My job is to try to make sense of the world, particularly the world of Nebraska football.
Sometimes I look to other writers (or bloggers) for wisdom.
"I long for the days when the characteristics of the Nebraska team we put on the field on Saturdays exemplified the characteristics of the hard-working people of our state," Scott Frost wrote in a blog post in 2005, a year before he became a graduate assistant at Kansas State.
Don't stop me if you've already read his bit of wisdom. It's applicable today.
"We used to have the Taj Mahal of college football programs," Frost wrote then. "Now it feels like someone took 40 tons of dynamite to our proud and noble masterpiece and built a three-bedroom ranch in its place."
In 2005, Nebraska was in the thick of the Bill Callahan era and felt nothing like the program Frost knew as a Husker quarterback in the 1990s and as someone who grew up in the state. From 2015-17, Nebraska under Mike Riley was eons from the rugged 1990s program. The gap became almost ridiculously large.
Even with Frost in charge, it's unrealistic to think the program can snap quickly into anything resembling championship form. That's become clear in the first two games this season — perhaps clearer than anyone anticipated. But if there's confusion in this conversation, it's completely understandable.
Think back to the long offseason, to all the worship of Frost. I've said it along with many others: He was the only one for the Nebraska head coaching job following Riley's dismissal, the only coach who made sense. The trouble with the abundant joy and hope that accompanied Frost's hire was it distorted the reality of the mess he inherited.
There obviously remains a chance Nebraska (0-2) could pick up steam and become a bowl team this season, but the case for that scenario suddenly feels tenuous. In the hours following Saturday's 24-19 loss to Troy, my conversations with Tom Osborne in December, right after Frost's hire, reverberated in my cranium. Be patient with Frost's restoration project, Osborne kept saying, although his words were drowned out in the excitement.
Said Matt Davison in December: "Scott's a young coach. That's the thing. He's going to get even better, and it's going to be fun to watch. But remember, this is the biggest rebuild we've had in our lives."
There's a reason Frost has a seven-year deal (worth $35 million), tied with Tim Miles for the longest in Nebraska athletics history. Frost said in July he appreciates being in a situation that will allow his staff to "do it the right way and try to build a program for the long haul."
I don't want to sound preachy, but wise Nebraska fans should want nothing that resembles a rush job. Rush jobs typically don't overtake the Ohio States of the world. The Buckeyes are what the Huskers were when Frost was playing quarterback. Urban Meyer's crew is what Frost ultimately is chasing. That's a colossal undertaking.
Meanwhile, it's important to remember Frost inherited a quagmire. There were zero Husker defenders who made the coaches' All-Big Ten squad last year. I'm talking first team, second team or third team. Not one Husker defender even made honorable mention. As for the coaches' all-conference offense, wide receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. (second team) was the only Husker.
Even so, I believe the culture Frost inherited is more troublesome than the talent. That said, Frost's quick work turning around Central Florida's program created a level of expectation among Nebraska fans that may not be realistic.Â
Frost himself has admitted he and his staff were surprised UCF broke through as quickly as it did.
"The same thing will happen here," Frost told in July. "We'll be a little better this year than they were last year, but it takes some time for the kids to really understand the scheme, and the systems and details that make it work. We need a couple years of training in the weight room and a couple years of getting the culture established. Year Two is when it's going to take off around here."
At the moment, that seems optimistic. For now, incremental improvement is the objective. The loss to Troy resembled the Riley years. It stung fans. But as Osborne has said repeatedly, Frost will need time and patience.
After all, as Frost has written himself, the Taj Mahal wasn't a rush job.
Online: Watch Monday's news conference featuring Scott Frost beginning at 12:30 p.m. and check out photos from Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium @HuskerExtra.com.
Inside: Kurt Rafdal made a fantastic catch in the fourth quarter on Saturday, and it's featured on the poster on Page B10.Â