Nebraska Coach Scott Frost Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Monday, Aug. 27, 2018
Pre-Akron

Head Coach Scott Frost 

On the most unexpected moment from an opening game throughout his career as a player 

“The one that comes instantly to mind, I got drafted third round by the Jets to play safety, a position I had never played before. We went to Philadelphia to play and I had to return the opening kickoff...I didn’t even return opening kickoffs in high school. The kickoff return was the only thing I didn’t play on in high school and I remember catching the kick and I was all fired up thinking I’m going to take this thing back to the house. I broke right and broke back up field and somebody went low and in front of me and I jumped, which is a bad mistake when returning a kickoff and got absolutely destroyed my first play as a pro. I wasn’t ready for that.”

On his decision to name freshman Adrian Martinez the starting quarterback 

“I think it was close. I think a bunch of guys in that room have improved and done a really good job. We pick the guy that we feel gives us the best chance to win. It didn’t matter who we picked, we were going to be playing a quarterback that hasn’t taken a live football snap really in two years. And that experience certainly would help them if they had it, they don’t have it and we’re going to ride with it and go. We don’t really have a choice, but it was a close battle several guys did really good things. At the end of the day we picked the guy we thought gave us the best chance of winning.”

 

On how Tristan [Gebbia] took the news 

“ I think that’s to be determined. He took the news initially really well, but we have to see how it plays out. Certainly every single guy on our team we’re going to care about and want what’s best for him. We want guys that want to be here hopefully everything lands in a good position for him.”

 

On Tristan [Gebbia] practicing today 

“No, he didn’t practice today.”

 

On whether or not Tristan [Gebbia’s] absence surprised him 

“Like I said, Tristan is a great kid. There have been several players that have chosen to not be a part of the program. Some of the decisions I agree with some of them I didn’t. No matter what, these are good kids and we want what’s best for them. We preach that we care about our kids and if they make a decision that doesn’t involve us we’d be lying if we didn’t help them and act like they’re important to us, so we’re always going to do that. On the flip side, our team is always going to preach team before me take care of the brother to my right and to my left. I want players on this team that are actually here about that. Whatever kids are on the roster come first game those are the brothers that I want.”

On how he’s feeling five days before kickoff this season  compared to how he was feeling at this time last season at UCF
“It was a work in progress down there, it’s going to be a work in progress here and I’ve said that since I got here. I know how far this team has come. We’re light years ahead of where we were in January, but we still have to go play. Sometimes when you’re playing with a new offensive and defensive scheme, new coaches, everybody together for the first time, there’s going to be mistakes. We’re going to live with the mistakes and roll through them. Those particularly happen when we’re playing young players and we’re going to be playing a bunch of them. We’re going to try and limit them as much as we can, not let them drag us down, and move on to the next play. We’ve got enough talent we’ve made enough improvement to be really dangerous, we've got to execute more and take care of the football.”

On how he feels about the quarterback situation if [Tristan] Gebbia isn’t around 

“I don’t really want to address this yet until it happens. The quarterback situation as a whole, it’s not ideally what a coach would want to have. I think Matt Masker has taken a live football snap more recently than anybody else we have on this team right now. But I know we've got talented kids and we trust them and like I said we’re going to roll with them. They’re going to have our 100 percent support, whichever guys are here and whichever guys are playing and we’re going to work our tails off to get them ready and help them play well.”

 

On why Adrian Martinez gives Nebraska the best chance to win 

“I think several guys, Adrian and Tristan in particular threw it well. I think Adrian’s athletic ability was probably the factor that broke (if there was a tie) that broke the tie. Both guys have done a great job running it. Andrew [Bunch] did too, he was right in the mix until we had to get closer to a decision. I think at the end of the day we’re more dangerous, (if we have a quarterback where the throwing is close) that we have a quarterback that’s a threat running it I think our offense will be better.”

On whether or not he was surprised Tristan [Gebbia] didn’t practice today 

“I don’t want to get into it until I know what’s going on. Tristan has been a really good teammate, a good kid, and we want what’s best for him. I hope he’s here again.”

 

On whether or not the quarterback decision had anything to do with thinking ahead to 2019 and beyond 

“2019 and beyond? Not at all. It would be different if we had a senior and were starting a freshman instead of a senior. We had two freshmen. So whichever guy won it was going to be around here for a long time. We were hoping the backup would be around for a long time. I know going through it a couple years ago that we’re going to get some really good playing, but I want whoever is playing to understand that there’s going to be mistakes and we’re not going to be perfect. We’re going to work through them and getting experience early really helps you down the road, but we’re not thinking ahead at all we want is to win games this year. “

On fans thinking Nebraska may be a four or five win team again this year 

“I don’t care what they think.”

