Coach Scott Frost (2:47)

Yeah, there's. There. I mean, I've been. I've been overseas. I've been in Mexico. I've been in Europe. You know, you wear that in and you walk around, someone's gonna stop you and say, go, Big Red. Someone's gonna want to share their passion. And so for us, you know, you go to a lot of places, you have to build that. That's already been built here. We just got to tap into it. And so. But it's. To your point. It's not just national, man. This thing is international.

Host/Interviewer 2 (3:14)

It really is.

Coach Scott Frost (3:15)

So.

Host/Interviewer 2 (3:15)

All right, let's get to the game. Because it was the perfect execution. Dylan was amazing. Throws for 364, four touchdowns. What's the teaching point when the execution is that good?

Coach Scott Frost (3:29)

You know, it's just. It's just trying to be consistent. Like, how would you act after a loss? You would go out and you'd point out, hey, guys, this is what we did. Well, don't lose your confidence. This is what we didn't do. Well, don't get cocky. And here's our plan to move forward. So if you just do that every week, like, forget. Forget the narratives, forget what Coach Rule is going to say, you know, in the mic, just look at the tape. The tape will set you free. Like, what you put on tape is going to make you a great player if you're honest with it and you engage with it. And so, yeah, there were a lot of great things. You know, we also, you know, we fumbled at the one. We got stopped on the goal line. You know, we. We gave up. You know, they moved the ball and had a chance at a field goal. So it wasn't perfect. And so I'll tell you, here's what I did. I brought the guys in on Monday at the team meeting. So first they go out and they, you know, I'm one of the head coaches. I put my team meeting at the end. So the guys watch the special teams tape, the guys watch the offensive and defensive tape. Okay? And then I. I talk to them, and usually I'll show some plays. Hey, here's some, like, lion plays, some tough plays. Here's some sheet plays, some plays. We turned it down. Here's some crucial plays. And then, you know, here's the stats. All right, let's get ready for the next game. But, you know, I walked in because I told him, I said, guys, I'll be honest with you. I saw Coach Holberson after The game. And he stopped by my apartment, and I'm sitting on the couch watching, you know, the Washington game or whoever was playing. And he's like, coach, you good? Maybe. I was a little quiet. I said, yeah, I'm good. And so he gets ready to leave. He goes, you mad about something? I said, dana, I've never beaten someone 68. Nothing. I really don't know how to feel right now. And he started laughing. I told the guys that. I said, that's an accomplishment. We even shut someone out here. Since 2009, we haven't scored 728 yards of offense. I don't want to minimize those things. So those are the things we should be proud of. But I had them close their eyes, and I said, I want you to. I want you to close your eyes, and I want you to put yourself. It's mid December. We're in Memorial Stadium. We didn't win the Big Ten. We came in second or third and. But we got a home game. Okay, we're playing tcu because I just watched TCU versus unc. TC is like a pretty good team. We're playing tcu. Crowds packed, snow's falling. You can feel that Christmas, you know, in your nose. You know, when you're out there playing, when it's cold out. I said, now, think about the game yesterday. Are we ready to go win that game in the College Football Playoff? And the guys were all like, no, football's not good enough. I said, okay, that's all you need. Then all we can do is improve. If you have these goals of being a great team at the end of the season, then all along the way, you say to yourself, I mean, is this it? Like, at the end of the year, are we gonna look back and be like, hey, but remember that one game, two. No one cares. Like last year, we beat Colorado, game, two. People were crying, people. But no one cared at the end of the year because it's always about the next week. And so, yeah, you know, so. So, yeah, we were fired up about the execution, fired about. Up about some of the things that we did, but trying to always keep in perspective that we want to be a great team at the end. End of the year. So we've got to get better right now.

Host/Interviewer 2 (6:29)

And it. When you look at Dylan's performance, because that was pretty perfect, like his. His throws, I. I love quarterback play. And watching that kid play the position is pretty special.

Coach Scott Frost (6:44)

He. He was. You know, I think he's ranked fifth right now in the country in completion percentage. And but of. Of. And. And they're all good players. Okay? You know, you got Julian Sae, you got a bunch of. But he's throwing the most passes, and that's not to minimize anybody else. It's just that we're putting the ball in his hands, letting him make lots of decisions, lots of checks, and he's doing it at a high level. And he's. He's game like 15. I think that was game we played, what we played 13 last year. That was game 15 for him in college. He's not a senior, but it all comes from his preparation. What I will say, as I said after the game to the media, I said, hey, we all have to get used to the fact that, like, I don't want to see a bunch of wow plays. I don't want to see him roll right, roll left, throw the ball behind his back. He can do that. He can make those plays. But I want to see him stand in the pocket, make the right check, throw it on time, and play quarterback. But he threw a pass, a touchdown to Dane Key on the right side that not many guys can make this throw. And credit to Dane for running his tail off and making a great catch. But, you know, when it's needed, Dillon can make those types of plays. But what I love is him standing in the pocket progression going to 1, to 2, to 3. I mean, because he completed the ball to 14 different players. What does that mean? That's not just a Dylan stat. That means 14 guys were where they were supposed to be. 14 guys got open, and that's, to me, a credit that we trust. I know TJ threw some of us, too, but, you know, at the end of day, we completed balls to 14 guys. And so, you know, we brought our backup quarterback in, tj and he played lights out. So I'm really pleased with what Coach Holgerson and Coach Thomas, what they're doing at the quarterback position. It's a. I'm a much better head coach when I have a great quarterback.

