Frost hire rekindles the Big Red fires

The speculation came to an end Saturday as former Husker and Nebraska native Scott Frost led his UCF Knights to a dramatic 65-56 conference title victory over Memphis and turned his sights back home, accepting the job as the new head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

That’s the sort of day that had Scott’s mom, Carol Frost, telling 6 News that she and her husband Larry are, “proud of everything Scott has done. This is his moment.”

His moment is resonating throughout Husker Nation.

A week ago, Mike Riley was let go after a 4-8 season. His termination came as no surprise and the rumor mill had plenty of time to ramp up to full speed with talk of a possible replacement. The name Frost gained quick momentum.

Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos said last week that Frost was in the running but the formal announcement didn’t come until shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday with a news release that began, “One of the nation’s most successful head coaches the past two seasons and a member of two Husker national championship teams, Scott Frost will return to his alma mater as Nebraska’s Head Football Coach. University of Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos will introduce Frost at a Sunday news conference in Lincoln.”

to read the entire announcement.

Frost was reluctant to talk about the move to Nebraska after the UCF game.

At the postgame news conference Saturday, when asked if he had coached his final game at UCF, Frost said, "I want to talk to the team first, uh, you know the hard thing about all this is they should give you time after the season to make decisions and, um, they don't, you know, these things happen at the wrong time. And the one thing I wasn't going to do is sacrifice my commitment to this team."

Football fans across the metro have been buzzing about this for weeks and the buzz turned to a roar across town Saturday evening.

The Husker faithful have long been waiting for a return to Big Red glory and they have faith in a winning player schooled in the shadows of a Nebraska legend to help turn the tide and get the Huskers back in the national conversation - back in the hunt for championship seasons.

We were in AkSarBen Village Saturday where fans told us news of the Frost hire was met by cheers in the crowd.

Husker fan Tim Reed told us, “I'm really excited. I think it's great to have someone who's been with the program before. Clearly he's had a lot of success at Central Florida and when you look at the coaches he's been around as a player and as a coach he's been mentored by the best. So I'm very excited. "

Another fan said the news gives people a reason to celebrate - turning a sad and disappointing season into a time of hope for success for seasons to come.

Athletic Director Moos said, “(I) truly believe that we have hired the premier young coach in the country and that exciting times lie ahead.”

Plenty of others agree. Social Media quickly came alive with comments including one from his UCF team stating, "We sent him out with a trophy. Good luck back home, Coach."

Nebraska has scheduled a news conference for noon on Sunday to formally introduce Frost as the new head coach. 6 News will have live coverage on-air and online.