It was an eventful Monday in Lincoln. We put the Weekly Rundown column on hold a day to let the dust settle.

It was an eventful Monday in Lincoln over the bye week. We put the Weekly Rundown column on hold a day to let the dust settle from Monday.

You have to feel pretty good about these things right now:

Trev Alberts leadership: We have seen some good leaders at Nebraska over the years and we have seen our fair share of bad leaders. First-year NU Athletic Director Trev Alberts appears to be a very good one.

There was no easy way to handle this situation with Scott Frost considering the fanfare the hire brought to NU in December of 2017.

Alberts was the first to admit nobody is happy with the last four years at Lincoln. He figured out a way to handle this, I think, in the best way where all sides met in the middle.

Scott Frost getting a fifth year: Is there heat on Frost? Absolutely. However, I’m not sure anyone ever in a position of power expected to or wanted to make a move on him after four years.

The reality is this was supposed to be a 20-year hire and to blow it all up after committing so much to it would have been very costly. I don’t think anyone close to the situation is all that surprised Frost will be back in 2022. Some on the outside may have different views, but nobody in a position of power tied to the program ever wanted to make a move after four years.

Alberts also admitted on Monday that Frost’s former player status and connection to the program played a factor. This job is not just a paycheck for Frost. It means something to him, and that more than anything bought him at least one more year. The fact his team continues to play hard for him also played a factor.

JoJo Domann’s draft future: We may have seen Nebraska linebacker JoJo Domann play his final game at Nebraska Saturday vs. Ohio State. His final decision is still pending, as he continues to mull over his plans after a hand injury he suffered vs. Purdue.

I do know this though: Domann has done all he can over the last 10 games to elevate his draft status. The Senior Bowl has taken notice, as have many others. His value is very high in the NFL right now. He is currently ranked No. 11 all-time in solo tackles at Nebraska with 133, just behind names like Carlos Polk, Mike Brown and Broderick Thomas.

These were my surprises of the week:

The timing of the staff changes: If Frost got a fifth-year it was inevitable staff changes were going to come with it.

There was no way Frost was going to be able to get another year and keep things status quo. He didn’t need Alberts to tell him that either.

I think the surprise, though, was how quickly things happened. At 2 p.m. Alberts announced Frost would be back and at 4 p.m. Frost announced four offensive assistant coaches have been relieved of their duties effective immediately.

Welcome to big boy football. Days like this aren’t fun. Guys like Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have led through many of them. For Frost, he’s never had a day quite like this, but obviously, the timing of the early signing day and the transfer portal played a factor in why things moved so quickly.

Frost’s contract concessions: The biggest roadblock in all this going into Monday was Frost’s $20 million buyout that dropped to $15 million if he came back in 2022. Not only did Frost lower that to $7.5 million, but he also dropped his base salary from $5 million to $4 million.

Yes, Frost fired four assistant coaches on Monday, but in some way, he fired himself, too. He gave up $8.5 million in guaranteed money by agreeing to these terms. It was a fair compromise. Frost loves Nebraska too much to hold the school hostage over a $20 million buyout.

Holding Ohio State without a touchdown in the second half: Lost in the discussion on Monday was how well the Husker defense played against Ohio State on Saturday.

I’m not sure very many people would have believed you if I told you Erik Chinander’s crew would hold Ohio State without a touchdown in the second half. We’ve seen second half defensive play like this for most of the season. The Blackshirts had similar showings vs. Michigan State and Minnesota in the second half.

Questions still surround these things:

What will this offense look like in 2022?: Frost has blown up essentially his entire offensive staff, other than tight ends coach Sean Beckton.

What will this offense look like going forward? We expect Frost to step into more of a CEO role and full turn over his offense to an experienced play-caller.

Will there be a full-time special teams coordinator: In this reshuffle, will we see Nebraska fully dedicate one full-time coach to only special teams?

I think there is a strong case to make this happen. By the way, Sean Synder is now available again. In 2020 Frost tried to hire him as an analyst, but then USC gave him a full-time special team coordinator position. Would Frost circle back around to Snyder now that he has a full-time spot potentially open? Or will Mike Dawson continue to run things as well as coach outside linebackers?

Can you convince quality coaches to come to Nebraska?: A real talking point now is who can you convince to join Frost’s staff under these pretenses?

Are you going to be able to get quality coaches interested in coming to NU knowing the pressure that will be on this 2022 season?

Moving forward, this has my attention:

Coaches on the road Thursday and Friday: Nebraska will send coaches out on the road Thursday and Friday. Will NU send out some extra bodies following these staff changes?

What will the message NU’s coaches give on the road about the future of the program?

Player response to the changes: What was the player reaction on Monday? From all reports, the meeting was very straightforward and business-like. It’s a tough spot for Frost. Obviously, the day was hard, but he can’t show weakness in front of his team in that moment.

It’s my understanding the offensive line guys particularly took the news hard. How will this group respond now to analyst Frank Verducci and quality control coach Steve Demeo who will be tasked with running the show the last two weeks?

Potential staff names emerging: Turn on your Twitter notifications and reacquaint yourself with FootballScoop.com. It’s going to be a wild few weeks following coaching news and potential names that emerge to join Frost’s staff.

I’m interested in how much money NU will let Frost pay for a quality offensive play-caller. You have to assume Frost has the green light to pay at least $1 million. It may also take giving a three-year guaranteed deal in order to convince a big-name play-caller to join the staff in 2022. Assistants are typically on two-year agreements.

Current 2022 commits: Will we see any shake-up with the 2022 recruiting class after these staff changes? I’m most interested in quarterback Richard Torres and running back Ashton Hayes.

Today, I assume both will remain in the class. I do know Frost is very high on Torres. With that said, I fully expect Nebraska to go all-in on a transfer portal quarterback no matter what Adrian Martinez decides to do.

The transfer portal approach: What will this ultimately look like for Nebraska? My hunch is NIL opportunities could end up being a game-changer in helping NU get in the door with some big-time immediate impact transfer portal targets.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET’s Big Red Wrap-Tuesday’s at 7 pm.