Host/Interviewer 2 (8:20)

Was this a transition for you, knowing that, you know, putting the responsibility in your quarterback's lap like that?

Coach Scott Frost (8:28)

We were at Temple. We played a true freshman in P.J. walker and then watched him.

Host/Interviewer 2 (8:32)

I was going to bring it up to you.

Coach Scott Frost (8:33)

Yeah, I mean, I love. He'll. I'll be sitting there on a Wednesday night, and I'll get a random text with a play, called it. Hey, you need to run this. You know, I mean, he's. He's a football junkie. I love pj Then I Go to Baylor and we play Charlie Brewer. He takes us to the championship game. I mean, so I've had these unbelievable experiences with these young players playing as true freshmen, developing, and by year three, they have us in championship games here. Dylan's in year two, and, you know, it's just a different offense. You know, we're just, you know, Dana's doing some different things, but we. We believe that a quarterback should get you in the right play. We believe a quarterback should recognize what the defense is in. I mean, it's just some guys are playing checkers, and I think Dylan's playing chess. And that's no knock on anybody else. It's just our belief. And you know what? When you do that, there might be times where, you know, maybe the quarterback does make a bad check or gets you in the wrong play, and you live with that. But what I love about Dylan is he holds himself so accountable. He doesn't want to be a oh, I got fooled guy. He's mad, man. He's mad when he gets fooled. And so I think that that is what's allowing us to recruit so well at the quarterback position. Because guys don't want to come in and just run some silly spread offense. Only I don't mean that disrespectfully. I mean, like, they want to. They want to get under center and throw play action. They want to check plays, they want to make run checks. They want to do what they're going to do at the next level. And Dylan's just illustrating that at a high level.

Host/Interviewer 2 (9:54)

I got to tell you, that's what I love about where the game's at today, is that the kids, the players are so elevated. I'm in awe at some of these kids and how much they know at that age.

Coach Scott Frost (10:10)

No, you're right. And I think it's part of it is, you know, the states that have spring ball, so the guys are playing year round. Then I think some of it is the proliferation of seven on seven. So you're throwing and catching your ball skills year round. And then you have the trainers and the, you know, you can go different places and get trained at a high level on your mechanics, on the game. But it's also the technology. You know, when you and I played like you got done, you went home, maybe you had a playbook. You know, I can pick up my. I can pick up my phone and watch any college game or any pro game. That happened last weekend on exos right now. So for guys like Dylan, for guys like Dane Key, for guys Like Jacore, Barney, the guys that we have playing for us and our guys on defense, they can watch every game of the opponent. They can go back three years. They're so advanced with their knowledge of football and how they're studying it that you're seeing the game I think elevate to a whole new level, especially in the passing game.

Host/Interviewer 2 (11:03)

I read a piece about Jaden Daniels and he was working with the VR stuff and it's funny, my little one is a quarterback and the first thing I did was, dude, I want to get you this VR program and he puts the headset on and I want you to learn how to understand, see what you see, go through, train your eyes. And that's what Jaden said. He said he trained his eyes and he was doing it at this lightning fast speed. But it helps because you're training your eyes to kind of look at the pressure, see what you see quick to train your brain.

Coach Scott Frost (11:41)

So Pat Stewart, who's our gm, was in the draft process with New England and as they looked at Daniels, I think he said he played every game because literally the program he uses is out of Italy. And it puts you, immerses you like in that stadium in that environment. I think he said he played every game like seven to eight times. And so, you know, we were one of the original ones. One of the original VR companies was Striver, came out of Stanford and then Exos did it. And some of those companies have gone away, but we. Jay was using VR. He'd come in on the day of the game and put the goggles on and go through all the plays from practice on the virtual reality on the day of the game. He'd get, you know, 100 reps on the day of the game. You know, I might have dropped back in practice. And the first progression's open and thrown it. But they can put the, they can put the headset on, they can, they can see one and they can also see two and they can also see three. And you know, there's some great books. I think it's Dan Coyle. I think it's Dan Coyle. I could be wrong, but he wrote the talent code and how you build skill. You know, you build myelin, you know, across your body that wires to your brain that makes you skilled. And if you visualize, it's not as powerful yet, but it is still powerful in terms of the way in which it builds skill. It's like doing it physically. So to me, virtual reality, visualization, all these immersive type of technologies are Ways in which we can build the cognitive aspect, but it also still builds your talent and builds your skill when you.

