Friday notebook: Frost's Day 1 a big success

After months of anticipation, the Scott Frost era officially got underway at Nebraska with its first spring practice early Friday morning

There were plenty of questions going in about how things would look under Frost and his staff and also how the players would respond to a dramatic shift in style of play and the personalities of their new coaches.

When the first two-hour session in helmets, jerseys, and shorts was in the books, Frost said he couldn’t have asked for a much better start.

“Good day one,” Frost said. “Really impressed with the effort and enthusiasm out here. The guys took to the style of practice that we’re going to have really well. A lot of details that still need to get fixed, but that was good effort and intensity.”

It certainly helped that with the way Nebraska structured its spring practice schedule it had the luxury of holding meetings with the players and coaches all week leading up to the opening day.

Frost said that helped the Huskers hit the ground running for Friday's 6 a.m. start, and the practice was fueled even further by the players’ effort, focus, and energy. Frost said most of the players were already at the football facilities by 4-4:30 a.m.

In fact, as much as Frost endears his time at Central Florida, he had to admit that his first practice at Nebraska was noticeably better than his first day with the Knights two years ago.

“This was quite a bit better first day than we had on our first day down there,” Frost said. “I think our guys were a little more mentally prepared for it. As coaches, we were a little better because we’ve been through this process before.

“I was really impressed with the execution and the understanding of what we were trying to get done on Day 1.”

For Frost personally, it was also a fairly significant moment to take the practice field for the first time as the head coach at his alma mater.

“It’s special for me to be back here,” Frost said. “This is a little different setting than what I was used to practicing in, but seeing that ’N’ up there is special to me. Once you get on the field and practice starts, it’s practice. I could be in Siberia or Yemen for all I know; it’s practice.

“But when we take time to step back and look at things, being back here in Lincoln is pretty special for me.”

- Robin Washut

It wasn’t all that long ago when Frost was a young college player enjoying his time away from school and football over spring break, and he’s well aware of how some of his friends and teammates chose to spend that time off.

That was a big reason why Frost organized Nebraska’s spring practice schedule the way he did, as he wanted Friday to serve as a tone-setter for what his new players could expect when they returned from break on Mar. 26.

Frost said he hoped the early taste of NU’s new practice format on Friday would help discourage some of the “extracurricular activity” that often tends to come with college spring breaks.

As the team broke at the end of practice, Frost’s message to his team was simple: “Be smart.”

“We talk about taking care of the bother to your left and the brother to your right, making good decisions,” Frost said. “We don’t have a lot of rules around here; it’s just do the right thing.

“These guys will be faced with a lot of decisions over the next week. We want them to make good decisions so we get the whole team back. We also want them to make the type of decisions that will help them be ready to practice when the return.”

- Robin Washut

It’s no surprise that UCF transfer Noah Vedral has the upper hand on the other quarterbacks on NU’s roster this spring, as the Wahoo Bishop Neumann product was Frost’s No. 2 quarterback in Orlando this past season.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, Vedral has to sit out the 2018 season, but Frost said he’s been a valuable piece to this transition none the less.

“Noah’s ahead because Noah’s had a full year in it, and you can kind of see that polish and that refinement and just that ease with which he sees things and makes decisions,” Frost said.

“He’s been a big piece of our installation because he’s able to be out here with the guys when we’re not, and when there’s any questions Noah knows the answers to them.”

As for the other quarterbacks, Friday was the first time Frost and his staff have been able to work with them in a practice setting.

“Quarterback is the toughest job,” Frost said. “I mean, it takes the longest to get comfortable, the longest to learn. They have to know what all 11 guys on offense are doing, not just their job. I was really impressed with how they took to it today.

"They had a lot of training in the classroom already with Coach (Mario) Verduzco, and I thought all the guys functioned pretty well today.”

- Sean Callahan

Frost has been on record multiple times now that he would like to continue the Friday Night Lights Camp structure that former head coach Mike Riley and his staff had a lot of success with the last three years.

The 2017 FNL Camp actually outdrew the attendance for the NSAA Class A state championship game, with nearly 8,000 fans in attendance. NU announced on Friday that this year’s FNL camp will take place on June 15, but there could be a few obstacles that down allow it to be quite like last year.

“I heard about that last year,” Frost said of NU’s Friday Night Lights Camp. “Nebraska fans, if we have something that’s open to them, they’re going to come. I know that, and that can be a real benefit to us in recruiting.

“The one thing that we have to determine yet is if the lights are going to be ready. They are working on the lights this summer, so we have to make sure we have the lights, so we can call it Friday Night Lights. We are looking to have a similar structure to what they had.”

The Huskers also announced Friday they will host two individual camps on June 6-7, a 7-on-7 event and lineman camp on June 16, and a full-padded team camp on June 20-22.

In addition, they will hold two youth camps on June 2 and 9 and a Women’s Clinic on June 14 and they'll also take part in the Adidas Satellite Camp Tour in Texas, Florida, and Georgia.

- Sean Callahan

The praise for Stanley Morgan keeps on coming, as Frost again spoke to how high the ceiling could be for the standout senior wide receiver in Nebraska’s new offense.

But what has impressed Frost just as much as what Morgan has done on the field was how quickly he has stepped up as a leader in the locker room.

“Stanley’s a real guy,” Frost said. “It was fun to watch him run around and catch balls today. He’s what we want in this offense, and he’s taken over a leadership role and done a good job with that. We’re glad to have him on the team, and he’s going to be a big part of what we do.”

Frost said veteran players like Morgan were absolutely crucial in helping establish the culture and foundation this staff needs in order to replicate the kind of success they had last year at Central Florida.

Frost pointed to others like senior guard Jerald Foster, senior nose tackle Mick Stoltenberg, and even redshirt sophomore defensive end Ben Stille as players who had taken on strong leadership roles the past few months.

“Jerald’s been a really good leader,” Frost said. “Stoltenberg, Stille, Stanley - we have some older guys that have bought in, and that’s important because those have to be the guys that hold everybody else accountable.

“But there’s nothing better as an athlete or just as a human being than being part of something that’s bigger than just yourself. I think these guys are starting to feel that, and we’ll keep building it.”

- Robin Washut

***Frost said they definitely wanted to continue holding morning practices in the fall, but they were still working to figure out all of the scheduling details.

“We’re working through that schedule right now," Frost said. "Especially in the fall, it’s important to us because of our structure and how we prepare guys for games. We want to get our work done as early as we can to recover and have them be fresh for football games.”

***Frost said there was no further roster news to report of any players leaving the team.

***Nebraska's next practice is set for Tuesday, Mar. 27, from 7:30-10:05 a.m.