Scott Frost, February 2022 Signing Day

Nebraska's head coach discusses the recruiting class and more

Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost was upbeat Wednesday afternoon as he spoke with the media about the Huskers' new recruits, the new coaching regime on offense and more. Below is a transcript provided by Nebraska Athletics. 

Opening statement

“It has been a while since I saw you. We have had a lot of changes obviously. A lot of new faces in the building. It is kind of exciting with the new coaches we have in the building and new players we have in the building. It has a little different feel. We have been getting back to work as a football team and had the guys in the weight room and on the field running a little bit. I am excited about that too seems to be some energy injected into everything we are doing because some of the new faces. Recruiting has changed and we signed a lot of the pieces we needed in the early signing but we have a lot of additions too today and two new freshman that signed with us today so we feel like we are putting some pieces together that are going to fit well with the team we already have and give us a chance to work with them and try to get better so we are excited about it.”

On new coaches and players

“It feels different but everything is changing and other than the new coaching faces I think this is kind of where it is going. There are so many kids getting in the portal and so many changes and people jumping around and I expect that this year will kind of be the new normal going forward.”

On the two additions that signed today

“Absolutely. Janiran Bonner is a guy we kind of got on late. He was kind of looking around after the early signing period. He is one of those guys you put on his tape and it takes about two plays to realize his athletic ability. Mickey (Joseph) did a really good job with him. Coach Beckton did a really good job with him. I went down and saw him last week recruiting and was really impressed by his talent but also the type of kid that he is. He has a great team around him and we are excited to add him. I think he can be a big play guy for us down the road. Ajay Allen is kind of interesting because we were kind of shopping for one more running back at the position another freshman. I did not know anything about him until I started interviewing running back coaches. Coach Applewhite mentioned him to me and kind of the same way when I put on his tape he is one of my favorite guys that I watched all year. There is a lot of backs that can do some things. I think he is a guy that can potentially do everything that we need a running back to do. I am really impressed with his quickness and ability to make somebody miss in short space and in the hole. Another great family and against somebody that kind of popped up onto my radar late but I am really glad we got him.”

On the two quarterback additions

“We usually carry five scholarship guys. We were down to three returning so we felt like we needed to get the numbers back up. Looking forward to some competition at some of these positions and that being one of them. There are a lot of new faces new additions that are going to be able to compete with our guys and push them. We are going to let the best man win but we felt like in order to get that position back to where it should be that maybe adding two and if we can find the two right ones that we want to.”

On Casey Thompson

“First of all his dad is an option quarterback and I have a soft spot in my heart for Tommy Frazier and Eric Crouch and Turner Gill and even Mickey Joseph. It is a dying fraternity but I got to see his dad the other day and it was great to see and talk a little football with him. The biggest thing I have noticed so far we have not gotten a chance to see him do much with a football or anything but the biggest thing I noticed already is just the leadership coming from those guys and energy coming from those guys. That is what a quarterback is supposed to do. He is supposed to pick up the level of play from everybody around him and that is tough to do in your first week on campus or your first two weeks on campus but he is doing it. I look forward to working with him and having Coach Whipple work with him. Same with Chubba (Purdy) he has been doing a great job with that too along with the other quarterbacks but we need leadership from that position and we need a guy that is going to say get behind me we are going to go win this thing and I am going to lead you there and you get that feel from those guys.”

On speculation about Casey Thompson being the starter

“Yeah that is not my narrative. There are a lot of narratives around that are not really based in fact. He is going to have every opportunity to start and he knows that. The other guys are going to get their opportunities too. We have got a long time to work with him and spring ball and fall camp to figure it all out.”

On the running back room

“I thought we did a good job at that position last year but we needed to get better. We were really young at the position with Rahmir (Johnson) being a sophomore and (Jaquez) Yant basically a freshman and Gabe (Ervin Jr.) a freshman and other guys. We had short numbers there too and so we have added a few here with Ajay (Allen) being the latest. Again I think the talent level in that room watching them run around he is going to be really good. They are learning new terminology and some new scheme right now just like everybody else and may the best man win.”

