Frost excited for 2022 class

Nebraska head coach Scott Frost met with local media on Thursday to discuss the Huskers’ final additions to their 2021 recruiting class and more.

Here is a full recap of what he had to say…

***Frost said he expected that a player would leave from the quarterback room this offseason given the nature of today’s game how there were more than 1,600 players in the transfer portal.

Frost said NU had to look at that transfer pool if the right guy came around, and they even thought about taking a guy before spring ball. They decided to wait to see what they had in the room this spring and see who else entered the portal later on.

***Frost said junior college recruiting was different this year with the altered schedule due to COVID-19. “It’s just a strange year. I feel sorry for the kids that are coming out this year.”

***Frost said his staff’s history of recruiting Hawaii helped a lot in landing Wynden Ho’ohuli, especially with the influence of Tony Tuioti.

***Frost said receiver Omar Manning was still trying to get healthy and ready for spring. He confirmed Manning was in Lincoln and preparing for spring ball, but Frost also said he didn’t want to put too much pressure on Manning by setting expectations.

***Frost said Logan Smothers was as good of an athlete as anyone in the QB room, and what’s impressed him as much as anything was Smothers’ “savvy” in the pocket and running the offense.

“I’ve got higher hopes now than when I recruited Logan, and he’s going to get his chance to show what he can do,” Frost said.

***Frost said it was “way too far down the road” to talk about speculating if they would take a quarterback transfer this year. He wants to let the spring play out before thinking any further about that scenario.

***Frost said this was “the best depth we’ve had by far and the most talent by far that we’ve had at the skill spots since I’ve been here.”

Frost said he was especially excited about the upgrades they’ve made at wide receiver.

***Frost said they were “getting really close to making some announcements” on the new special teams analyst position.

***Frost declined to comment on a question regarding criticism about the program from former players but said that comes with the territory around here. “Winning takes care of all that, so that’s what we’re focusing on.”

Frost says Nebraska reached out to several former players to make sure they knew the program wanted them involved.

***On Ron Brown, Frost emphasized that his moving on had nothing to do with Brown not being capable of doing the job. He said Brown had as much character as anyone he’d ever met.

***Frost said some of the team’s best leaders were the seniors on defense that came back for another season at Nebraska. “It’s a lot easier to win in this league with experience, and getting those guys back gives us a lot of experience.”

***Frost said Myles Farmer and Javin Wright were “both on a good track” and should at least participate in “a limited capacity” this spring. He’s excited about both players’ long-term potential.

***Frost said he wasn’t sure what the status was of Nebraska’s game vs. Illinois in Ireland was, but if it didn’t happen this season for some reason, he hoped it would happen down the road.

***Frost said they had their “fingers crossed” that fans would be able to attend a May 1 spring game.

***Frost said there were “a bunch of kids who want to come see Lincoln” in the 2022 class who haven’t had the chance during the extended dead period. He said he wasn’t sure when the dead period would finally be lifted, but it could be as early as April 1 or as late as June 1.

***Frost said he was always involved with the quarterbacks in practice, but it would still be Mario Verduzo’s group.

***Frost said he was excited about the offensive line group coming back, especially with how well the young starting five that played at Rutgers performed to end last year. Frost said, “there’s going to be some really good competition” on the offensive line this offseason.

***Frost said he expected Bryce Benhart to make a big jump after a strong redshirt freshman year.

***Frost said he usually cheered for the Kansas City Chiefs, but he was also rooting for Ndamukong Suh, Lavonte David, and Khalil Davis in the Super Bowl.