Host/Interviewer 2 (13:01)

Win in a game like that. Right. What's something. Because we watch it on tv. Like, what's something that maybe we wouldn't have seen on television that you picked up?

Coach Scott Frost (13:11)

Well, I think one of the first things is I think you really get a. You know, we talk a lot about the word mudita, like, you know, vicarious joy, like, you know, watching others have success. Right. Because I think in today's day and age where the kids all have so much pressure on them, like, as it used to be, I just had to play then maybe get to the NFL. Now it's like, I need to play, but I also need to make money. I also need this. I need endorsements. There's so much on them that can you really be happy and have joy when someone else has success? And that's the key, I think, to building a good team when everyone actually cares about each other. And you start to realize if I spend my time caring about you, then a, I won't be as stressed about my life because I'm thinking about my teammates. But then guess what? My teammates will be thinking about me. So I'm still getting taken care of. And so what I loved cuz was in the fourth quarter that as we put the second group in and then put the third and put the fourth group in, watching Sierra Wright, my starting corner, Andrew Marshall, my other starting corner, watching desean Singleton, Marquis, watching how happy they were that those guys were out there watching them celebrate. When guys on the scout, the practice squad, scout team for us, got sacks, it was beautiful. And what that did was those guys went out there and there was like a standard they had to play at because it's hard to keep a shutout because you know, you can keep a shutout if you keep your ones and twos in. And Akron, to their credit, Joe Moore has a great coach that they didn't quit. They didn't pull their starters out. They kept playing. They got a whole season ahead of them. But what I loved was our twos, our threes, our fours. Everyone got in the game and they maintained the shutout. They continue to play. They continue to run the ball. Strike. And I think that that emphasizes the team component, the standard that we all have. And it, you know, I told our guys, well, if you're. If you're third or fourth team and you're on the scout team, guess what? You go against the starters every day, so you should be ready to get in the game. And what a lot of guys found out is like, oh, wow, I actually can play. I am a good player. And we tell, yeah, we told you. It's just maybe isn't your time yet, but your time's coming. And so I was happy that all those kids got in and that they played to a high level when they did get in.

Host/Interviewer 2 (15:12)

That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, it's a. It's reinforcement. I belong, right? Like, hey, I'm in.

Coach Scott Frost (15:18)

I belong. I think one of the most powerful words when you're coaching this generation, I'll say this to all the parents out there, all the coaches out there, and this is not mine. Jamar Mozee, who's on our staff, who's a great high school coach and now is working with us. He said it to the team. It's. It's just the word yet. Like, I'm not a starter yet. We are not a college football playoff team yet. And just because you haven't done something doesn't mean it's not in your destiny. Just because you haven't done something does not mean you're making tremendous gains towards getting there. So I have these guys, like, you know, I want to be a starter. I want to be all conference. I want to be on the kickoff team, and they're working towards it, and they can get discouraged. But the most powerful word is, I'm not a starter yet. But, man, I'm. I'm better today than I was yesterday. And having that yet mindset, I think in a generation where our kids are always evaluating their status because it's all, you know, it's all online, it's all being evaluated, hey, you might not be where you want to be, but that's just yet. Keep working. And that's. I hope our team has that mindset this week.

Host/Interviewer 2 (16:20)

I think that's awesome. Hey, let's talk a little bit around. Around college football and the NFL and a couple of stories I want to talk about. One. Oregon State coach Trent Bray drops an F bomb. All right. Did you ever let one slip?

Coach Scott Frost (16:39)

No.

Host/Interviewer 2 (16:40)

Gets picked up.

Coach Scott Frost (16:41)

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I. I have this philosophy that when I go on ESPN, if I go on the Pat McAfee show, if I go on, if I'm just not trending on the bottom line afterwards, it was a good interview. Like, just, you know, just don't say, you know, it's not just a cuss word. Just don't say the wrong thing. And, you know, I'm Kind of a New Yorker. I kind of talk fast and things, you know, hit my brain. There's a couple times I said some things, and afterwards, I'm like, oh, my gosh. I start getting. The text messages start coming. The guys walk in like, hey, hey, rule, you're trending. I'm like, oh, no. But. But, you know, I. I know the emotion he felt. It was right at the half that just happened.

Host/Interviewer 2 (17:26)

Right.

Coach Scott Frost (17:27)

You know, I'll tell people sometimes, like. Like, you try doing. You try walking off the field after a game. Win or lose, you talk to your. You have to figure out what to say to your team. Let's say you lose a game. You have to figure out what to say to your team at the most crushing moment before, like, you release them right to the world. And you're trying to say something that won't harm, that will help and tide them over till the next day. Then you're trying to gather your thoughts, like, what am I? Then you walk into a media and you answer questions for 30 minutes. You got someone walking alongside you. When I was in the NFL, Bruce Spate, he'd walk alongside me. He'd be like, now, you know, he's great at what he does. You're like, hey, remember, now that this happened, they're gonna ask you about this. Don't say this. Do say this. And you're like. And you get up there and you're like, hey. So I empathize with coaches when, like, it's just an emotional moment and it's right there in front of you, and these things happen. So I try to catch my breath. Usually I'll try to take. Take a sip of water, but when you're on the sidelines, you have no sip of water to take. And he. He let it fly, God bless him.