On where the team is at with scholarship players

“We are always going to be looking and I think there is going to be waves of people getting into the transfer portal and waves of people that are eligible to come to schools and we are always going to try to keep a few in our back pocket in this day in age and try and find out if there is somebody else that we can add to help the football team. It is such a moving target now with the numbers and kids jumping out of the portal. We actually get extra spots back and extra initials back when we have kids from our school enter the portal which means we could sign a lot of kids as long as there is room under the 85. So there is a lot of things to track right now but we will keep our eye out and see if there is anybody that we can add after this semester.

On the offensive lineman position

“I think the talent there. With our returning experience we thought needed to add some bodies to the room. We were low in numbers coming off of the season with a couple of departures so we have a couple guys coming in that are transfers. Looking forward just the like the other positions I mentioned to watch them compete against everybody else. We have a couple of guys that are going to be out for spring up front so there is going to be a lot of reps. Some guys coming back that played a whole bunch last year that I am looking forward to having Donavan (Raiola) coach to see if we can make some strides. I do not know for sure where the pieces will fit together up front but spring ball will help us tell that.”

On the center position

“There is a bunch of guys in the conversation. Turner (Corcoran) is a guy who I think is capable of playing all five positions if we needed him to. Did a great job at left tackle. Looked good at right tackle when we moved him over when Teddy (Prochazka) played. Teddy and Turner are both going to miss spring with injuries. They are around and learning and able to do some things but again that is going to help some guys get reps and Turner in particular will probably have to figure out where he fits best.”

On the defensive back position

“We were short there particularly at safety numbers and we have a lot of experience returning in almost every position but basically the secondary is where we lost quite a bit. Cam Taylor-Britt going and Deontai (Williams) and Marquel (Dismuke). We wanted to go out and try and find at least two corners and a safety. Love the guys we have added. Watching them run around there is some real athletes in that group. (Travis) Fisher and (Erik) Chinander have their work cut out getting those guys ready to play but feel good about the talent that we added today in that position.”

On NIL opportunities playing a factor for transfer quarterbacks

“Quarterbacks is so unique because there is one that is going to play at every school and (Casey Thompson) is coming here to compete for the chance to do that. As some of these quarterbacks were bouncing around, there is only so many landing spots because some schools have their guy. We were one of the schools once our quarterback from last year left that I think a lot of people were interested in and I feel good about where we landed.”

On the recruiting process for the quarterback position

“It was just evaluating. Trying to figure out who fit us. Which one we could get. Even tougher when kids could not visit campus. That process will be a lot easier if we can get them on campus and watch film with them and learn. That was one issue with us and the portal this year. There is a lot of sight unseen stuff. There are conversations you can have on the phone but not a lot of possibility for in person or no possibility for in person contact. It was a dance trying to figure it all out but again I feel good about where we landed with the two guys.”

On Bill Busch

“Bill (Busch) is going to be full time special teams and if you have been in Nebraska it has been an issue for us. He was able to help us from a scheming standpoint last year and I think in a lot of ways we got back. It was tough with him not being able to be out on the field coaching. That is going to take up a lot of his time and then he is going to probably assist with a position on defense but that is yet to be determined.”

On Daniel Cerni

“Daniel (Cerni) is going to go on medical scholarship with a knee issue so we are grateful for him and he is going to stay at Nebraska from down under and get his degree and hopefully still be around the team.”

On changes on special teams

“I would say first and foremost what you said we have to do a better job about specialists then we did last year. It was not all of those kids’ faults. We had a kicker who had a great year the year before and then just had some injury issues. Did well at punting the ball sometimes and other times it was disastrous. I think trying to get those guys in there will certainly help. We have not had a returner that we feel great about bringing the ball out of the endzone on kickoff or giving us a chance to score on punt return. I would speak to that. I think every year we have been here the overall athletic ability and speed of our team has gotten better. I think that should help us in the return game and in the kick coverage game.”

On the kick returner position

“There are several in the receiver running back room right now and defensive back room that have the capability to do it. Trey (Palmer) certainly being one of them.”