On what to expect from Akron 

“Akron is a good team. They were in the MAC championship last year. I don’t think the season probably ended the way they wanted it to. I think their coaches do a really good job. There’s schemes on both sides. I watched their defense, I think they have nine returning starters on defense from the team that helped them get to their league's championship. They do a good job mixing it up, really hard to dial in. Expecting them to come in ready to play so we have to be at our best like I said we have to execute more and take care of the football.”

 

On how valuable this next week of practice is 

“We’ve got to have a good week of practice. We preach to the guys all the time that you don’t show up on Saturday and all of a sudden play well. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday determine how well you’re going to play on Saturday. We win the game or lose it today and tomorrow and Wednesday. I think Saturday is a reflection of how well we prepared. We had a good start to the week. Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be vital for us to make sure we’re executing the game plan well on both sides. We’re as ready as we can be and I feel confident about where the guys are.”

On team suspensions and discipline going into week one 

“Not that I know of. Not unless you did something last night”

On Breon Dixon’s role and the defensive depth chart 

“Breon [Dixon] is a guy, and several guys, that I think are good enough to play for us, but have a redshirt year to use and if we don’t think they’re going to be on the field enough then we’re going be smart about it. But the four game rule of still being able to redshirt is going to change things a little bit where there’s going to be more guys than normal kind of on the bubble. We won’t have to make that decision now, we can make it down the road depending on how much they play and whether or not we need them at a position. There’s a few guys that I think are capable of playing for us, but they’re a little bit down on the depth chart right now. If we have that situation where they aren’t going to play a lot. we are going to try and save a year for them if we can.”

On senior safety Aaron Williams' role 

“Aaron [Williams] needs to be a player for us. DB’s I think we’ve got some good depth there. He’s definitely part of that we are going to need all of those guys to show up and play.”

On his own role this Saturday 

“To be honest with you once gameday hits I have my head down and I’m working. I wish my job allowed me to stop and smell the roses a little more because it’s going to be special running out on the field in front of the home fans again. If I'm doing my players a service then I’m locked in on game planning, calling the game, and getting our guys ready to play. Hopefully there’s a moment somewhere when I can stop and take it all in. We want our players to be all business and the coaches to be all business as well.”

On the effect Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter had when they addressed the team
“When you’re away from guys like that for a while you forget how much passion there is. Grant and Jason’s passion for Nebraska football was evident even the other day. It’s inspiring to be around that kind of passion, guys that care that much, guys that are willing to lay it on the line that much. Maybe it’s just the past coming back to me, but they pushed my buttons, I was ready to play after I listened to them talk and I think a lot of guys took their talk to heart.”

On whether or not this year’s team has that kind of leaders on it
“I don’t think we have leaders that are that good. I don’t know how many Nebraska teams in history have had leaders that are that good. We had them on offense too, on the offensive line with Aaron Taylor and some of the guys. A team’s the strongest when coaches don’t have to get involved, when players are the police of other players, when players are holding each other accountable. Absolutely no question when Grant and Jason were here if you got out of line it didn’t ever get to the coaches, it was going to get stopped in the locker room. We’re starting to develop that, we’ve got some guys trying to step into that role. I think that’s a piece that’s been missing for a while.”

On the trio of veteran interior lineman (Tanner Farmer, Jerald Foster, Cole Conrad) starting to take ownership of the offense
"Particularly Jerald Foster. He’s going to get the guys in a huddle if he needs to, we’re going to run a play again because of those guys if we need to. It needs to extend past the practice field, and it extended past the practice field with guys like Grant and Jason. I think we’re getting there but I want to see those guys step out even more.”

On how the team will handle captains
“We’re going to talk about captains this week. I don’t know if we’ll have four full-time captains or we’ll rotate it among guys that are deserving, but I think we’re going to meet on that as a coaching staff here early this week.”

On what he saw in junior outside linebacker Tyrin Ferguson and how he ended up on the top of the depth chart
“He is a work ethic guy. He’s come to work, done his job, put out effort as well as anybody on the team. He’s earned his spot. When depth charts come out, particularly the way we practice, with as many reps as we get, there’s very little decision-making among the coaches. There’s very little we have to decide. The decision’s already made by the number of reps that the guys get. In almost every case the players can see it too, so the guys that are on the top line of that depth chart have earned that and I think every coach and every player can see that.”

On his definition of success in year one
“I’ve talked about this a lot. I want improvement. I want improvement from practice to practice, improvement from game to game. I want us to be better in week two that we are in week one. I want week one to look better than week 12 last year. We do that, we’re going to land in a good place. Other things I’d mentioned, I want to see a team that’s going to put out effort no matter what and fight no matter what. Up 21 we need to be playing harder, down seven we need to fight harder. Fourth quarters need to be on point, we need to be a physical team. I want to see passion, I want to see togetherness and I want to see a bunch of guys playing for each other.”