Host/Interviewer 2 (18:28)

To your point, like, right after the game, you haven't seen the tape.

Coach Scott Frost (18:32)

If you wanted to pick the worst place to have a macro perspective on a game, it would be on the sideline.

Host/Interviewer 2 (18:38)

Yeah.

Coach Scott Frost (18:38)

Like no. 1 coaches in practice, from the sideline. I stand out in the middle of the field and watch it from the end zone where I can see what's happening. You know, we were in the Big 12 championship game in 2019, and unfortunately, our quarterback, Charlie Brewer, got hit, and he kind of got up, and I think maybe he wobbled, and he walked back to the huddle. Now, there's a reason why they have. They have spotters to recognize concussions and all these things, and he kept playing. Well, the camera zooms in the. The the, you know, the games on tv, they're like, oh, he's wobbly. And after the game, I'm getting crushed. How could you let him continue to play? And I'm saying, what are you talking about? Like, like, I. I hadn't. I have no idea. Like, we have the worst view now. They've added in college, we have the iPads, and, you know, the NFL won't go to that. And I hear a lot of. I'll ask some guys, I feel like, why. Why haven't they gone to it? And they'll say no. You know, the play callers, they don't want to, you know, they want to have that advantage if they have a great brain. But I watched UNC playing the other night, and I see Bill Belichick, Coach Belichick, the greatest of the greatest in the NFL. He's on the. He's on the iPad. So to me, the iPad does help us get some perspective. But when you're a head coach, if the offense goes out there and then. And then they punt, the defense goes. It's harder while the defense is going to be on the iPad. So, you know, to me, after the game, there's just. You just don't have a tremendous amount of perspective, and you want to give good answers. I think we owe it to the fans to not just give coach speak, but to give good answers. But it's really hard to make true judgments of what happened until you've actually watched the tape. And for me, you know, my nature, I probably have to watch it twice. I was watching tape even this morning back from the last game. I have to see it twice till the emotion subsides. And you can really say to yourself, okay, what really happened? But it's part of the job is getting there, getting the hot takes. You know, last game, at the end of the first quarter, the media, the media person from the Big Ten network was supposed to come over and talk to me in between the quarters. And I was playfully. I was like, hey, Danny, I can't do it right now. I need to talk to this official about a replay thing that happened. And I wanted to talk to the official, and they wouldn't come over and talk to me until the quarter. And here's the media. And I'm like, I'm so sorry, you know, because I respect the job that they have. There's nothing worse than you see a coach yelling at the sideline reporter, leave me alone, or being brash. I don't want to do that. But I was like, hold on, Talk, blah, blah, blah, and then go over here and talk over here. So there's a lot of challenges. But you know what, As a fan, I love all the access. I love seeing the locker room. I want to see. You know, I don't know if you saw the Eagles. They released a thing on Instagram last week about toughness. It's five minutes about toughness.

Host/Interviewer 2 (21:00)

Yeah, it's almost made me.

Coach Scott Frost (21:02)

It almost made me tear up how good it was.

Host/Interviewer 2 (21:04)

Yeah.

Coach Scott Frost (21:04)

So it's like, you know, if you. If you like that type of stuff, then you better provide it for your team. So a couple years ago, when I first got to the Big Ten, like, you know, when they score, they run out with that camera that runs right up to you, and it makes you get to. They were asking about that, and they were asking about putting a mic on the. On the umpire so they could get the sounds. And all the coaches were kind of against it because you know what? Like, as a coach, if. If they run the camera in my. In a player's face and the player says or does something that's not what you want, you kind of get held. The NFL, you don't get held accountable for anything your player does in college. You got to get held accountable. So coaches are a little nervous about that. And then the mic, what's going to be heard. I think as we get more comfortable and you see it, you're like, okay, that's fine, that's fine. You know, the things that we can do to continue to grow college football because pro football is the most popular game in the world, and I think college football is the second most popular in terms of following it, watching it. So we got to continue to grow these two games because we want to maintain those spots. We want to be the top. People are always asking me, coach, why don't you run the ball more or pass the ball more? Do you know anyone on the volleyball team who will sign my shirt? They also asked me where to get tickets for Husker games, which is why I want to give the sponsor of today's video, SeatGeek, a huge shout out. With over 35 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app. There are more than 70,000 events listed on SeatGeek, including concerts, sports festivals, and more. College football and the NFL are back. Major league playoffs are around the corner, and even the NBA isn't too far behind. You're going to want to come watch us play. Michigan, Michigan State, usc, Iowa, Northwestern, getting those tickets. You can find them on SeatGeek SeatGeek is the official ticket marketplace of Nebraska athletics. All Nebraska Tickets on SeatGeek are authentic and secure. I love using SeatGeek. I jump on the app. I'm a no concerts in the season guy, but Cody Johnson's coming to Lincoln. My daughter wants to see Tate McRae, Bailey Zimmerman, Jason Aldean. You get the idea. Seatgeek has your back. Each ticket is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, so you know you're getting a good deal. Look for the green dots. Green means good, red means bad. Plus every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And of course, I have a code for you guys. You. You can use code rule10 for 10% off your next set of tickets at SeaKeek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code rule10. That's RHUL10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. Thank you, Sea Geek. Welcome to another edition of Office Hours. I'm blessed and excited to be here with Luke and Kaitlin and someday the Lindenmeyers. Is that how we're gonna do it or.