On the offensive staff

“It has been interesting with guys coming from different places. The staff that we had had been together so long that we all spoke the same language and knew the same things. That was good from a continuity standpoint. Maybe not great from a fresh ideas standpoint. Now it has kind of flipped. We have a lot of fresh ideas and a little bit of a language barrier. But we have been meeting a lot. Gosh there are smart guys in that room and good coaches in that room. We have been like I said going into the hiring we have been trying to marry the systems and I think done a good job of that so far trying to keep as much in our language as we can but getting to the schemes that we agree on and what Coach Whipple wants to run. It has been fun to be in a room with guys coming from different places with a little different slant on things and trying to put it all together.”

On the comfort level of the new offensive staff

“I am really comfortable with where it is. We have a lot of work to do. You do not realize how many individual line calls based on looks and rules and how many protection changes and names of routes and everything that there are and how much our kids have to learn. It really is like learning a language and it is like learning sign language when we are signaling the plays in. So we have to get our coaches comfortable with our terminology. And the kids are going to have to learn a few new things too. That is a process so we will not be completely done with that for a long time. I am sure there will still be things that come up. So there is a lot of work ahead but I am really comfortable with how it is going and where we are.”

On the recruiting process

“It does not matter what I want it is not going back. It is not going back this is the way it is going to be. I think the landscape of college football is changing a lot with some of these new rules and I think it is going to continue to change.”

On his comfort level with the portal

“Again it doesn’t really matter what I think. That’s the game and we have to play it. We are going to lose kids. Every school is losing kids that they don’t want to lose. Some that they might want to lose. You used to try and plug any holes you had on your roster with junior college kids and now there is a thousand kids in the transfer portal you have to sort through. It’s going to change our structure a little bit. We’re going to have to keep track of a lot more things and kids that could potentially leave. That’s the way it is now so we are going to do our best with it. “

On if there is a specific “portal guy”

“We are going to. We get alerts right now of kids who are jumping in and out. Our recruiting staff has done a good job of evaluating those and getting us those important names.”

On if he wants to hire a specific person

“Pro baseball teams have scouting departments for high school kids and then they have to scout each other’s teams too. There are a lot of schools in the country to try and scout all the rosters and then you’re trying to anticipate who might jump into the portal and who might not. It could be a full-time job.”

On if he anticipates any changes in the rules of recruiting

“I hope so. My opinion does not matter. There is a discrepancy based on when your semester starts and puts some school in an advantage or disadvantage. Our semester started early which kind of prevented us from bringing in kids that were potential transfers on campus for official visits. Hopefully that gets addressed but we did the best we could under the circumstances.”

On Frost’s recruitment responsibilities

“It has been a lot of changes. Some of it I think was needed and some of it was not a lot of fun to do. Some of the guys that are not here anymore were my best friends. They are great guys and good coaches but I’m also really comfortable with the guys we have now. Like I said it’s been a lot of fun for me to be in the room talking some new ideas with new people. If you’re done learning you are done growing. I think we are able to show some things that we did that were good and I’m learning from those guys too. It’s also freed me up to be more of a head coach because when I walk out of the room Coach Whipple’s got it handled. It doesn’t require my attention all the time and that’s going to allow me to spend more time with the players and do the things I look forward to doing every day.”

On Coach Whipple’s personality

“You’ll get to know Whipple so I don’t want to describe his personality for you but man he’s smart. He knows what he wants and knows what he does and if you’re going to be in charge and take something over you’ve got to be really confident. Coaching is pretty simple really at the end of the day. You make relationships with kids so that they trust you and if you know what you’re talking about and you communicate it clearly you can get there. He does a great job with all those things.”

On Zac Taylor and his team’s success

“Yeah I’m excited for those guys. Not just Zac but Troy Walters is there. Stanley Morgan is there. You talk about three great people that are dedicated to the game. I was watching the game intently and sure thought the Chiefs were going to win they went up 21-3 but I couldn’t be happier for Zac and Troy and Stanley. I got allegiance to the other team too. Raheem Morris is the defensive coordinator and he really is the guy who got me into coaching so I will be watching and trying to root for all those guys. It’s going to be a fun game.”

On the addition of Applewhite

“Believe it or not I didn’t remember it but he was at the same Red Camp in 1992 that I was at so we talked about that. We stayed at the dorm over here for six days and went to football camp. I’ve run into him several times at conventions and recruiting. I’m already really impressed with him and I think what Mickey and Brian are going to demand out of the kids at their position hopefully helps us a bunch.”

