think it's necessary to have that love for the program to be successful, but they are pretty important if things get rocky, and the kid had some rocky times in his career here. So finally getting fed up and bailing out isn't the biggest of stunners. Talented kid, will absolutely be in the record books, but he was never going to be on a Nebraska football version of Mount Rushmore, was he?
We can toss out all the opinions we like, and I'm sure some with gush over them, even myself from time to time, but this suggestion that Frost is making one mistake after another, and that is somehow unique, ignores that all coaches do the exact same thing. The difference in many cases is they have a strong enough structure to deal with it. TO made numerous boneheaded decisions, but he did them because that great big ol' PhD brain of his thought it the best idea under the circumstances. Frost and staff do the exact same thing in trying to evaluate problems and come up with remedies, the difference being is over the last 2 years you've had a hodge podge of players, a younger staff, and you don't have 25 years of excellence to fall back on. If you are old like me you remember some of just the QB turmoil/controversy under Ozzy: Tagge/Van Brownson (as OC), Ferragamo/Luck, Mauer/Gill, Frazier/Berringer, and that doesn't even include some other pretty high profile positions that had the team divided on who they thought should be playing. Plenty of guys were ticked off Rozier moved out Craig, or Hipp was getting more looks than Berns, or Phillips was allowed back on the team, and even a coach with a veteran staff, and a long history of success, you had some division within the team, so let's not pretend it's incredibly unique. The difference is they had a structure built over the years that could handle it, AND kids weren't as quick to think their opinions mattered. Another difference is even if TO's staff didn't agree with his decision, and I guarantee you they all didn't, they weren't regularly whispering it into the ears of guys so they could repeat it. I always felt that staff were masters at getting the right information to the right people so they could help guide the fans in a manner that kept the program looking positive. Frost seems to try to do that a little as well, but the fact that we might have coaches or staff speaking out in ways that could be damaging tells me we have might have some folks that need to find another place to work. The one guy I remember second guessing TO publicly was TO, and he was usually pretty honest in why he made a decision, right or wrong. Let's try to remember that when we want to Monday Morning QB every move the coach makes.
