What's wrong with this team? or... What's hindering this team???

[Oklahusker]

I was going to post this response to the thread about Herman Edwards vs Scott Frost at this point in their career at their positions. It ended up being very long and I thought it would be best to be scrutinized as it's own thread.

I will preface this post by saying these are simply my thoughts as someone who has not played football past the pee wee and middle school years, so my knowledge of the game is purely from observation. This is definitely not and X's and O's type of post but more of a psychological/sociological hypothesis simply based on observations and speculations.

I am very open to scrutiny, criticism, and skepticism. I just want to get other's thoughts about a simple concept that might be more complex than I/we have considered. These are just my recent thoughts after freezing my arse off in a nearly half empty stadium in freekin Minnesota!

This idea could easily be off, and my lovely partner could give you pages of examples of when I've been wrong before, but I feel that the pressure since Frost's hire has impacted the team's performance. Back to the Herm vs Frost post, there is far more pressure here at NU than ASU, and it isn't even remotely comparable. I have a very strong intuition the coaches and players have experienced this pressure ever since Frost was first hired and they are still working to manage it.

Most of us (myself included) knew that at the time of his hire Frost was our program's savior. The timing synched with Swiss precision as a coaching position came available during a time when invigorated and competent leadership had been restored. Frost's success had proven his acumen as a D1 head coach, with field accomplishments and warranted accolades. Along with him knowing the Nebraska culture and expectations, talk about a perfect match! And 99% of us (my estimation) believed that. I still do...

Frost was hired as the epitome of the Golden Child; progeny of home-grown athletic greatness, a true Nebraska prodigy, gilded in the forge of experience and wisdom exalted from the esteemed sage and Saint of Nebraska football. The intersection of education, preparation, and hubris was complete. Sir Frost was sent on his quest to awaken the great giant of football hegemony.

This may seem to be hyperbole to many, but I honestly feel this description encapsulates how many of us viewed Frost's return, and it may emphasize the type of pressure players are experiencing. This isn't simply an internal/external pressure, it is existential.

Transitioning into metaphor, I believe Huskerdom can at times be an extremely precise and sophisticated pressure cooker, where the compression (obsession) can enhance some ingredients while causing others to compress and deteriorate. I honestly believe the coaching staff is aware of this dynamic and is doing their best to temper the extreme external pressure with their approach, especially with their "no mistakes, just go fast and hard" mentality. As we all know, some foods are much more delicious and complete our anticipation/expectation when properly cooked under pressure... others simply fall short.

Back to this team... we saw them react and rise to the external demand during the first half of a highly anticipated and pressure-driven game against CU, a former conference foe (rival), with the added motivation of vindication for an extremely dirty play endured their leader who was victimized the previous year. This team rose to appreciate and possibly exalt that pressure to a point where they dominated the first half. To me the letdown performance of the second half depicted the exact pressure I feel is difficult for this team to manage. Beginning to fault in front of fans who sacrificed greatly to observe (judge) them could have added to the pressure they have earlier internalized, and contributed to a continuation of poor performance. I wonder if that CU game performance has had an overall lingering effect.

I really believe this team will excel once they start to focus on processes, both team and individual, and less on outcomes or expectations. If players focus on their enjoyment of the game in the present, appreciate what drew them to the game, while maintaining their personal and team goals, maybe the outcomes will fall into place. I realize that may be overly simplistic/reductionistic, but I'd entertain any discussion this long, drawn out theory could provoke Let's just keep focus on NE football for this discussion, as much as some have noticed I have fallen short myself. Apologies and forgiveness.

Good write up, not too long in my opinion . I have whole-hearted faith in HCSF, although I feel like I have no other choice. If it's not him, then who? One thing to remember, and this has been stated over and over again, is that it took TO 2 decades to bring us to glory. Unfortunately, I wasn't alive to relish in the rise of Nebraska football, and barely caught the tail end of the hay days as a small child. My entire life, and most certainly all of my adult life has been nothing but struggle and disappointment from this program, but nonetheless, I love it more than just about anything else on Earth. The guy is Scott, and we need to realize that, and hang on for the ride.

