After a one year hiatus, I will warn you up front this is long and a little sappy….
From the ash heap of college football, we rise. From the deep stumble into mediocrity that was the Callahan era, the “close but no cigar” Pelini era and the abject disaster that was the Riley era – we rise. The Vibe, nearly snuffed out of existence due to apathy, is back. I know this is cliche’, but it truly is the dawn of a new day – a new era. Our team hasn’t even played a single game, not a single down yet this year. Yet, there’s a new skip in the step of every Nebraska fan. The mere mention of college football in Nebraska is once again met with hope, optimism and heads held high (or at least not hung low) for the first time in recent memory. It’s as if after a long winter slumber, we are crawling out of the deep, painful hole that we stumbled into almost two decades ago – and the sleeping giant is awakening once again.
Being so close to this program, it was (and maybe still is) hard for many of us to see just how far we had fallen. A little over a year ago, I had a conversation with a young farmer (lets say mid-20’s) and while a college friend and I had a conversation about how great Nebraska used to be and would be once again, this young man had the strangest look on his face. When we asked him what was wrong with him, he admitted to us that he had no clear memory of Nebraska ever being great….ever winning a conference championship, let alone a national championship. How sad…an entire generation of Nebraskans don’t have any understanding of how great, how dominant and how special Nebraska Football used to be.
Many of the our enemies – the true haters – reveled in the downward spiral of the once mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers. They would argue “we deserved it” and perhaps in hindsight, we did. Perhaps what we saw as humble confidence during all those good years came across to others as flat-out cockiness. If the last decade and a half have taught us nothing, it should be how to be humble from this point forward, regardless of the amount of success that lies ahead. For the better part of the last 15 years, we have had no reason to be cocky or over-confident about much of anything, yet we were. I think many of us who grew up in the hay day thought that we would always be a dominant member of the upper echelon of college football, even when we had no reason to be. Through all of this, any true Husker fan has been forced to honestly ask out loud: could this program ever get back to where it was for so long? Realistically, would Nebraska ever be the “Nebraska” we grew up watching and loving and dominating – again?
Then it happened. What we had hoped for (maybe since he last played here and won this program their last national championship), speculated about, rumor milled to death…was really coming to fruition. With one announcement, the smiles were back, the heads began to lift, the clouds began to dissipate and the thought of a swagger began to enter our minds. Was it really happening? After so long of wandering in the desert, stumbling further down from the pinnacle of college football, could the state’s favorite son really have chosen us when he could have had his pick of jobs? Was he really coming home to take over a program debilitated by neglect for the better part of two decades, the program that he helped to reach that pinnacle? It was true. The hottest name on the list of names was going to return to his alma mater to right the ship, to rebuild the once mighty, once proud program, from the ground up – brick by brick – the old fashion way, the old “Nebraska way”.
The formula of success used by his college coach, his mentor – has been taken down from the shelf in Tom’s den, dusted off and put into practice…but with a modern twist. One by one, piece by piece, the old band is coming back together. And through it all, Day by Day, this program will continue to Get Better and Better.
The “N” on the side of the helmets will stand for something once again. Soon, so will the player’s prayer, the tunnel walk, the Blackshirts. All primarily because he has come home and has assured us all that we will get back to “Nebraska being Nebraska” once again. And with his confidence – the way he carries himself, his track record coupled with his respect for Nebraska’s storied past and passion to get Nebraska back to the top of college football once again, who dares to doubt.
There will be plenty of bumps in the way, no doubt. But for the first time in a long time I can say at least we are out of the ditch and back on the road. We will lose some, but in time we will win more…many more. Some young kids disappointed by not earning the starting job at an important position on this team will disappoint us by leaving the program. But many will stay and buy into what he is selling. And soon, many more will want to be part of the rebirth taking place in Lincoln. This first year there will be plenty of growing pains, but there will be ample amounts of success as well.
According to many pundits, very little is expected from this squad – who happens to be facing one of the toughest schedules in the country. I think we surprise a ton of people…even in this first year. Assuming Martinez can stay healthy, 6-6 is the absolute floor, 7-5 is probably more of a likelihood, and I really don’t see why 8-4 would be out of the realm of possibilities. Depending on how fast a true freshman can grasp and manage his offense, the tools are there – receiving corps, Hill and Washington in the backfield – for the offense to be pretty dynamic and productive. I expect the defense running a more aggressive and attacking 3-4 will be vastly better than they were last year. The Zips are a nice MAC team and will be a good first opponent for this revamped Big Red team.
It is the dawn of a new era and we are rising from the ashes. Happy days are hear again and even happier ones are just around the corner. Can you feel it too?
And it’s all because he chose to come back to Nebraska.
Welcome Home Coach Frost.
Fighting Frosty’s – 38
Zips of Akron – 17
And as always, Go Big Red!
HuskerVibe 