On the focus on recruiting in the Omaha area

“It’s been tough especially with COVID. We haven’t got a chance to get around Nebraska as much as we want to and some of those relationships need our attention. First day we went out we sent our whole coaching staff out in Nebraska except for me because I had COVID. We want Nebraska kids here and obviously Mickey has a lot of relationships and people know him. Barrett also has a lot of relationships and people know him so those two will be the primary Nebraska recruiters for us. There is a lot of talent in my opinion coming up in the state of Nebraska so that’s where our attention is going to be.”

On what type of mentality he wants from guys who are returning

“I want guys to learn. I want guys that are dedicated to doing the little things it takes to win. We did a lot of things right this year and a lot of little things wrong when we needed it the most. When you’re doing little things right it becomes a habit. A lot of people talk about it but if you don’t rise to the occasion you sink to the level of your training. I want guys to have those types of practices every day. The little things are going to help us win. With some of the numbers we have now at some of those positions those guys better take advantage of their reps if they want to be on the field. The competition is going to help stimulate effort in practice.”

On athletes (in addition to Turner Corcoran and Teddy Prochazka) that won’t be able to participate this spring

“I had that list and I forgot to bring it. Travis Vokolek had surgery and is going to miss some of spring. Damian Jackson. Gabe Ervin will be getting close by that time. If I forgot anybody, I’ll let you know.”

On Javin Wright

“Yeah everything looks good with Javin. Once he had a blood clot we had to make sure that wasn’t something genetic that would happen over and over. All signs point to the right place right now that he’s going to be able to continue and he’s been working out with us. I’m not sure he will be full speed for contact for all of spring ball but he’s ready to go for next season.”

On Anthony Grant

“I wanted to add some talent to that position. We’re young at that position. I love who we have but wanted to add some competition too. We actually had a couple coaches that went to a junior college game or two to watch a kid on another team and Anthony stood out. He’s had one chance at another school and had to go back to junior college, so this is his second chance and hopefully he takes advantage of it. He's definitely a talented guy watching him run around and he’s going to have an opportunity just like everyone else.”

On which positions they are hoping to add to

“We’re always going to look at talent no matter what position it is. If we come up with guys that we think, make our team better we’re going to keep our eyes open for that. We’d probably still like to add a couple big guys on both sides of the ball or at least one. Just because our numbers are a little bit down at those positions with departures.”

On adding guys to the defensive line

“When we got here we were a little more odd front which means we played with three big guys all the time. We’ve been more even now which cuts that number from three to two. Our number of need at that position and what we target has gone down but if the right guy shows up, we’ll certainly look to add a body there.”

On what they are looking to see from Omar Manning, Zavier Betts, and Oliver Martin

“We want to see consistency. Those guys all had flashes of brilliance last year at certain times and other times when it wasn’t what we expected. Experience is certainly going to help with that and hopefully Micky [Joseph] helps with that. They’re going to have a lot of guys on their heels, chasing them. With Isaiah [Garcia-Castaneda] here and with some of the other additions that we’ve made, and Trey [Palmer] and some of the other guys. If they’re not doing the right thing somebody else is going to be on the field and that’s how it’s going to be with every position.”

On the potential of that trio (Manning, Betts, Martin)

“More than just a trio. I think there’s a bunch of guys. We’ve been able to watch the guys run not do any football stuff just run. We’ve got some guys that can move. Some of the guys that have been here and some of the guys that are new. We should be able to field a bunch of guys that we feel comfortable being on the field. They’re going to get a chance to compete and see which ones are starting.”

On the tight end position

“Really anxious to see the development of those young guys at that position. We feel like we have really good young talent there. Thomas (Fidone) and AJ (Rollins) and others. Those guys are going to get reps with Travis (Vokolek) out. I think that’s going to be great for them. Obviously, Travis has enough reps that we feel good about him when he comes back and gets back with the team this summer and fall camp. Those guys are going to their shot to really develop and Coach Mick will do a great job with them.”

On recruiting two quarterbacks from the portal

“We were honest and open with both of them and told them both we were probably going to take two if we found the right ones and neither one of them blinked. That’s what competitors do. All they want is an opportunity and that’s what they’re going to get.”