Ryan Poles (23:45)

Yes, sir.

Luke Lindemayer (23:46)

Yeah.

Coach Scott Frost (23:47)

So in case you didn't see, and I'm sure you did see, Luke, after playing an amazing game and catching a touchdown and making a one handed catch, asked Kaelin to be his wife. Now, did you know it was coming?

Luke Lindemayer (24:00)

No.

Coach Scott Frost (24:01)

Really?

Luke Lindemayer (24:02)

No.

Coach Scott Frost (24:02)

Honestly.

Luke Lindemayer (24:03)

Honestly, I had the smallest inkling to just. I watched his press conference the day before and he was like, I have some something special planned for after the game. And I kept asking and he wouldn't budge.

Kalin Lindemayer (24:14)

So I was like, I. I actually told her that me and you had like something special for Husker Nation. Like I told her, like, I kind of have to.

Coach Scott Frost (24:23)

Threw me in. It threw me in the lie. Okay, well, it's funny you said it because I saw his press conference and I said to him, I said, what? I said, does she know? And he said, no. And I said, well, why did you say that? Because I was actually very excited about this. I told him, I was like, just focus on the game and all things coaches say. But I was. At the end of the game, I went to Susan and was like, okay, where's this happening? Because we're up 68 to nothing. Because I wanted the team to be there. I wanted my daughters to be there. But your family knew and they didn't tell you.

Luke Lindemayer (24:52)

No, they didn't. Yeah, I would have never guessed.

Kalin Lindemayer (24:55)

The whole dance team knew.

Luke Lindemayer (24:57)

Yep.

Coach Scott Frost (24:57)

And no one told you?

Luke Lindemayer (24:59)

No.

Coach Scott Frost (24:59)

So this is a true story. I'm at temple. So Julie and I are married for, like, eight, ten years at the time. Seven years. I can't remember. I flew her four best friends in from across the country. One from Louisiana, one from Atlanta. Like, and we were playing on a Saturday, playing UConn, and I got dinner at park, which was a nice restaurant. Flew all her best friends in, put them in a hotel, and then sent them to Atlantic City the next night. Got, like. I thought I did an amazing. And I didn't tell her, and when she didn't talk to me for, like, a week, and I was like, I thought I did this amazing thing. She's like, I don't like surprises. So do you like surprises?

Luke Lindemayer (25:34)

To a certain extent. Overall, yes. But I also like to know things.

Kalin Lindemayer (25:41)

Yeah, she. She was asking a lot of questions, and she. She wanted to know, like, what the special thing was after the game.

Luke Lindemayer (25:47)

Yeah. I was like, hopefully you'll see it. You might see it. You'll. You'll probably see it. I was like, what is that supposed to mean?

Coach Scott Frost (25:54)

So how did you guys meet?

Kalin Lindemayer (25:56)

So I saw her after we lost to ucla. They line up in the tunnel when we walk in, and I was like, I got to know. I got to know who this person is.

Coach Scott Frost (26:05)

And.

Kalin Lindemayer (26:06)

And I worked with Grant Buddha's girlfriend Olivia at Firethorne two years ago in the summer. And I asked her about her and a couple other. Nash's girlfriend and Sam Hoiberg's girlfriend, who were Scarlets at the time. And they were saying, like, she's. She's kind of quiet. She reads her Bible a lot. And they're kind of saying it like it wasn't the best thing ever. But Nate was there when they were telling me this. And me and Nate look at each other like, this girl's gonna be my wife, like, because Nate knows who I was looking for. And then we met at church. We went to City Light together, met there for the first time, and then we had our first date at Cracker Barrel and then took off from there.

Coach Scott Frost (26:46)

What's your order at Cracker Barrel? I'm trying to set up nil deals for you here. It's like Cracker Barrel. Do you hear us? Chicken fries on their first date at Cracker. Chicken fried steak. Really? Yeah. I love the. How much?

Host/Interviewer 1 (26:56)

What did you get?

Luke Lindemayer (26:57)

I think I got some chicken.

Kalin Lindemayer (26:58)

You got grilled chicken?

Luke Lindemayer (26:59)

Yeah.

