Trust is a big deal for Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts.
That’s what he leaned on when introducing his son to a student worker at the Nebraska-Omaha athletic department. The two got married a couple weeks ago.
Trust is also what he’s leaning on with the retention of Scott Frost as the head coach of Nebraska football for 2022. Alberts and Frost announced a restructured contract was worked up to make the deal happen.
Frost gets another year and Nebraska saves money if it doesn’t work out.
“Scott, I thought, really made a strong statement about his desire to find a way to get the program—”back” is the wrong word—but to have the type of program that more people are really proud of and represents the state,” Alberts said Wednesday morning on KLIN radio’s LNK Today.
Frost told media during the bye week, one that felt as busy as any game week for many, that Lincoln is where he wants to be.
“I took this job because I love Nebraska and I love this university,” Frost said. “It would break my heart to think we made the improvements we have and gotten it so close in so many games and not get an opportunity to see it through.
“So it’s an easy decision to make any sacrifices I have to to have the privilege to continue to be here.”
Also within the restructured contract is a provision to pay Frost $5 million a year going forward and extend his contract through 2027 if he “achieves metrics mutually agreed to”. Neither Alberts nor Frost has said what those specific metrics are.
“There has to be conversations about expectations that I think have to remain confidential between administration and coaches,” Alberts said. “(The expectations) are not undefined. ”
Alberts is adamant that the decision to retain Frost, although built on trust, was not done simply because the two are both former Huskers.
“You don’t make decisions only because you’re being loyal,” Alberts said. “This is not my athletic department and its not my football program. This belongs to us.”
Alberts also recognizes that Frost isn’t dealing with the same issues or advantages or previous coaches in the same position, noting the early signing date and the transfer portal. That’s one reason Alberts wants to run the department with an eye to the future, not the past.
“We look at programs in the Big Ten—maybe Minnesota, Purdue, Indiana, others—through the prism of 1992,” Alberts said. “Minnesota’s football program, you could argue, is further along than ours. This not 1993. It is 2021 where you have elite coaches, elite resources, facilities…
“Everybody in the Big Ten can beat anybody in the Big Ten every single Saturday and the sooner we understand that and embrace that true reality of parity, almost like the NFL, the better chance we’ll have of creating a process that helps us be successful.”
The Huskers are 3-7 on the season with remaining games at No. 15 Wisconsin and at home against No. 17 Iowa.
“I think the way we finish these two games will be very important to help us as we move forward,” Alberts said.