Nebraska, Purdue battle in game of two most underachieving head coaches. But the arrow is still pointing up for both.

This season hasn’t gone as planned for Jeff Brohm. The same goes for Scott Frost.

This much you already know as Purdue (2-6) hosts Nebraska (4-4) in a game between programs that were supposed to be on the rise. Each team has underwhelmed instead of taking a step forward. Purdue has been decimated by injuries. Nebraska, aside from baffling inconsistency, doesn’t quite have the depth to compete with the upper half of the Big Ten.

From a salary standpoint, these are two of the most underachieving coaches in the country. Did you know that Brohm makes more money than Lincoln Riley? Did you know that Frost makes (much) more than Ed Orgeron? Brohm is making SEC-like money, according to USA Today’s salary database, as his $6.6 million salary is the eighth highest in the country. Brohm and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald are the only coaches in the top 22 highest salaries that have a record below .500. And Fitzgerald is at least coming off an appearance in the Big Ten title game in 2018. Frost, meanwhile, ranks 14th in the country in salary at $5 million, outpacing his more established peers like Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz ($4.8 million), Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio ($4.4 million) and Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst ($4.15 million).

Clearly, both Purdue and Nebraska are expecting more out of their head coaches than they’ve gotten in 2019.

While both have been disappointing, I find myself understanding Purdue’s struggles more so than Nebraska. The Boilermakers were one of the most inexperienced teams in the country, according to Phil Steele’s Experience Chart. While talented and exciting (especially offensively), the Boilermakers weren’t quite ready to make that next step – even after making a bowl two years in a row – because they were just so darn young (with just three returning starters on offense). Injuries only make inexperience issues even worse, obviously.

In Purdue’s case, it’s the players who have gotten hurt that have crushed the team’s hopes. The Boilermakers lost starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar and All-American wideout Rondale Moore at the start of the fourth game of the season, meaning they have played without them for essentially the last five games. Markus Bailey, who led Purdue in tackles (115) and sacks (5.5) last season, played in just two games this season and is expected to be out for the year with a knee injury. Purdue hasn’t gotten anything from its three core players in Big Ten action.

Nebraska has also been without starting quarterback Adrian Martinez in several games this season, but the difference to me here is what I saw before the injury. Martinez, at the very least, has not improved from last season. You could make the case that he’s regressed, as his 7-5 TD-INT ratio suggests (though three of those came against an elite defense in Ohio State). Fair or not, that will reflect on Frost, who was a successful Nebraska quarterback in his own right. Martinez is expected back Saturday.

For Frost, it’s everything else that has been discouraging. He hasn’t been a good CEO of this program. He seems to be at odds with some of his players, throwing them under the bus for not being tough enough and wearing hoodies in warmups (while he was wearing a hoodie). He has called out his players’ practice habits, most notably Adrian Martinez. While it’s certainly OK to be tough on your players (and probably a smart coaching move), what’s the point of airing these grievances out in the media? It seems like a closed-door conversation would be better for everyone.

This week, Frost met with players to apologize for losing his cool on the sidelines during the Indiana game. Football is an emotional game, so this is understandable, but you add all these things up and it just seems like Frost still has a way to go as a head coach.

Even as the losses pile up, the arrow is still pointing up for both programs. Better days are ahead. Don’t believe me? Just check the recruiting rankings. Nebraska had the fourth-best class in the Big Ten last season, and Purdue was fifth, according to 247Sports.

While there is still time to go in the 2020 class, Purdue is fourth as it has commits from four 4-star recruits. And that’s after signing four 4-stars in the 2019 class. If that holds, Brohm would have nine 4-star recruits in three years. From 2015-17, Purdue was last in the Big Ten in recruiting, signing zero 4-star recruits. Under Frost, the Boilermakers are getting high-end Big Ten players. The team will soon reflect that; it just needs time.

We’ve seen some of those highly regarded recruits already making huge impacts. Moore, as you already know, is a stud and will be a first round pick when he decides he’s ready for the NFL. The top two recruits of 2019 are having monster seasons as true freshmen, with David Bell third in the Big Ten in receiving yards with 653 and George Karlaftis fifth in the Big Ten in sacks with six (no other freshman even has two). For Nebraska, you can’t say enough about Wan’Dale Robinson. He can play wide receiver, he can play running back, he can do it all. He is mature for anyone, much less a true freshman.

So even though both of these teams have stunk in 2019 relative to expectations, the arrow is still pointing up. Brohm and Frost both have excelled in recruiting, and that should translate to the field in the coming years – if they are the types of coaches that their contracts suggest they are.

Ryan O'Gara

Ryan O'Gara is the lead columnist for Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGara.