Last week, USA Today filed a lawsuit against the University of Nebraska, accusing them of not releasing the details for the restructured contracts of Scott Frost and Fred Hoiberg. Because of course they did. Nebraska is a clown show right now from top to bottom, off the field and on, and this just adds to it.
This is not to say that USA Today isn’t also a clown show, because they are. I can’t remember the last time anybody said or thought “I wonder what’s going on in USA Today’s sports section!” Nonetheless, this is a simple request, and Nebraska can’t do it and it’s so far to the point that it’s a lawsuit? Come on now. This university has been obsessed with it’s “image” rather than its product for years now, and in recent years that image has been tarnished, and now even the simplest things like this are being put under a microscope. You need to think for a second – if Alabama didn’t release contract info for their coaches, would USA Today care? If even our neighbors to the east, Iowa, didn’t release, would this even be a thing? No, because those universities know how to run their operation. Those universities would also release contract info because it doesn’t matter. Who cares what’s in it? The average fan shouldn’t, anyway.
It’s not bad enough the football and basketball teams are at times unwatchable on the field, now they have their bosses above them making fools of themselves, again. It’s not like details of contracts haven’t been released in the past. Hell, the albatross that is Scott Frost’s current contract was released mid-game of the AAC Championship Game that McKenzie Milton won. Take notice of how I worded that. Frost is not helping matters in these situations. As the head football coach at a Power 5 university – and one as prestigious as Dear Old Nebraska U – it’s part of your job to make things run smoothly.
Things have not run smoothly at any point during HCSF’s tenure. The 0-6 start, the impact offensive player transfers such as Wan’Dale Robinson and JD Spielman, players not living up to their potential or developing well, which may not be on him but rather just a talent thing, it still reflects on him. Let us not forget Adrian Martinez playing through an injury last year and basically throwing Frost under the bus last week by saying he would rather play in a bowl game. That’s also quite the statement from a guy with one game-winning drive over the course of his career.
I’m not going to get into the litigation too much because I’m no lawyer, that’s why I’m typing words on a page. The crux of the whole thing is that USA Today made a public records request for the restructured contracts to see what they were all about, and UNL denied them for both coaches, and for what reason?
It’s at the point where fans should stop expecting good from this current staff and the higher ups. What’s the harm in releasing the terms of the re-structure? It tells me one of two things. The first being that the Athletic Department is not happy with the re-structure and the terms, which begs the question of why did you sign it then? There are about $35 million reasons why across both sports, and the second reason is because the esteemed Athletic Department knows the fans wouldn’t like the terms of the re-structure, and if it’s the latter, then it’s a disgrace and even more evidence the whole AD is clueless.
I don’t know why Nebraska is being so secretive, or what the answer is, and at the center of it all, this whole lawsuit is not really a big deal, it just compounds on top of everything else that’s been happening the past 15+ years, and it’s embarrassing. I just don’t like how it makes the two programs look. It does make USA Today look petty as well and I’m not denying that, but public records are just that – PUBLIC. Nebraska is in the headlines for something that doesn’t happen to any other athletic program because they don’t have any adults in charge. Please find an adult in charge to turn around whatever the hell is going on in North Stadium.