Frost brings optimism, excitement in Chamber of Commerce speech

Nebraska head coach Scott Frost was the keynote speaker at the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Annual Lunch at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Wednesday.

He spoke for about 30 minutes, telling old stories from his playing days and also giving a few updates on where the Huskers are as a staff, as a team, and as a culture.

Here’s a quick recap of what Frost had to say…

***Frost reiterated how important continuity was for a coaching staff, saying it was one of the reasons Nebraska was so good for so long under Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne. After keeping his staff together for the past three years, Frost finally lost an assistant this winter when defensive line coach Mike Dawson left to take a job in the NFL with the New York Giants.

Frost said there were “tears and emotion” involved when Dawson made his decision to leave, but he feels really good about the man who will replace Dawson: Tony Tuioti.

Frost said NU conducted a nation-wide search and believes they found the best fit in Tuioti not only because of his vast knowledge of the 3-4 defense, but also because he can “speak the language” of the rest of the staff.

Frost called Tuioti “a good man” and a “good fit,” but also noted that Tuioti would bring his own personality and style to the program. Frost said he learned from Osborne that you can’t surround yourself only with people who act and think like you because then you’ll never grow.

***Frost added that Tuioti had seven children, including four boys. "Somebody's high school is about to get a lot better in football."

***Frost said recruiting has been going “really well” so far, saying he was especially happy with the class they were able to put together for 2019.

***One of Frost’s best jokes came when talking about Nebraska’s new state tourism slogan: “Honestly, it’s not for everybody.” Frost apologized to the people who were in the room that helped come up with the slogan, but joked, “I’m not sure that’s going to help us in recruiting. That’s like a restaurant saying, ‘The food’s good. Some people like it.’”

***Frost again spoke on how surprised he was with how far behind Nebraska was as a program when he first got here a little over a year ago, and it mostly had to do with strength and conditioning.

He said there wasn’t “a lot of power and speed, and that was because it wasn’t being developed.” Well, he then said that NU strength coach Zach Duval just texted him this morning with some pretty encouraging anecdotes as to how much progress has been made in that regard.

Frost said that since the end of last season, the Huskers have increased their average squat weights by 100 pounds, increased their average bench press weights by 50 pounds, and added an average of 13 pounds of lean muscle per player.

Frost said Duval ended that text message with: “The old Nebraska is just about back.”

***Frost said for Nebraska to be great, “we need to be the best at developing who we have.” He said there might be more talented players elsewhere, but it takes a certain kid to truly want to play for Nebraska and be part of the culture they're trying to build.

***Another important area of growth for the Huskers has been in their toughness. Frost echoed what he said last season that it “blew my mind” how much bigger and stronger teams like Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Michigan were than Nebraska.

“That shouldn’t happen, and that won’t be the case much longer," Frost said. “Once we catch up with those teams, watch out.”

***Frost told the crowd that it’s his goal to make sure fans don’t ever have to watch another Nebraska game where it looks like the other team is playing with “more energy, emotion, and toughness than we did.”

***The third most important element to building a program for Frost is culture, and he was reminded of an old saying that perfectly related to what Nebraska is trying to do right now.

“Culture eats scheme for breakfast,” Frost said, meaning it doesn’t matter how good your offensive or defensive game plans are if your players aren’t fully bought into what you’re doing in every sense.

“We had a long way to go to get the culture where we want it to be, but it’s close now,” Frost said. “We’re on our way, but it’s not easy.”

***A big part of that is developing the player leadership necessary for the team to hold itself accountable. Frost said when he played, guys like Grant Wistrom, Aaron Taylor, and Jason Peter were the ones who addressed issues on the team to where the coaches rarely had to.

Frost said those guys were “culture setters and culture keepers,” and that’s what NU needed the most right now.

***Overall, Frost had nothing but optimism about the progress he and his staff had made with the team thus far, but he also made it clear that their work had only just begun.

“I love where we are; I love where we’re going,” Frost said.