 

[goodnterribles]

Gotcha... I was just curious. Saban obviously has been successful with his recruiting and roster management tactics and the NCAA doesn't seem to be on his back about it. There doesn't appear to be a lot of complaints from players (at least no great outrages that I have heard about). I too hope Frost can be successful without the need for a recruitment/roster strategy considered by some as less than virtuous or morally bankrupt. However, if SF did employ a similar tact as those successful coaches (Saban, Meyer) and started winning championships, I am sure I would be fine with it.

There's a difference between a kid just not working out and you advise him that if he wants to play, it would be better for him to transfer, and what schools like Bama do. It's not against the rules, but it is pretty disgusting.

 

[BubbaGene]

There's a difference between a kid just not working out and you advise him that if he wants to play, it would be better for him to transfer, and what schools like Bama do. It's not against the rules, but it is pretty disgusting.

You're going soft on us, g-n-t. Maybe it is better for the kid to know coach is giving him an option. These days in college football, this seems like such a small thing. I highly doubt Saban is bringing a kid into his office and saying, "Hey Bricks, time for you to go drop passes somewhere else.....". I think these kids go to Alabama knowing what they are getting into and knowing the consequences of not being good enough. It's a chance they take. OR they could go to Nebraska and start.

 

[goodnterribles]

You're going soft on us, g-n-t. Maybe it is better for the kid to know coach is giving him an option. These days in college football, this seems like such a small thing. I highly doubt Saban is bringing a kid into his office and saying, "Hey Bricks, time for you to go drop passes somewhere else.....". I think these kids go to Alabama knowing what they are getting into and knowing the consequences of not being good enough. It's a chance they take. OR they could go to Nebraska and start.

IMHO, what he did, especially early I'm his tenure, was far worse. He pulled offers from kids at the last minute, he ran kids off, etc. He probably doesn't have to do that now, but look at how many commits they had his first 4 years. Doesn't come close to adding up to 85.

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

Except he went 9-2-1 in his first year then 9-3 9-3 9-3 10-2 on down the list. seemed he did pretty well without those that didnt fit his system

As GnT pointed out, and which I didn't feel was actually necessary, college football was so much different then as compared to now. Parity today among colleges is more real than a lot of folks want to believe and not just within P5 conferences, but across the board. All those 3 loss seasons, were to teams we most likely should have beaten(imho).

I was just replying to that saying he didn't do well until he had his players.

I agree about Saban...shows what can happen when you sell your soul to the devil

When we lost to Clemson and Miami in the 80's, we, TO, had the players that truly fit his system, and we still lost those potential NC's. It took To until the early 90's to find the players that truly fit his scheme again, and when he did, well, 3 Natty's with shots at least 2 more, one of which the refs robbed us of. Having a roster full of the kids that Frost wants and needs, will make all the difference in the world when it comes to playing the Minnesota's and the Colorado's of the football world. I believe also that *** started a thread saying as much earlier this morning based off of a quote from Scott Frost himself.

 

[Pops]

As GnT pointed out, and which I didn't feel was actually necessary, college football was so much different then as compared to now. Parity today among colleges is more real than a lot of folks want to believe and not just within P5 conferences, but across the board. All those 3 loss seasons, were to teams we most likely should have beaten(imho).
When we lost to Clemson and Miami in the 80's, we, TO, had the players that truly fit his system, and we still lost those potential NC's. It took To until the early 90's to find the players that truly fit his scheme again, and when he did, well, 3 Natty's with shots at least 2 more, one of which the refs robbed us of. Having a roster full of the kids that Frost wants and needs, will make all the difference in the world when it comes to playing the Minnesota's and the Colorado's of the football world. I believe also that *** started a thread saying as much earlier this morning based off of a quote from Scott Frost himself.

so it took TO 20 years to find the right players to fit his system Hope SF can do it just a tad bit quicker

if all we are going to count is the National titles we have a loooooooooing way to go.


