Nebraska's players had a feeling all week.

While never sure of who their new head coach would be, they read the reports and watched the news. They heard rumblings.

Then, around 2:30 p.m. central time Saturday, they celebrated the first reports of their premonitions turning into reality: former Husker quarterback Scott Frost was returning home.

"This is exactly what we needed," running back Devine Ozigbo said. "This is exactly what the school needed. It's going to be fun; people are going to be excited. It's just an exciting time right now."

Current players were called in for a 9 a.m. meeting Sunday morning for their first interaction the new head man, and it didn't take him long to get his message across. In a conversation that lasted roughly 15 minutes, Frost explained his vision for the changes in the Nebraska program involving everything from practice to the weight room.

According to the players, Frost's press conference comments from Sunday afternoon were a carbon copy of his words in the team meeting.

"Same message," offensive guard Jerald Foster said. "I'm just happy to see him being able to get it out to everybody and let everybody understand what we're going to be trying to do here soon."

Frost's message was clear and strong, but as Foster and others pointed out, it's not hard to get behind a coach who just orchestrated an undefeated season.

Several Huskers watched UCF's thrilling double overtime victory over Memphis in Saturday's American Athletic Conference championship game, and linebacker Mohamed Barry said most guys knew they were watching their new head coach. Through the wildly entertaining game, Nebraska players saw Frost's vision through his lightning-quick team and its unmatched intensity.

For Barry, that concrete vision bred excitement within himself and his teammates.

"I think everyone's excited to know the direction we're going in," Barry said. "Someone to actually tell you, 'Okay, this is what we're about to do and this is how it's going to be.'"

Within a cultural dynamic that can be partially contributed to the way former head coach Mike Riley left the program, the team made "unity" a buzzword in its conversations Sunday.

Frost entered the weight room in North Stadium and immediately stressed unity within the buy-in. Then, upperclassmen leaders turned around and stressed it even more.

"With everything he said and how he said that we were all going to have to buy in, I feel like guys are already figuring it out," Foster said.

"If we can just change the culture and keep the culture positive moving forward, and I wasn't here but whatever the '97 culture was, if he brings that back, we're ready for it."

From coaching in a college town at Oregon to playing in the big city as a New York Jet, Frost has a good feel for many cultures from coast-to-coast.

In his return to coach his alma mater, however, it's Frost's Nebraska roots that give him a little extra credibility with the players.

"He's from here, he's excelled here; he definitely knows what he's doing," defensive lineman Mick Stoltenberg said. "I think it'll be exciting to kind of get us back to our roots."

Frost, the first Nebraska-born coach for the Huskers since Tom Osborne, was greeted by his former teammates and other ex-Huskers before addressing the current players Sunday morning.

Expressing similar messages to both groups, Frost emphasized that everyone would need to be on board to get the program back to its winning ways.

"He's a guy that has figured it out, obviously, and him coming to talk to us today was just the cherry on top," Foster said. "Just being able to see that he's actually a genuine kind of person, somebody that's really going to care about us."

Foster and others are just as familiar with Frost's accolades as a quarterback as they are with his 12-0 record. Athletes on the current roster wedged themselves into a packed West Stadium concourse to hear his press conference. Several comments drew enthusiastic applause from the red-clad crowd.

But even more than his comments, Stoltenberg said Frost's purpose for coming home was what resonated most with the home-grown Huskers.

"Get Nebraska back to where it was," Stoltenberg said. "I came here to do that. A lot of us came here to do that and we still want to accomplish that, and I think he's definitely the right guy for the job. We all trust that and we're all excited to work with him."

Even for Nebraska players who didn't see the AAC title game, it's difficult to ignore the numbers put up by Frost's undefeated conference champion.

62. 32. 726.

That's the number of points, first downs and yards UCF amassed in a thrilling double-overtime victory over Memphis that highlighted offense in its fastest form.

Frost affirmed his goal to make the Big Ten adjust to Nebraska's style, meaning he won't change his high-flying, run-and-gun offense to fit the often methodical pace of the league.

As of now, he's not hearing any objections from a giddy locker room.

"It's exciting," quarterback Tanner Lee said. "It's going to be a lot of fun, I think, and I'm just looking forward to getting down to it."

Among players to express their anticipation for the new offense, wide receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. said he liked some of the things UCF did with its passing scheme and that he's looking forward to working with Frost. Morgan shot down some rumors in the process, saying he's "not really thinking about" declaring early for the NFL Draft.

With the change in scheme, the door is open for new players to step up. Quarterback Patrick O'Brien showed some mobility in his first season of work, and after scouting UCF's offense, he believes his tools are what the new staff will be looking for.

"I feel like I fit in it pretty good," O'Brien said. "I ran something similar to it in high school and I feel like it fits my skill set, so I'm just ready to go."

Frost's run-pass option system requires quick decision making and typically prefers a mobile quarterback, but Lee said he's looking forward to finding a fit within the offense and adjusting his arsenal to what the Huskers need if he decides to stay for his senior season.

"I definitely know one of the things I need to work on is being more mobile and running around," Lee said. "I'll just continue to work on that and any other part of my game, just like the entire team will."

Nebraska has had just one coaching change without a bowl game since 1961.

So naturally, the 2017-2018 offseason will be different than usual. Players won't have any organized lifting or training sessions during the month of December. They'll be home for the holidays over winter break and many will be able to spend a rare Christmas and New Year's with their families.

But come January, Frost said the Huskers will hit the ground running with harder lifting and training than ever before.

"We’re going to work our tails off in the weight room," Frost said, "and be stronger and more physical - and tougher - than other teams, because that’s what Nebraska’s about."

On the heels of Sunday morning's meeting, the players regurgitated Frost's message with the knowledge that significant changes are on the horizon.

"I think everybody's going to be on board and ready to work," defensive end Freedom Akinmoladun said. "(His message was) finish off the semester strong and get ready to work hard."

With no bowl season, the Huskers miss out on more than a dozen extra winter practices, but it gives Frost a chance to coach UCF's bowl game as well as focus on recruiting for Nebraska.

The "dead period" also gives Nebraska a chance to fully execute a culture reset. With the break, Frost said he hopes it gives the players an opportunity to recharge and refocus.

The initial excitement of a new coach will wear off. But the element of change endures, and Frost has an opportunity to deliver on a powerful opening statement issued on his first day in the red spotlight.

"(His message was) definitely changing and working harder," Stoltenberg said. "We'll be working harder than we've ever worked before and that's what we're going to need to turn this thing around."