The Scott Frost era of Nebraska football is over.
Nebraska Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Trev Alberts issued a statement Sunday afternoon on the situation.
“Earlier today I met with Coach Frost and informed him we were making a change in the leadership of our football program, effective immediately. Scott has poured his heart and soul into the Nebraska football program both as a quarterback and head coach, and I appreciate his work and dedication.
“After the disappointing start to our season, I decided the best path forward for our program was to make a change in our head coaching position. Associate Head Coach Mickey Joseph will serve as our interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season.”
The move came on the morning after the Huskers were upset at home, 45-42, by Georgia Southern, giving Frost a 1-2 start in his fifth season in Lincoln.
Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts addresses the media at Memorial Stadium after firing Scott Frost. (Kaleb Henry photo)
At an afternoon press conference just hours later, Alberts said he will immediately begin a national search for the next head coach of Nebraska football.
“We’re going to engage some third-party help, mostly for logistics and other things,” Alberts said. “I want you to know as well and I would encourage our fans and everyone to recognize there will be a lot of rumors out there. There’s going to be a lot of innuendo. I want you to know that these sorts of decisions and processes are not made in a silo. I have a lot of great mentors and friends that we’ll be working with.
“If you hear that Trev Alberts reached out to XYZ coach, it might very well be true. Doesn’t mean that I’m trying to hire that coach. I’d like to get that perspective. I’d like to get a perspective of a coach who isn’t here right now about our job, and what the uniqueness is and the needs and those sorts of things.”
Alberts said he would like to have a new coach hired by the early signing period in December, but that they “won’t rush things”. For the rest of this season, Mickey Joseph, another former Husker quarterback, will have the reins as interim head coach.
“I felt like there are nine games left to the season, and I think we owed it to the players and owed it our fans to give these players an opportunity these last nine games,” Alberts said. “We’ve got good players on this football team so having a different voice and having some new energy and enthusiasm I’m hoping can make a difference for this team.”
Joseph will have full control of the team, from personnel to recruiting. As of the Sunday presser, no staff beyond Frost were let go.
Alberts also described his expectations for the rest of this season and the program going forward.
“We have said all along, I would just love to see this team continue to grow and compete and make progress,” Alberts said. “Have a team that represents the values of Nebraskans. Be tough. Win the line of scrimmage. Do the fundamental things that teams need to do to win games. And I think we can get there.
“We will stop talking about championships. We will stop talking about things we used to do. We will just get really process oriented and detail oriented. Ultimately when you start doing those fundamental championship type things those types of wins follow. We need to stop focusing on that and start focusing on those small fundamental things that ultimately lead to those types of things.”
