Scott Frost Quotes - March 9, 2020

Scott Frost
HEAD COACH

On starting the spring season
"It is good to be back out. I saw a lot of good energy. A lot of guys that were excited to practice. Anytime you go through an offseason conditioning program I think the guys are anxious to see the work they put in come to fruition. We definitely made some improvements in the weight room. It's good to get back out there with the ball flying around."
 
On a tough day one practice
"The tempo was really fast today. They got a lot of reps. I think the receivers in particular run a lot. We are still real thin in positions and that is one of them so those guys are going to get a lot of reps this spring. The practice definitely moved around faster than it has for the first day of spring ball the first two years. I think that mostly has to do with familiarity of what we are doing."
 
On Luke McCaffrey practicing with receivers
"We talked to Luke about his role. I think there may be a time to talk about something else for him for down the road but right now he is competing to be the quarterback. That's where he is in our eyes so we want to give him every chance in the spring to do that. Come fall if he is not the guy then I'm sure there are some ways we can use him."
 
On Adrian Martinez
"Adrian is a little limited. He had offseason shoulder surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. He is non-contact but we aren't going to be doing a lot of contact with our quarterbacks anyway. So just about everything maybe short of goal line drills where we would run the quarterback we are going to be comfortable with him taking snaps."
 
On the quarterback competition
"Every position is true competition and quarterback is no different. Sometimes we treat those guys like the last case and you can't touch them but we have always said we are going to play the best guy at every position and Adrian is starting out and he is our quarterback and he is going to get the ones at the beginning but we are going to give some reps to Noah with the ones and some reps to Luke. Just like any other position we are watching every snap they take and every rep they take. We are going to want the 22 best guys on the field at all times and the quarterback is no different."
 
On building habits in year three
"More repetition. The secret to our success for a lot of years has been getting a ton of reps in practice and let that repetition build to where you can execute it at a fast past and execute it at high rate. Last year we were putting a lot of stuff in but I don't think we executed it well enough at a high enough rate and just our level of detail wasn't where we wanted it. We are really going to dial it in on both sides of the ball this spring. Make sure we are getting good at what we need to get good at. We can expand down the road but the guys are going to get a lot of looks at our base stuff and things they need to execute efficiently."
 
On new offensive coordinator Matt Lubick
"Matt's a good friend. Also a really good coach. The level of organization on our offensive side of the ball was already substantially better. He's already making an impact. Kind of hard to describe how but some of the things we are doing. The way we are charting what we are doing. How many reps of each thing we are getting. Making sure things are scripted the right way against the right looks. That we are running plays against every look we need to see again so the guys can adjust. Those types of things. We haven't been as dialed in as I would have liked to have been, and he definitely improved us in that area already."
 
On the ability to practice at a fast tempo
"I think it is a combination of the guys knowing what we are doing and maybe the organization. The guys did a good job today. We are going to have a focus every day. Something that we are really trying to work on every day and being in helmets only today tempo was an easy choice for what we wanted to go with today. So we have even shorted down our wording on that to make sure what we do we can do really fast and the guys knocked it out of the park today."
 
On Matt Lubick's impact
"Matt is fluent in our language and our offense because he was with me for a long time at Oregon. We have stayed in touch. We did a better job self-scouting this year than we have before. Taking a look back at what we have done. What we did last year. Things we need to improve on. Little tweaks and changes we can make. Also had some time this offseason to study other people a little more and see if there is anything we can add or adjust how we are doing things to try and be a little bit better. There are a few new concepts (but) more than anything it's just us dialing in the detail and technique of things. And we are really going to work it hard this spring."
 
On new senior special teams analyst Jonathan Rutledge
"It was a big decision. There were a lot of guys that were interested in the job. We wanted to find the right guy. There were a bunch of good coaches. We wanted someone that fit with kind of our culture of the coaching staff as well. Really liked Rutledge's pedigree. Where he has been. The type of person he is. Just being a family guy. I think he is going to fit in real well. We are going to try this. I didn't really want to burden someone like coach (Mike) Dawson with making sure our outside linebackers improved and running all four special teams. That's heavy role. I wanted somebody that could kind of do the X's and O's and schematics off the field for our special teams and really train our coaches to go out and implement it with our players and it's going to save our position coaches a lot of time and have somebody whose entire time is dedicated to making our special teams better."
 
On what coaches will be tasked with implementing special teams plans
"It's going to be across the board. We kind of assigned them for spring. I'm not sure if that's going to stay true to exactly how we assigned it come fall but there are three or four coaches that are working with every special team. We are going to give one coach the lead role on every special team and let them run the meetings and drive it through on our players. Obviously with (Jonathan) Rutledge kind of helping them and explaining scheme to the coaches."
 
On the kicking situation
"That's a place where we need some new guys to come in. We are waiting on a few of our commits and recruits from last year to come in and give us depth and more talent at certain places. Certainly kicker has been an issue for a little bit around here. We are not in the best place right now. I think coach (Jonathan) Rutledge has some ideas for how to address those things. We are going to give the guys who are on campus a real good look and a great chance this spring and see if we need to make any changes from there. I worked with special teams. (Mike) Dawson has been a special teams coordinator. (Erik) Chinander has worked with special teams. It's hard to come up and coach without having some role on special teams. Coach (Sean) Beckton has done a lot of it. Coach (Ryan) Held probably coached all of them. When you are at a junior college you have to do everything including serving the beans at lunch. So we all have had some experience in it. I think we are all excited.

"One of our focuses and emphasis on the team was special teams potentially costs us three or four games last year. You could probably make an argument for more of that. But we definitely need to be better in that area. I think the kids look like they bought into that today. The effort needs to change. The details need to change. And having one guy to drive it I think is going to help us and all the coaches are on board too. We know how important it is and we are going to make sure we put in the time to be better at it."
 
On Frost's coaching improvement
"It's hard to say you have improved when you haven't won as many games as you want. But win or lose there is always something that you can learn. I think more than individually any of us improving it's improving as a group. I've always said there is a little bit different formula at every place that takes to win. I think we have the right idea of what the formula is. It takes a while to implement it. It's important in any organization especially a football team to make sure everybody is on the same page. Everybody knows the objective and everybody knows what their role is. We are still evolving in that but every day that goes by we are getting closer."
 
On the young team
"One of the keys in this league will be to have a veteran team. Get old and stay old. Having guys out on the field that have experience that are physically ready to play in this league. It's hard to flip a roster and get there fast. It's funny on our team. I think we are really young in some positions we are going to be this fall. And there are some other places that we have a ton of experience and a ton of leadership so one of the keys for us is going to have to have our leadership from some of the veterans guys we have at some positions carry over and help other positions too. It can't be a segmented team where we have veteran (defensive backs) but they can't help out the young linebackers. Or we have veteran tight ends that aren't helping out the young receivers. We need our leadership to cross those boundaries and make sure we are getting better all across the board."
 
On other veteran positions
"I think the o-line will return a lot of experience. Those guys look pretty sharp today. They know what they are doing. Particularly, (Brenden) Jaimes and (Matt) Farniok. Cam Jurgens is going to be a lot better with a year under his belt. (Trent) Hixson has played. Boe Wilson has been around a long time. So we have quite a bit of experience there. We are veteran at tight end. We don't have a senior quarterback but those guys have been around doing what we are asking them to do for a long time. Running back other than (Dedrick) Mills is going to be young and receiver we are going to be pretty young. We can get by with that as long as the leadership is good from the other places."
 
On the young players
"They are going to get reps. That's one of the great things about the way we practice. Guys are going to get a lot of reps. It's going to shake itself out. We are going to play Matt Farnoik at some guard. I know he can play tackle. We are going to see how he looks at guard some. Really where he ends up is going to depend on whether a young tackle or a guard plays better and we are going to get the best five on the field. The depth there is going to be better than we have had in a long time assuming we stay healthy. Anxious to watch that competition."
 
On Bryce Benhart being ready to play this year after redshirting last season
"Bryce is probably like a lot of young guys. The talent was there. There is no doubt he had the ability to do it. It was kind of just waiting for him to cut it lose. There were several young guys that looked like completely different guys on the field in a good way. I haven't watched the tape yet that will tell more but he had a really good first day and several other guys did as well."
 
On the defensive line
"That's another place we've got a couple old guys otherwise we are going to be playing a lot of new players. I think there is a ton of talent there. They just need to make sure they are focused and dialed in. A couple of young guys were in the program last year that we have high hopes for. A couple of new guys we have added that they've got the right measurables, right size, right speed. We have to do a good job as coaches getting them ready to replace the guys that we lost.
 
On Adrian Martinez
"I can't say a lot other than he seems like he's in a good place right now. I've lived this. When a team struggles, the team's struggles are the quarterback's struggles, and the quarterback's struggles are the team's struggles. He cares as much as anybody on our team and wants to win as much as anybody on our team. He takes that hard just like I would or just like you would. I can say he seems like he's in a really good frame of mind right now, and I thought all the quarterbacks, including Adrian did a good job of going out and attacking it today."
 
On Jordon Riley
"Jordon, this is a big picture thing, but a lot of guys stumble and make a mistake here or there in life. End up in a place you're not always thinking you're going to end up. He certainly did that by ending up at a junior college. It's always rewarding if you give people a second opportunity, a second chance and they make the most of it. Jordon's been doing everything right since he got here. He's got a bunch of ability. I was excited to see him out there today, and I hope he's one of the success stories where he gets his second chance at Nebraska and makes the most of it." 
 
On the team's toughness
"I think coaches need to demand toughness, but it better come out of the locker room or you're not really going to have a tough team. I was with a couple of my teammates this past weekend. Two of the toughest guys on our whole team and guys like them didn't need anybody from the coaches office to tell them to be tough. That's just the way that they were. They expected it of themselves and expected of one another. I think we've been getting better and better at that and I saw more of it out here on the field today than I've seen in awhile."
 
On injuries
"There's a few. Henry Gray is going to be out with his shoulder. Isaac Gifford is going to be out with his shoulder for spring. Can't really think of anyone else that is definitely ruled out for this spring. There's some other guys who are limited or are going to be out temporarily."
 
On how some of last year's redshirt freshmen have looked
"I thought several of them looked different than they did last fall. Rahmir Johnson ran harder than I've seen him. Jamie Nance had a really good day which is awesome to see. He looked confident and looked like he was out there to make plays instead of just out there to be a freshman. I thought Bryce Benhart looked good. Brandon Banks, Myles Farmer, Quinton Newsome, a lot of those guys are going to be guys that we're going to have to count on this year, and I'm leaving a lot out. We're expecting a lot out of those guys, and I saw good things in one practice today."
 
On staying ahead of trends
"Nebraska has always been a leader and an innovator in a lot of things. I think that NIL (Name, Image Likeness) decisions will benefit us greatly. There are very few places in the whole country where players' name, image, likeness personality can benefit them more than Nebraska just because of the fan base, the excitement around here. I think Nebraska's been doing a great job with that. Football kind of took the lead on it. Gerrod Lambrecht, our DFO (Director of Football Operations/Chief of Staff), kind of took the lead and got us ahead of the curve. I think Bill Moos and Garret Kassy have done a great job of kind of following football's lead a little bit and trying to make sure that we're ready to be at the vanguard of that for the entire athletic department. I don't think I'm spilling the beans here, but I think there'll be a big announcement coming in the next week or so that'll help Nebraska position itself as one of the leaders in that area."
 
