However obviously, Scott Frost is on the hottest of hot seats at Nebraska
Scott Frost was supposed to resurrect Nebraska football, but it has not happened and he's on the hottest of hot seats.
Coming off a 13-0 season as head coach at Central Florida, Scott Frost came back home to coach his alma mater. A Lincoln native and the quarterback of the Cornhuskers’ national title team in 1997, he was supposed to resurrect Nebraska football.
Over three seasons, Frost has a 12-20 record at Nebraska with no bowl appearances. The Cornhuskers fanbase may be “delusional”, as SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum once said, but Frost has not delivered on the hope he came with.
During his regular Monday morning appearance on WJOX radio’s The Roundtable, Finebaum weighed in on Frost’s job security, his legacy and the notion he’s on the hot seat.
That really doesn’t matter anymore,” Finebaum said. “... Just in terms of the things that don’t matter on the field, the intangibles — I mean, this guy was the quintessential, great, big-time, the next great coach. And I’m not blaming him. I just think — I wonder if he can win out there any longer. And so, I agree with (Frost being on the hot seat) completely.”
It’s obvious Frost has to win more, and it may take a bowl appearance to save his job. Let’s look at the Cornhuskers’ 2021 schedule.
Aug. 28-at Illinois
Sept. 4.-vs. Fordham
Sept. 11-vs. Buffalo
Sept 18-at Oklahoma
Sept. 25-at Michigan St.
Oct. 2-vs. Northwestern
Oct. 9-vs. Michigan
Oct. 16-at Minnesota
Oct. 30-vs. Purdue
Nov. 6-Ohio State
Nov. 20-at Wisconsin
Nov. 26-vs. Iowa
Running through the games, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Wisconsin get marked as losses (“any given Saturday” to try to say Nebraska can win those games only goes so far). So the Cornhuskers will have to win six of their other nine games to gain bowl eligibility.
The game against Fordham out of the FCS is an easy one, and Illinois should be winnable in the first game of the Bret Bielema era. Buffalo lost head coach Lance Leipold to Kansas, but the talent base remains to keep them from being a MAC pushover. Splitting the four games against Michigan State, Northwestern, Michigan and Minnesota looks like a best-case scenario. The Cornhuskers should be favored at home against Purdue, and the season finale against Iowa could be a must-win to get bowl-eligible.
I’m only willing to confidently predict three wins for Nebraska right now-Illinois, Fordham and Purdue. Book the losses to Oklahoma, Ohio State and Wisconsin, and that leaves three more wins to get to six. They should be favored against Buffalo, so let’s tentatively get to four wins (and a 3-0 start!). Will they win two of the other five?
Michigan better beat Nebraska, or they’ll be calling for Jim Harbaugh’s head in Ann Arbor. Minnesota will have more talent on the field than the Cornhuskers. So should Northwestern, and so will Iowa. Michigan State looks the most likely win of those five Big Ten games, and getting down to it it’s not close.
I’m putting Nebraska at 4-8 or 5-7 this season, and that assumes wins over Illinois, Purdue and Buffalo. It could get very ugly in Lincoln, and it will take more than Frost has at his disposal to earn a fifth season as Cornhuskers’ head coach.
What’s your prediction for Nebraska football in 2021? Will things go so far off the rails that Frost doesn’t last the season? Give me your thoughts in the comments