On what he sees in freshman kicker Barret Pickering
“I like Barret’s mentality. He doesn’t seem like a guy who’s going to get rattled. He’s done a good job kicking all fall, so I’m excited to see what he can do. We’re going to be playing a lot of young guys and see how they react to the environment the first time on Saturday. Kicker’s one of them, hopefully his first kick’s a PAT.”

On plans to rotate the four running backs on the depth chart
“I think it’ll be a game-by-game and situation-by-situation thing. We have several guys that I think are capable of going in there and making plays for us. I imagine early on there will be a rotation. We’ll kind of decide before a series who is going in and then we’ll substitute in the middle of a series if a series gets long or we need somebody that’s better at something else. All those guys are going to get touches and get playing time and if somebody’s playing better than somebody else they’ll get more work.”

On the role freshman running back Miles Jones will play
“He’s going to have to do both. We’ll play him in the slot some and get him some running back touches. Hopefully he factors in.”

On freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez’s maturity
“We’ve known Adrian is very mature for his age for a long time, really since we recruited him. Getting here in spring was essential for him to be where he is. I think that allowed him to get used to college life, get used to campus here, get used to a little bit of the spotlight, get familiar with things around here. It certainly helped him land where he is. He’s going to need that maturity. There’s going to be a lot on his shoulders. I’ve lived that life and I’m sure there’ll be some mistakes and some lessons that have to be learned but he’s earned the chance to go out and prove it. I can’t wait to watch him play.”

On whether Martinez reminds him of any of the quarterback’s he’s coached
“(UCF junior quarterback McKenzie Milton) is probably similar. McKenzie was ready to play as a freshman, he just didn’t have that spring ball. Got hurt a little in fall camp so he was a little behind but when we got him out there boy you could tell right away he was a playmaker. There were some mistakes, some freshman mistakes that were inevitable, but he was the best we had and he just kept getting better to the point of being one of the best players in the nation in year two.”

On managing the running backs
“I think we’ll pick a starter but then it will be a series by series deal. If there’s somebody that’s better at any particular thing that we’re going to run then we’re going to try and get the right guy on the field.”

On whether or not he will use Tom Osborne’s philosophy of trying to get backup quarterbacks quality snaps
“Any time you can get a backup quarterback some meaningful snaps I think it’s important to do it. The difference is we’re going to be playing a guy without experience. Our starter needs experience too, so I don’t think it’s something we’re going to force to happen in the first or second quarter but if a game dictates, and we have an opportunity to get somebody else some reps I think those reps will be valuable, too.”

On when he and the coaching staff knew that Adrian Martinez would be the starting quarterback
“Middle of last week, late last week. I told the coaches we weren’t going to decide right now but I kind of took a straw poll of who everybody else thought. That was after Mario and I spoke and Coach Walters and I spoke. It was pretty clear at that point, wanted to see it play out yet. I give credit to both guys, they’ve done really good things but it was consensus among the coaches that he gave us the best chance.” 

On any changes to gameday rules for his staff
“The only thing that might get us to change a little bit is the new headset rule. We’re limited to a number of headsets because I think there’s some people out there that probably have more coaches than they’re supposed to have coaching on gameday. We’ll be compliant on that front, as close we can keep to the status quo the better for us so that we can all operate in a way that we’re used to.”

On updates to the new travel roster rules for the Big Ten
“We just heard this morning they’re going to bump the Big Ten travel number to 74. I think that’s a good idea. If you change the redshirt rule and we can play redshirts in four games a year most likely those guys are going to get limited reps on offense or defense and play on a special team or two. It’d be hard to travel those guys and use those guys in one of their four games on the road with a travel restriction of 70. That’ll give us some freedom to take some of the guys that we need to get experience in a limited fashion at away games as well as home games.”

On whether he’s thought about his first play call
“We’ve been grinding on the game plan through the weekend and will today. We go over call sheet and what we’re going to call when on Thursday. We’ll probably make that decision on Thursday.”

On his overall feelings about the Big Ten
“It’s a great league. I’ve admired the Big Ten coaching from two different leagues now. I think last year the Big Ten was arguably the best in the country, I think the bowl games kind of proved that. I think there’s some elite teams at the top and a lot of other teams that are good enough to beat you any time and closing the gap on some of those elite teams. It’s going to be a highly competitive league and we’re excited to compete in it.”

On his thoughts about his cornerbacks and whether they are good enough and experienced enough to play the defense the way he wants
“I felt great about the DB’s all camp. I give those guys credit because that was a position that I was worried about coming into fall camp. I think there’s been increased competition at some of those spots because some of the new guys that have come in, some of those new guys are going to play and a lot of the guys that had been here did a good job stepping up and holding onto their jobs and improving their play. We’ve gotten really good play out of the secondary, a lot of credit to Coach Fish on that front, but I feel good about where those guys are going into the first game and I think that could end up being a strength for us.”