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Frost makes one last stand to save the 2020 College Football season

In January of 1998, Scott Frost lobbied to voters to help Nebraska split national championship with Michigan.

In August of 2020, Frost is now lobbying to save a college football season.

Perhaps no coach has been more proactive in moving his football program through the coronavirus pandemic than Frost. On Monday, Frost spilled his emotions on why he feels they should move forward with college football in 2020.

“I ask the players to fight for us all the time on the football field,” Frost said. “Sometimes the head coach’s responsibility is to fight for what they want to. Our football players want to play. The coaches want to coach. We want to play football this year at the University of Nebraska.”

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Unfortunately, the way things sit on Monday it may not be that easy.

The Detroit Free Press reported the Big Ten voted 12-2 to cancel the 2020 football season. The league has already confirmed no such vote happened with University Presidents over the weekend.

Since that report came out, we have seen other coaches including Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Penn State’s James Franklin and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh all come out with similar statements to Frost’s.

“Swinging as hard as we possibly can right now for these players!! This isn’t over! #FIGHT,” Day tweeted on Monday as Frost’s news conference was going on.

No team has had their players in town longer than Nebraska over the pandemic.

Frost and his staff have leaned on countless medical professionals over that time to ensure player safety, which continues to be his No. 1 priority. If you take away the structure NU provides with testing, medical staff and meals, you can argue his team might be in a more dangerous position.

“We feel and I feel 100 percent certain that the safest place for our players where there’s coronavirus is right here where there’s structure, where’s there’s testing, where there’s medical supervision and where they have motivation to stay away from the virus,” Frost said. “Because if they don’t, they are going to lose what they love and lose their opportunity to play football. The virus is here either way, and I would contend that our players are safer here doing what they love to do being monitored and screened constantly than they would be if we sent them home.”

Then there is the financial element not only for the school, but the city of Lincoln in general.

Frost said NU would lose anywhere from $80 to $120 million without a football season in 2020. Then you look at the trickledown effect to the Lincoln economy. Two of the three biggest downtown hotels have already been temporarily closed since the spring. Multiple different dining establishments in the downtown Haymarket area have also seen their doors close since this all began. Many are staying afloat still on Paycheck Protection Program loans from the government, hoping for a football season this fall.

You take away a fall football season, and there’s no telling the damage that will be done to both the University of Nebraska and the local economy that thrives on football Saturdays.

“Our kids want to play, we want to let them play and I truly at the bottom of my heart believe this is the safest place for them doing what they love and being taken care of by a bunch of people that care about them,” Frost said.

As for when the “vote” or “decision” might come from the Big Ten? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m sure we’ll hear very soon from an “anonymous source.”

Frost and Nebraska though know where University of Nebraska President Ted Carter stands on the issue.

“I know where our University President stands, and he wants to play football,” Frost said.

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