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CFB insider believes departure of Bill Moos puts more pressure on Scott Frost at Nebraska
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Some major B1G news broke last month, with Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos announcing that was retiring from his position and the school is now looking for new leadership for its athletic department. One analyst believes that could be bad news for head football coach Scott Frost.
Speaking on the Cover 3 College Football Podcast, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd said that departure of Moos puts even more pressure on Frost to win in the 2021 season after three subpar years in Lincoln. With a new AD coming into the mix in the near future, the Huskers need to get back to bowl eligibility this fall.
“The Nebraska situation is fascinating to me right now, even before Bill Moos had retired — and, by the way, that was in no way, shape or form a retirement,” Dodd said, as transcribed by 247Sports. “I just wondered what Nebraska was — what’s its brand, does the average 18-year-old think of it? With Scott Frost a few years ago being the hip, young coach who had the chops, who had the ability, who had the background and it’s just completely fallen on its face — 12 and 20 in his three years, I think. And going into Year 4, what does that look like? When I suggested he was on the hot seat last year — ‘Well, he just signed an extension, wait a minute.’
“And even now, I have people telling me, ‘He just needs time.’ Well, if you just need that much time in college football these days, that’s the school’s problem — it’s not the coach’s problem — because you’re probably waiting too long. So he has to go to a bowl game — at least — this year to turn things around. And they don’t look like they have the personnel to have it. Now, the guy that hired him, Bill Moos, was escorted out with a nice three-million-dollar severance package. You know, you don’t give somebody, if he quit — which is what they’re saying, he retired — you don’t give him $3 million five days later.
“But so, now, the new AD — whoever he is — did not hire Scott Frost. And what does that look like and what kind of pressure’s on him? I think the first pressure point we’ll see on that — I’d look very closely to see if the streak ends on Nebraska this year. They did not sell out for the spring game. Because of COVID, it was only half capacity. But they didn’t fill it. And that would be a huge indicator, if they do not have a sellout this year, the way things are going at Nebraska.”
Nebraska is 12-20 under Frost over the past three seasons and finished with a 3-5 record in 2020.
Despite the struggles, the 2021 team should be the best that Frost has had during his time at the helm. With nearly the entire defense returning, Adrian Martinez back under center and improved offensive line play, Nebraska has the potential to take a big step this year.
It won’t be easy. Nebraska opens the year in Week 0 with a road game against Illinois and has nonconference games against Buffalo and Oklahoma. Combine that with crossover games against Ohio State and Michigan and the traditional B1G West schedule, and it’s one of the tougher schedules in college football.
Obviously, it’s unclear what Frost’s future looks like when a new athletic director is hired. But Dodd believes the head coach’s job is on the line in Year 4.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB