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Jeremy Pernell: Huskers Retool for a Pivotal Season
Nebraska football is a week away from opening fall camp. This will be a pivotal season for head coach Scott Frost, who seemingly hit the reset button on his program this offseason.
He has five new full-time assistant coaches. He revamped his recruiting department. And just for good measure, he overhauled his roster too. Between high school, junior college and transfer portal additions, the Huskers are welcoming 33 new scholarship players to Lincoln. The reality is all three things were sorely needed. The question now becomes: How seamlessly can Frost and his rebuilt staff integrate these new players into their culture?
What can we expect from the 2022 Huskers? The bare minimum is getting to a bowl game. If Frost can't manage that, he won't be around in 2023.
The gray area starts at 7-5. Would that be good enough to get Frost a sixth season and likely a contract extension? What if those five losses are to Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota? In Year 5, is it still acceptable to lose to prominent teams if it means you're getting incrementally better? Does that actually represent getting better for a blue blood program like Nebraska? Frost hasn't beaten a team with a pulse in four years. If that trend continues, does athletic director Trev Alberts take that into consideration?
Lucky for Frost, the scheduling gods finally appear to be on his side. At least on paper, outside of Oklahoma, the Huskers aren't expected to face a formidable opponent until P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Gophers visit Memorial Stadium on Nov. 5. Ideally, the Huskers can work through the kinks against marginally talented teams and get some momentum going for a difficult stretch, when they face Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa to close out the regular season.
With holes to fill on defense, special teams to address and a new offense to fit pieces into, Frost and his staff knew they needed to find several plug-and-play guys. The Huskers ended up adding 15 new players through the transfer portal, representing one of the largest classes in the country. At least 10 of those players are expected to either start or be heavy rotational players right away.
Over the next several days, I'll highlight each player the Huskers added through the transfer portal. I'll start things off tomorrow by taking a look at the two new quarterbacks.
