Urban Meyer: What went wrong at Nebraska, how to fix it

Things have officially come to an end at Nebraska for Scott Frost. It’s an ending that has seemed inevitable for some time, as Frost couldn’t return Nebraska to past glory. However, Urban Meyer thinks he knows the problem and how to fix it.

On Urban’s Take with Tim May, Urban Meyer explained that Nebraska used to be one of the game’s great programs. However, with changes to the sport, the Cornhuskers’ ability to win the way they used to has changed.

“That [Nebraska-Oklahoma] used to be, you go back to the 70s and maybe early 80s, I’d have to go back and look, but there was a corridor, whether you call it the West or Midwest, but you’d have the Techs going South. The North you’d have Texas A&M, you’d have Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Nebraska. Of those five-six teams, they were always in the top-15,” Urban Meyer explained.

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“They had legendary coaches, legendary players, Heisman Trophy winners, national champions. I remember watching and a lot of them ran the wishbone back then…when those teams played each other, everybody watched it.”

However, a lot of those games against one another and those rivalries were lost when conference realignment broke up those conferences. In turn, as Urban Meyer pointed out, this took away Nebraska’s natural recruiting territory in Texas.

“You have to ask why [they struggle today],” Urban Meyer said. “And my answer is the recruiting base.”

Those changes are here to stay, now. Conferences aren’t going back to the way they were. So, schools like Nebraska need to find a new way to win in the modern era. The reality is that Nebraska can’t recruit Texas the same way, they can’t rely on a walk-on program the same way they used to, and the offense needs to change.

Making a change midseason can be incredibly difficult. As Urban Meyer explained, it’s difficult on the players. It can make things difficult for the players moving forward, but you do it so that you’re in as good of a position to succeed in the future.

“You know, Jeremy Foley is the guy that said, ‘What’s gonna happen eventually should be done immediately.’ I guess,” Urban Meyer said. “I had mixed feelings about that because I care about the players. Is that the right thing to do for the players?”

“Nebraska is an elite job. Nebraska has got historically one of the winningest programs, a great fanbase. They’ve been down, they have to figure out this recruiting piece, they have to get someone who understands that area.”