Nebraska football: Scott Frost fires four assistant coaches

Nebraska football coach Scott Frost has fired four assistant coaches, the school announced Monday. Offensive coordinator Matt Lubick, offensive line coach Greg Austin, running backs coach Ryan Held and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco are the coaches affected.

In his fourth season with Nebraska, Frost has yet to post a winning record. Losers of four straight, the Huskers sit at 3-7 with two games remaining in 2021. They will miss out on a bowl game for the fifth consecutive season.

Prior to arriving in Lincoln, Frost led the UCF Knights to a 13-0 season in 2017. It is the only winning season of his coaching career, and he has a 34-34 record overall.

Believe it or not, Nebraska actually ranks second in the Big Ten in total offense (459 yards per game) and fourth in points per game (28.6). Most of the production comes quarterback Adrian Martinez, who has 25 total touchdowns.

Austin, a former Husker offensive lineman, had been with the team since Frost took over in 2018. Held and Verduzco have also been here from the beginning for the Frost era. Lubick joined in 2020.

In an earlier report Monday, ESPN’s Adam Rittenburg said Frost is expected to return as the head coach in 2022. If he does, he will likely have a short leash.

Part of the motivation to retain the coach may come from the fact that firing him would result in a heavy buyout. The school offered him a contract extension through 2026 in November 2019, a year in which the team finished 5-7. If Frost were fired on Jan. 1, Nebraska would owe him $20 million.

Born in Lincoln, Frost played for the Huskers in college for two seasons after transferring from Stanford. He helped lead the team to a national championship and Orange Bowl win in 1997, his senior season.

Following an NFL career, he joined the Huskers staff as a graduate assistant in 2002. He rose his way up to become the offensive coordinator at Oregon from 2013-15 before taking the head coaching job at UCF.

The Huskers have a bye in Week 11 before ending their season against a pair of ranked opponents. Nebraska will face Wisconsin in the first game since it fired its assistant coaches at 3:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 20 in Madison, Wisconsin. Following that, it closes the season against No. 22 Iowa.