Steven M. Sipple: Why patience with Frost makes sense; Ron Brown points to a bit of history | Column

Brown coached receivers and tight ends on that 1990 team. Fast forward: He just completed his third season as Nebraska’s director of player development but is now transitioning into a role that’ll be “more on the football side,” he says. Although his exact duties haven’t been formally announced, Brown will be a significant part of Frost’s plan going forward. 

He wasn’t so sure he had a future with the program following the 1990 season. 

“I’ll never forget this,” Brown says. “We were all getting back to the coaches’ offices and getting back into recruiting again, and Tom said, ‘Guys, if you can get another job, you probably better take it because we could be fired.’ I don’t think he wanted anybody to leave, but I think that’s how gracious of a guy he was. He said, ‘Guys, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but they’re not happy with us here.'” 

Yes, plenty of turbulence. 

“The heat was every bit as bad as it is now, except you didn’t have social media,” Brown says. “That was a terrible year for Nebraska.” 

Fans questioned why Osborne couldn’t win “the big one.” They wanted a new staff. They called the Huskers “paper tigers.” But guess what? Osborne kept the staff together, just as Frost did after this past season’s 3-5 finish. Osborne, though, didn’t just stand pat. He gathered his coaches and told them that they needed to upgrade recruiting. Every recruit now would be scrutinized at four stages: by the coach in charge of the area where the recruit played, by the position coach, by the recruiting coordinator and finally, by Osborne.