Coach Scott Frost (27:00)

I have to tell you, I love, absolutely love Cracker Barrel. From the minute you walk in and you look around the store and then they give you the game, like the golf thing. Oh, my goodness. Amazing. So Cracker Barrel, they're available. So after this, now he proposes. We posted, everyone posts it. What's it been like for you? Like this, just everyone reaching out to you.

Luke Lindemayer (27:20)

It's definitely been a while. Just trying to process it all first. And then my mom, like, right away was like, we got to find a venue. We got. When are we going to go wedding dress shopping? I was like, hold on, Mom.

Coach Scott Frost (27:30)

I don't know.

Luke Lindemayer (27:31)

I don't know. This is my first time. But, yeah, I think just wedding planning from here.

Kalin Lindemayer (27:36)

And a lot of people have been, like, reaching out to us, which has been cool. It's been a lot. And her mom just sending us, like, all the articles that are being posted. My mom has a friend in India, and we were on the front page of their town newspaper. So it's actually insane. Just, like, the attention that it got. And I had no idea, but I'm just happy that we're engaged.

Coach Scott Frost (27:58)

That's awesome. Two things, I think, from my perspective, I think the fact that. That we asked you right beforehand, how do you feel? And that you were so open and honest. Because a lot of times you see these things that just kind of like, it happens and then, you know, whatever. It's a nice moment. But I think seeing how he feels about you and. What did you say? I'm so nervous. I. I still remember right before I got married, I can remember standing there. We got married on Julie's farm. And I remember standing there and being like, what am I about to do again now? Like, as the music was playing, like, the nerves and not like in a. Who didn't want to be married? More like, like, oh, am I gonna. Am I gonna be a good husband? Is, you know, just all these things flood you. So I think. I think people identified with that. And it was just so cute seeing you guys together. I told the team I wanted my daughters to see that because I wanted them to see in a world that, you know, makes relationships look one way, I wanted them to see what. What love looks like. And so I thought it was sweet. You got your hair done at my wife's dry mart. Is that correct?

Luke Lindemayer (28:55)

Yeah, I saw her that morning, actually.

Coach Scott Frost (28:57)

She was so upset afterwards, she was like, I should have comped her hair. I said, well, you'll get it next time, Julie. You'll get it next time. So I think the big question I have for you is, can you play pickleball? Are you a pickleball player because he swears he's like a 5.0. Like he is like, he swears he's like Jack Sock or someone like this. So can you play?

Luke Lindemayer (29:14)

I, I, I can play here and there.

Kalin Lindemayer (29:17)

So we play, we played Danny King and his girlfriend. We were 30 against him. So we're, we're good too.

Coach Scott Frost (29:24)

I love it.

Luke Lindemayer (29:24)

I'll take it.

Coach Scott Frost (29:25)

That's, that, that's such a good lesson for everybody out there. The couple that plays pickle ball together stays together. And this is a, this is a family that's going to stay together. So it's an honor to have you guys here with us. We're, we're really proud of you. And I think on a team that, on a team that we're proud of, our players let you guys, letting us be a part of you guys coming together and marriage was awesome. So just remember I don't go to weddings. So make sure you invite me. So we'll send a nice gift, you know, like invite all the coaches, do it when we're on vacation. You'll get a bunch of free gifts and you don't have to worry about it. Just tease. But congratulations. Excited for you guys. So much.

Kalin Lindemayer (29:59)

Thank you so much.

Coach Scott Frost (30:00)

Well deserved.

Host/Interviewer 1 (30:02)

So thank you for being here. And I remember, you know, wasn't an NFL guy, college guy and get an NFL job. GM's gone the first year. They're talking about names and like who the hot names and they're like Ryan Poles. Like this is, this is one of the top up and coming guys. I'm like Ryan Poles, the Boston College football player. And we get to know each other through that process. You end up in Chicago. Like the you that's sitting here right now.

Coach Scott Frost (30:34)

Yeah.

Host/Interviewer 1 (30:34)

Goes back to the guy at Boston College. Goes back. What would you tell, what would you tell him? What would you tell him about what's lying ahead and what he should be doing?

Ryan Poles (30:44)

Yeah, I think it's preparing to build a football team and to do it the hard way and understand that that process is going to take time even to become a general manager. You're going to go through some different scenarios, different things throughout your career. But all of those things, even the adversity that is going to happen is going to lead you to a place of leadership and into a place where you can make hard decisions as you try to get an organization to a championship level team.

Host/Interviewer 1 (31:17)

What made you want to be just getting into scouting? What made you want to be in personnel? Where did that love start?

Ryan Poles (31:23)

Yeah, that goes all the Way back to being a kid. I had my uncle play fullback at Tennessee. My dad played at Boston College. Both had shots in the NFL. So this game has always been in my life since I was young. And then when I got through bc, it was a undrafted fragment with Chicago. And after you get cut, you know, you have those moments like, where am I going to go into next? Is it going to be coaching or the front office? And just the thought of building a football team and helping put a culture together was something that just kind of caught my passion and started running with it.

Host/Interviewer 1 (31:54)

You remember like your first on the road scouting trip or do you remember.

