Scott Frost arrived in Lincoln this afternoon to cheers and from current and former players in his home state. Athletic Dirtector Bill Moos introduced the ex-Husker player as the head coach f the Huskers just after noon today. "We got the pick of the litter."
Frost repeated the importance of unity during his news conference "We can get this entire state behind this football program." He said we can put a program on the field that this state will be proud of.
Frost met with the team before the news conference and said, "I saw a lot of fire in their eyes." He said they looked excited. He told them to go home for the holidays and enjoy their time off but be sure to come back ready to work.
Frost told the group that he remembers the good times and has witnessed the down times. He said it's time to restore the passion and, "when that happens at Nebraska this is the best place in the country to be."
Coming off leading his UCF Knights team to a conference championship on Saturday he said, "I don't know that I'll ever have a better year than 2017 but I'm going to do my best to make that happen."
And he said the time to do that is right. He said he was not considered for the Husker coaching job the last time it was open and he was glad that he wasn't in the running. But things have changed in three years. "I say the time is right because everything is set up here," to get the program back on track. "I know we can get it done."
While Scott Frost's name has been tossed around as a Husker candidate for a good part of the season he said he didn't make the decision to accept the Nebraska offer until last week.
The tipping point? "When it came down to it, this is home." Asked how he would modify his system for the Big TEN, Frost said, "I'm hoping the Big TEN has to modify their system for us."
"People here are passionate. And nobody knows that better than me," Frost said. Watching the program from a distance he said he has watched it suffer and it's time to get the program back to a place where that passion can be restored. "This is where I want to be."
Moos said Nebraska fans have been frustrated for a long time, "and I hope you'll rally around Scott." He said, "There were others that really, really wanted Scott in some prestigious programs," but he said, "this is the fit."
Moos said he did talk to other candidates and he had his people contact still more but he said, "I did not offer the job to anybody but Scott." Frost's former coach Tom Osborne was among those in the crowd on and he said Frost is the right man for the job. "He understands the things that need to be done," Osborne said. He acknowledged this won't be easy and the new coach is going to face some heat but, "He's built in such a way that he can handle it."
Looking at the road ahead, Frost said, "We need to get to work in the weight room and on the field. We're going to practice hard and fast but I told the players today everything we're going to do, it's going to be difficult but they're going to have more fun than they've ever had before."