Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost gives final thoughts on the spring

Nebraska football head coach Scott Frost was on Sports Nightly on the Husker Radio Network to discuss spring football, position by position and touched on the new coaches as well. He dialed in on NU's defensive line, talked about some improved players and hit on the quarterbacks.

The Huskers' defensive line has been one of its biggest issues this spring as they had seven available players. Frost said those players got "almost too many" reps this spring and the coaches had to adjust practices to accommodate that.

"We've had some good ones here, had some good ones last year, lost a couple of guys early that we weren't necessarily expecting to go and then a couple of kids that have left the program," Frost said. "We're done a little bit but I like what we have and if there's an opportunity to pick one up, we will."

The Huskers have hosted TCU defensive end transfer Ochaun Mathis and Texas Tech defensive tackle transfer Devin Drew so far and are scheduled to host Florida transfer Lamar Goods in a couple of weeks.

Another position outside of the defensive line that has been watched closely this spring are the quarterbacks.

Frost said he wants more consistency from the quarterbacks. He said a couple of the new guys did some good things but need to keep learning and some of the guys that were at Nebraska did really good.

"I think it's going to be a battle," he said. "It's going to be fun. The tough part is getting reps to everybody and we're going to have to pair it down pretty quick to make sure we're getting enough repetitions that the guy or guys playing are ready to go."

When Frost was asked specifically about Texas transfer Casey Thompson, he opted to talk about the new quarterbacks, Thompson and Florida State transfer Chubba Purdy.

"Both guys are coming from really successful programs and know football pretty well," he said. "Chubba's young and still has a little bit of learning to do. Both have talent and I'm looking forward to watching them compete."

He said they're both real competitors and that's nice to see at the quarterback position.

Another player Frost was specifically asked about was defensive lineman Nash Hutmacher. He said Hutmacher is one of the most improved players on the team.

"He's always had the size and the strength. He can lift a house," he said. "I thought he really moved better in the spring and made more plays in the spring. Expect to get a lot of his this fall."

Another duo Frost saw a lot of improvement from were outside linebackers Jimari Butler and Blaise Gunnerson. Garrett Nelson and Caleb Tannor will be starting in the fall but Frost has high expectations for the redshirt freshmen.

"Blaise and Jimari both have a really bright future in front of them and they are going to be contributors and future starters here," he said.

Frost said the entire wide receivers group took a jump up as some of the new players did well but also the players who have been at Nebraska improved.

He said there were a few receivers that weren't full speed or weren't practicing in the spring that will help in the fall.

The head coach was asked about all the position groups and his response to the running backs stood out.

"I thought Jaquez Yant made some strides, at times he looked great last year and at times he looked young and unsure," Frost said. "Anthony Grant did some good things. Rahmir (Johnson) continues to improve all the time while he's here. Markese Stepp did some good things when he was healthy."

Frost said he feels good about the depth and it's going to be a race for carries come fall.

As for the spring as a whole, Nebraska was missing a few key pieces that will factor in during the fall.

"I think we made a lot of improvements in some fundamental areas that I think are going to make us a better football team," Frost said. "But we also have some catching up to do. Continuing to work on marring a couple of schemes on offense and the terminology and the rules of that. We're always looking to add another piece or two."

He said: "It's not a complete product yet but we feel good about the work we've put in."