On the Red-White Spring Game
"It's important. I don't have any doubt that our fans will fill the stadium by the time it's all said and done. We're going to have a bunch of recruits here just like we do every time for the Spring Game every year. It's great to tell them they'll get to see Memorial Stadium like it looks like on a Saturday in the fall. That definitely helps us recruit. We're looking forward to a packed house, and I have no doubt that Nebraska fans will do their part."
 
On offseason attrition
"Some of the departures were a little unexpected, but it's a team and I've got to focus on team success first, taking care of the guys. That's really all I do as a leader. I wouldn't call JD (Spielman) a departure. We're keeping tabs on him and wish him the best while he's dealing with things that he has to deal with. Hopefully we can get him back at some point. Some of the other departures, a couple of them were surprises, a couple of them weren't. It's going to work itself out and all that means is there are more opportunities for the guys that are still here and who want to be playing for Nebraska."
 
On JD Spielman
 "We're kind of just backing off right now and making sure that he's able to do the things that he needs to do. I think there'll be a lot of dialogue down the road, but right now we just wish him the best."
 
On Matt Lubick working with the wide receivers
"I thought he did a good job today. I thought there were some things the receivers did better today than I've seen since I've been at Nebraska. I know what kind of coach he is and I know he's going to get guys ready. There's obviously some guys that we're thinking might be able to help us this year that aren't on campus yet so we're going to have our work cut out for us as a staff to get some of the skill guys ready to play on offense. Trust some new guys to play. I think we went into today's practice with four scholarship receivers on the field. That's not near enough. He's got his work cut out for him but I trust him to get it done."
 
On what position Chris Hickman will play
"(Chris) Hickman played receiver today. He was going to start at outside for us. I think he has enough experience at tight end that if we need him he can go and be a second tight end and do those things too. Being in his second year, familiarity with the offense will certainly help with that. We need him outside right now, and he had a good first day."
 
On Alante Brown
"I've only gotten to see him one day. He caught a slant today and took it to the house. It was a pretty sight. I think Alante's the type of guy we want in this offense, the guy who can play inside receiver slot, play in the backfield if you need him. He's going to give us some versatility. He's got a lot to learn and a long way to go just like a lot of us, but I think the early signs are positive."
 
On what Travis Vokolek was able to take from his transfer sit-out season
"Guys get out of redshirt years kind of what they try to get out of what they put into them. There's some guys who put it in cruise control and don't get a lot out of it and other guys who work to learn it and get better. I think Travis (Vokolek) has improved since the day he got on campus. That's going to be a fun competition and battle at the tight end spot too. Austin (Allen) and Jack (Stoll) are a little bit limited in spring ball so Travis is going to get a lot of reps. I feel great about the shape we're in at that position with those three guys leading it."
 
On getting more production from the tight ends
"I think there's a lot that went into that. We looked at that as coaches and trying to find ways to get tight ends the ball a little bit more. That hasn't been a problem in our offense at all. Would've liked to see them be more productive last year. That wasn't necessarily due to scheme or the guys we had playing tight end. Sometimes it was situations, sometimes it was other people around the tight ends maybe not quite doing their job. I expect that production will change this year with the guys that we have in that room now."
 
On the status of the football program
"We talked about that on the elevator ride up. You guys have got me afraid to come up and say we had a good practice. I know everybody wants to hear how practice went and I was pleased today, but if I tell you guys it was our best first day ever, then a bunch of you are going to go place bets on us to win the next Super Bowl. I understand now why Coach (Tom) Osborne was so mild mannered and the most he would ever say about a player is he's going to be a pretty good player and I kind of get that now. Nebraska fans, I love them, they're so excited about it and if you say anything good about a player or a team all of a sudden they're going to be the next Johnny Rodgers and we're going to win the Big Ten. We've got a long way to go, but I was very pleased with the first day and it was the best first day of spring we've had, but the first two seasons didn't go like we wanted and so we have a lot of work to do."
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