Coach Scott Frost (31:58)

Where you went or.

Ryan Poles (31:59)

Yeah, yeah. So as a youngster, they sent me up to Montana and Idaho.

Host/Interviewer 1 (32:04)

Wow.

Ryan Poles (32:04)

As my first kind of private jet or commercial. Always commercial. Coach, middle seat. But unbelievable experience. What they didn't know was that area was got hot quick. I mean, that was when Boise was really taking off with Keller Moore and those guys. So it was a great experience. You kind of get your hands dirty and you're on the road going through the mountains trying to find players.

Host/Interviewer 1 (32:26)

So walk me through like. So you started where? Like, walk me through all the steps. Chicago.

Ryan Poles (32:31)

Yeah. So went back to Boston College after I got cut by the Bears and got into recruiting. And that's kind of where the team building process, you know, really got into my mind in terms of where I wanted to go with this after football was kind of done in terms of being a player. Ended up going to Kansas City as a scouting assistant and started as a scouting assistant at the very bottom level and had to work my way up. We were in a situation where we had the first overall pick, one of the worst teams in the league. We had a little climb with some adversity, some leadership change, and then I was able to learn a different way of doing it. John Dorsey comes in from Green Bay. Totally different system and really had to be flexible and adapt because it was very different from the first philosophy that I learned from. What I didn't know then is being able to learn from two different groups was a really powerful thing for me and my growth because I could take the things I liked from each of those and kind of start to make my own philosophy as I was moving forward. So got into college coordinator and that part really brought the communication. I had to be the glue and kind of that central hub for all the scouts in our department. So I had to communicate clear, be clear and concise. I had to give direction, but also allow them to do their job at a high Level back in the day, we had to read ink, all of the reports. So to do that to a scout that's been scouting for 10, 15 years and I just got into the business, is a thing you're going to have to work on your communication so they don't see it as anything threatening. You got to build those relationships on the front end, too. So that part was critical. I really got the process down through that job, then to the college director was the next step, and then built to director of player personnel, and that's when we really took off as an organization and got to be a Super bowl caliber team. Yeah.

Host/Interviewer 1 (34:28)

In my career, like I look back, like, you know, played for Joe Paterno, worked for Tom Coughlin.

Coach Scott Frost (34:34)

Yeah.

Host/Interviewer 1 (34:34)

Steve Adasio was really influential in my life. Al golden taught me all these people that taught me along the way. There's also some people who gave me like big time opportunities, you know, like who. Who are one or two of the people along this way that either change your career path by giving you an opportunity who change your career path, or sped it up by teaching you something like, who are the difference makers in your life?

Ryan Poles (34:56)

If I go back to post playing one of your guys, Mike Siravo, he was a recruiting coordinator at Boston College. That was my first job back in the office. He was hard on me. I mean, the details mattered. I'll never forget there's a story where I was stapling because the printers didn't have staplers built into them. So I was stapling all these packets together for recruits and finish the job quick and go get a workout, come back. And he had taped all of the packets all over the office, had circled the stapler and was like, wtf? And the point was, details matter, right? So the staple was halfway in the page, it was crooked, and it was supposed to be, you know, at a right angle, and it was supposed to be the way it was supposed to be. And that slowed me down to say everything that I do is a reflection of me. And that kind of got the discipline in my mind.

Host/Interviewer 1 (35:53)

Can you do that with kids now or no? Can you do it with the people that work for you now?

Ryan Poles (35:57)

I do. Maybe a different way, because you got to be careful how you communicate these days.

Coach Scott Frost (36:02)

It's wth.

Ryan Poles (36:03)

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And then I would say, next, Scott Pioli, he gave me the opportunity in Kansas City. Again, the discipline, the detail, you know, it was the one wrong, all wrong mentality. And when again, there's electronic boards now, then there was, you know, magnets. So all 31 other teams had magnets, every single player, and you had to switch those out and move them throughout the entire year. And if you. If you ever got caught with one of those magnets being put in the wrong team or you forgot to move when the waiver came through, that was part of the learning lesson of doing it. So. Learned a ton from Scott. And what I appreciate about Scott is very open with some of the mistakes he made along the way. I look back at that and I put myself in the chair now and, you know, taking ownership and learning from those allows you to make those corrections on the fly and improve every single year. Next would be John Dorsey. Came in totally different philosophy. Kind of brought a Ron Wolf Green Bay model into my life. And that's just doing ball. Like that's sitting down as a group going through the draft and we watch tape, we have football conversations. We're not going to read, you know, a paragraph. We're going to go through and watch ball and we're going to have open conversation, we're going to debate. Never get disrespectful in the way that we talk to each other, but it's always trying to get to a place of truth. So you're drafting the best possible players for your football team.

Host/Interviewer 1 (37:34)

You think about, like, you know, in scouting personnel, like, you have the Patriots system and then you have Ron Wolf's system, and you've been like, you've been exposed really to two of the preeminent systems of scouting. So have you picked one? Have you kind of put them together? You've mentioned that a little bit before. Like, as you look at evaluating players, what are the core things that you pull away from it?

