With Scott Frost, Trev Alberts, maybe now is Nebraska's time to step up in Big Ten

INDIANAPOLIS — Nebraska coach Scott Frost sat at the podium at Big Ten Media Days while rumors about Texas and Oklahoma's move to the SEC swirled on July 22.

Frost wanted no part of the conversation about the Huskers' erstwhile rivals in the Big 12. 

"I have absolutely no comment on Texas or Oklahoma or another league," Frost said. "I think there is a lot of dust flying around, and we're all going to have to wait and see where the dust settles. If that leads to some more realignment, then I feel great about the position Nebraska is in."

New athletic director Trev Alberts backed that up a few minutes later in a scrum with reporters. Alberts said he told Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren the Huskers are a proud member of the conference and want to do their part. 

Alberts can play that political game, too. He worked at ESPN before taking the job as Nebraska-Omaha's athletic director.

"I want to be able to have a relationship with him to be able to communicate in a way that's respectful, yet our institution's voice is heard," Alberts said. "I believe whole-heartedly that commissioner Warren is interested in that." 

With Frost and Alberts, two former Nebraska legends from the Tom Osborne national championship heyday, it is time for the Huskers to live up to that on and off the field.

If Nebraska's identity truly is as a Big Ten member and not a Big 12 nostalgia piece, then now is the best time to deliver. 

The Huskers' best home is in the Big Ten. Forget about the rift last season when Nebraska threatened to go rogue after the Big Ten decided to cancel the season because of COVID-19. Forget about the first three years of the Frost regime, which have produced a 12-20 record. Most of all, forget about the 1990s in the current college football landscape.  

"We're not going to get back there talking about what we used to do, because nobody cares." Alberts said. "We're not going to get back there by talking about winning championships. We're going to get back there by executing the fundamentals administratively and coaching that gets you there." 

Specifically, nobody else in the Big Ten cares, other than Michigan fans who still want to debate the 1997 national championship split. That was forever ago. 

Since joining the Big Ten in 2011, Nebraska has the eighth-best record in the conference at 68-55. 

Big Ten overall records since 2011 

It's on Frost and Alberts to change that as college football barrels into another round of sweeping changes that includes Name, Image and Likeness, College Football Playoff expansion and another round of realignment. Alberts played linebacker at Nebraska from 1990-93, and Frost followed from 1995-97. Nebraska was 87-11-1 in that stretch.

"Nebraska has always been an innovator," Frost said. "Way before I even played at Nebraska they were at the cutting edge of strength and conditioning at the cutting edge of nutrition and academic support, life skills and helping guys get jobs after football, working in the community. There are ways that we can innovate again.

"Being aligned with Trev is going to help be out in front of some of those issues," he said.

On the field, the first step for Nebraska is becoming a true Big Ten West competitor. The Huskers were picked to finish either fourth or fifth in the division in most preseason polls, and Frost replied, "We're picked where we deserve to be."

Forget about Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern are the schools Nebraska is chasing now.

"I think it's a tight gap," Frost said. "I have a ton of respect for those teams. They're established, and with that being said we've played some really close games with those guys and have been really close. Most of those games, it's been a mistake here or a mistake there that has cost us."

To Frost's point, Nebraska is 1-7 against those three schools, but that comes with just one double-digit loss.

Once Nebraska can beat those schools, then a real shot at the Big Ten championship and the national stage can be entertained. The Huskers also are 0-8 against ranked teams under Frost. And like everyone else, Nebraska is chasing the four-time defending champion Buckeyes. 

That continues with recruiting. Frost said this team has the most talent since he arrived, and the base-line pitch has not changed.

"We knew right away we needed to get bigger and more physical and more athletic and faster," he said. "We do our best to recruit those types of kids. We have to make sure we are going to recruit the types of kids that are going to flourish in Lincoln and the state of Nebraska, too."

Now, it is time for Nebraska to live up to that expectation. The Huskers will always respect the past, and Frost and Alberts understand the standard that needs to be met. Looking into the future, that partnership might just help the Huskers find a new identity.

That identity, once and for all, can be rooted with the Big Ten for the long haul. After all, there is no reason to look back at Texas, Oklahoma and the Big 12 now.

"What he and I will do is, Scott Frost is going to hold me accountable and I'm going to hold him accountable," Alberts said. "We're going to have the kind of trust that we can have the difficult discussions with one another, and know it's out of love – because we both love this place."