No TO team looked this bad ever with or without the right talent. He knew how to get the best out of what he had

 

[HUSKER HOT SAUCE]

so it took TO 20 years to find the right players to fit his system Hope SF can do it just a tad bit quicker

if all we are going to count is the National titles we have a loooooooooing way to go.


No TO team looked this bad ever with or without the right talent. He knew how to get the best out of what he had

If you look at the competition, TO did have some less than stellar teams. The late 80's very earl 90's, we really weren't very good, and any time we played a team with a heartbeat, we straight up got beat. Say from 1989 to 1992 whenever we played a big boy team, we came out on the losing end. 1993 however, Tom had guys in his system that absolutely fit his system and we basically went on to dominate the mid 90's all the way up until about 1999. We beat the little teams we were supposed to, but we couldn't beat any team that was a top 20 team when it mattered. We are a long way off just trying to win the west, but like I said, as soon as Frost gets the kids that he wants and needs at positions across the board, we will be relevant again.

 

[Bean]

These comments are very telling...unlikely this team gets more than 6 wins.

Very possible. I read between the lines that not all our JRs/SRs are buying into the SF system and the team leaders are having a problem with certain players that are rebelling against the coaching staff and/or the team captains/players/leaders. With that, probably silent rebellion, HCSF is finding it difficult to build the culture he wants. He'll probably have to wait until next year at the earliest or the following year to see results. He may have to remove some starters or contributors if he finds out who the problem children are.

 

[jreb14]

Cancer and it is tough to remove from locker room

 

[Husker In Oklahoma]

One thing to remember, and this has been stated over and over again, is that it took TO 2 decades to bring us to glory.

I couldn’t disagree more with this. Nebraska was a fixture in the top 10, top 5 under him. If he hadn’t had such hard luck, he could have won an NC in 1978, 1981, 1983, 1993 and 1996. The breaks just didn’t go his way.

 

[CrabHusker]

I couldn’t disagree more with this. Nebraska was a fixture in the top 10, top 5 under him. If he hadn’t had such hard luck, he could have won an NC in 1978, 1981, 1983, 1993 and 1996. The breaks just didn’t go his way.

While I agree that TO was a much better coach from 1973 through 1994 than he gets credit for sometimes, sometimes you make your own luck. He had teams he SHOULD have won it all with and didn't. Not sure how much luck had to do with it.

 

[MadRat]

Very possible. I read between the lines that not all our JRs/SRs are buying into the SF system and the team leaders are having a problem with certain players that are rebelling against the coaching staff and/or the team captains/players/leaders. With that, probably silent rebellion, HCSF is finding it difficult to build the culture he wants. He'll probably have to wait until next year at the earliest or the following year to see results. He may have to remove some starters or contributors if he finds out who the problem children are.

This is looking for cancer where it does not exist.

The coaches may be seeking a boogeyman when it's as simple as leaders know when to speed up and slow down according to the needs of the team. Maybe they chose the wrong team leaders. It may be everything except cancer. People shouldn't jump to conclusions it is some player or combination of players. The body language out there suggests a lack of trust.

 

[Greatest Fan of All]

I couldn’t disagree more with this. Nebraska was a fixture in the top 10, top 5 under him. If he hadn’t had such hard luck, he could have won an NC in 1978, 1981, 1983, 1993 and 1996. The breaks just didn’t go his way.

Add 1982...among the worst luck of all (not as bad as 93).

 

[satcong2]

I do believe if social media and the environment that exists today was around back in the late '70s and early '80s that TO would not have survived at NU.

Excellent point. Tom has been quoted as saying that he seriously considered taking the CO job at one time, fairly early in his career as head coach. Tom was under some strong criticism because he could not win the big games.

 

[goodnterribles]

Since there is actually a coach on staff who has cancer, can we attempt to refrain from using that word to describe locker room discord? Just trying to have perspective here.