Another one bites the dust

On Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska the Cornhuskers battled Georgia Southern and would have a 4th quarter lead until the Eagles scored with 2:29 remaining in the game plenty of time for Nebraska to score. Nebraska drove and would set up a 52 yard field goal with only seconds left on the clock. The kick was far enough but it hooked to the left and the Nebraska Cornhuskers would lose another one score game. The pain on Coach Scott Frost’s face truly was one that said, “I’m not going to be coach at Nebraska much longer.”

If he indeed thought that he would have been right. Frost lost his job Saturday night but he would end up with a big payday. Interestingly enough the Coach of the Georgia Southern Eagles was fired from USC a season ago one Clay Helton.

Frost is a former Cornhusker QB who coached at Central Florida and would quickly turn around a struggling program. In two seasons Frost would take a winless Knights football team to a 13-0 season and defeat Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Of course, everyone in Nebraska was screaming for Frost to return to Lincoln and turn around the football team. Who would be a better choice than someone that knew what it takes to succeed at NU. His mentor was Tom Osborne so naturally everyone thought that Frost would walk back on campus and the top players in the nation would flock to Lincoln, Nebraska.

That would have been a great story but the great rivalries that Nebraska had in the Big 12 really aren’t in the Big 10 but the money is. Money is great but the fans and alumni want championships and it is not going to be easy in the Big 10 unless they can get top notch talent. Ohio State and Michigan typically does quite well in that category. Right now the Cornhusker faithful would settle for a dominant win against a quality opponent. Heck a win over anyone be enough right now.

Going back to the 1990’s Tom Osborne was considered as one of the greatest coaches ever but when his Nebraska teams lost a couple of Orange Bowl games which also ended their chance at a National Championship there were people who thought that he needed to go as well. But Osborne was smart and started to recruit speedy athletes from California and Florida. When those recruits brought back to back National Championships to Lincoln he was a hero and all of those crazies that wanted him gone were looking for a spot on Mount Rushmore for his face to be prominently displayed for the whole world to see.

The QB for Osborne’s 1997 team that went 13-0 and won a National Championship was none other than Scott Frost. So the question is did Frost deserve to be fired? If the criteria are wins and losses only then sure he should be gone. But the Cornhusker winning tradition has been absent for quite some time now and obviously the powers that be believe that in order for Nebraska to win they need to have ties to Nebraska. The truth is Cornhusker Nation hasn’t been happy with about three guys with ties to Nebraska even though two of them had winning records.

The 1970s, 80s and 90s were really good to Nebraska fans. But they were also members of the Big 8 and Big 12 and had true rivalries with Oklahoma and Missouri and Saturdays were pretty darn good for these folks. There is no professional team in the state so Nebraska football is the only game in town so to speak.

Former Athletic Director Bill Moos hired Frost and this was considered a coup for the Huskers. Moos has since retired and this headache has avoided him this season. But it was the fans that wanted Frost in the first place as did Osborne thinking that Frost was the answer. But it didn’t work out for a lot of different reasons. Now the experts will begin throwing out names as to who can be the next Cornhusker coach and one name that might be brought up is Clay Helton since his team beat Nebraska on Saturday so why not.

Helton knows what Frost was going through on Saturday since he went through the same thing a year ago. When a coach’s career bites the dust it can’t feel good but at least a few million will help keep him warm.