Here are five takes on Monday's news that Nebraska has moved on from four offensive assistant coaches...
1 - Changes were inevitable
Scott Frost is 15-27 and 3-7 in his fourth year as Nebraska's head football coach. If Frost was coming back in 2022, I think we all agree change was inevitable.
In all reality, Frost probably should have looked at a possible staff shake-up on offense after the 2020 season, but the shortened pandemic season complicated things.
When you look at what's wrong with this football team, the offense and its lack of consistency are where you start. Frost is obviously a big part of this, too.
The Huskers have failed to develop offensive linemen at an acceptable rate in four years with this staff. They don't have developed quarterback depth to step in for an injured Adrian Martinez right now.
Their high-profile wide receivers have not produced at an acceptable rate, and their running back position has failed to come anywhere close to delivering a 1,000-yard rusher each of the last three seasons.
Tight end is the only position group on offense that you can point to where things have progressed at a high level under Sean Beckton, which is why it makes perfect sense that he'll be the only coach returning on offense in 2022.
2 - Could this be the first step toward Frost stepping away from calling the offense
Could today's offensive staff changes be the first step toward Frost moving into more of a CEO head coach role?
Over Frost's six-year run as a head coach going back to Central Florida, he has always called plays and managed the offense.
It worked at UCF, but there's a reason why you see very few head coaches call the offense or defense at the high-Power Five level.
There are just too many things to manage, making it extremely difficult to both run a football program and adequately call an offense.
With the announcement of offensive coordinator Matt Lubick and offensive line coach Greg Austin being let go on Monday, I fully expect Frost to hire a completely new outside voice to run and manage the offense. What direction he goes with this hire will be awfully interesting.
3 - Trev Alberts did not force these changes on Frost
I think a common thought today is Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts orchestrated a lot of these moves. Most probably think Alberts told Frost, "you get a fifth season, but you need to make offensive staff changes."
I can tell you from a direct source close to the situation that did not happen.
Honestly, Alberts doesn't even have to say something like that. I think it's obvious things haven't worked as is, but they are giving Frost one more year to figure it out. From there, Frost had to make the tough decisions on what needed to be done.
Very few, if any, people in Frost's shoes would be given a fifth-year with a 15-27 record. He's been awarded that year, but everyone knows things can't stay "as is" in 2022.
4 - Why now and not after Iowa?
The timing of this news was certainly interesting. We have never seen assistant coaches at Nebraska fired during the season.
In all reality, I think some of these thoughts were in Frost's head after Minnesota heading into the first bye. But I'm sure he still believed he could get things turned around heading into the Purdue game.
The Huskers have now lost four games in a row since their win over Northwestern as they head into their second bye.
You have to make these changes now because the season is essentially over in terms of any post-season options. The next order of business needs to be about recruiting.
With the early signing day looming on Dec. 15, Frost has to have an idea of what this staff will look like before going on the road to recruit on Nov. 28.
Years ago, you didn't have to worry about this when there was only one signing day in February. Now, if you are Frost, you have to have a complete staff in place and ready to recruit and mine the transfer portal in December, when 95 percent of recruiting is done.
5 - We are going to learn a lot about Frost during this process
Frost is now in a very tough position going forward. He has to fill a majority of his offensive coaching staff and, in all reality, reinvent his offense and overall style as a head coach.
What kind of candidates will Frost be able to convince to join him in Lincoln? What type of coach will Frost trust to take over his offense?
Frost has stayed true to his coaching family tree over the last six years. You get the sense he's going to have to leave his tree and surround himself with a new group of coaches he's never worked with before.
This process will move very quickly. I fully expect several if not all of these coaching pieces to be in place by Nov. 28, when coaches can take the road and recruit.