Ryan Poles (37:57)

Yeah, I would say there's a matrix in terms of the things that we look for in each and every player that we scout. That's very similar to the way we did it with Scott system and that kind of the New England model. How we watch film, how we get to the final board or the final decisions very much is the way that what John brought into my world.

Host/Interviewer 1 (38:18)

So, you know, you said one wrong, all wrong.

Coach Scott Frost (38:20)

You talked about watching film together, though.

Host/Interviewer 1 (38:21)

On this other side. So you make the pick, first round pick, seventh round pick, you pick Caleb Williams, you pick whoever you pick, you make. Who was your first pick when you first. First there was a gm Kyler Gordon. Was it. Was it, oh, my gosh, I hope I'm right. Was it exhilaration? Like, what was the feeling of your first draft pick as a gm?

Ryan Poles (38:40)

Yeah, there was A ton of excitement. We spent a lot of time. We didn't have a first round pick that year, so there's a lot of unknowns of who was going to be available to us. We had really good debate. We spent a lot of time with the coaches to make sure we were seeing things the same way. And there's alignment because I never want to bring a player in that our coaches don't see their upside because a lot of times that doesn't work out very well. They're the ones who have to spend the most time with the player and get them in a position to be successful. So when it came to be, it was an awesome feeling. And then now it feels like just yesterday and then now we just extended them recently. So that was a really cool process to go through.

Host/Interviewer 1 (39:21)

It's so different, you know, because for me, my. My first draft was, was me and a coat and tie in my house on. On Covid with like three.

Coach Scott Frost (39:30)

Three things.

Host/Interviewer 1 (39:31)

And so you make the pick and then there's like, you watch the draft, everyone's hugging, hey, great job.

Coach Scott Frost (39:34)

High five.

Host/Interviewer 1 (39:35)

And it was like me looking at.

Coach Scott Frost (39:36)

Julie, like, hey, I think we did.

Host/Interviewer 1 (39:38)

So do you. Do you still find the same joy in the. Not just even the picks, but the process? Like, what. What's your favorite part of getting ready for the draft?

Ryan Poles (39:48)

Yeah, I would say spending time with the players. You watch tape, you get the background. A lot of different opinions coming in. I still think the human element of sitting down with somebody else, looking them in the eye and having a conversation allows you to have that connection and kind of just feel the person and then validate the things that you've heard about them. You know the answers to most of the, most of the questions you're going to ask and just how do they give you that response? And when those things add up and you feel like you're on top of it, you can move with conviction. So I think that last final piece is definitely meeting with them. Now, you got to be careful because I do think special personalities can. Can get you down the wrong path as well. We still got to have a player that can produce and, and be a really good football player. And sometimes guys present themselves, you know, know differently, so you have to be aware of that. But I love the human element in the relationship part of it.

Host/Interviewer 1 (40:42)

I love that. So, so you're sitting here now, you've got years, you've got experience, you know, as you look ahead, like, you know, what, what's. What are the next steps for you and for Your team for the, you know, for, for where you guys are headed.

Ryan Poles (40:55)

Yeah, it's, it's to really get over this hump. And I look at it as belief in the system, belief in each other, because we have all the pieces there to get over the hump. We just gotta play together, play a disciplined brand of football. And it comes down to the quarterback in the NFL. So can we support Caleb and get him where he needs to be? We know that there's gonna be bumps in the road, we know that there's gonna be adversity. But I know that with the right type of guys around him and in our organization and we have unbelievable coaching staff, if we're all pulling in the same direction, we can get where we need to be.

Host/Interviewer 1 (41:34)

You say it all comes down to the quarterback and you look at like Brad, Tom Brady. There's really no other sport. When you think about it that Brady was 44, 45, he's still the best player in the game or one of the best players in the game at the time. No other sport. Are you still great at 44. Like there's not 44 year old center fielders, not 44 year old tennis players really like.

Coach Scott Frost (41:56)

And.

Host/Interviewer 1 (41:57)

But he sat when he first got to New England. Right. You look at Breeze, he had the adversity he had early on. You look at Peyton Manning, you know, throws interceptions in those first, second year. Going back to those stories, we don't have as much patience now for those things. But is that, is that club's fault?

Coach Scott Frost (42:16)

Has it football changed?

Host/Interviewer 1 (42:17)

Is that just the. Where do you see it? What does a quarterback need? A young quarterback need. Need to become like a generational type player.

Ryan Poles (42:24)

Yeah, I think everybody needs this. As a general manager, head coach and I've done a lot of reflecting over the last few years and really this last year, how can we support each other? You know, I think a great GM needs a really good assistant GM and a really good cap person to make sure that they're in line, that tell them the truth and say you're off on this. Maybe we should rethink this. I think a head coach, you know, if it's a first time head coach, should have someone on staff that's been a head coach before to say, hey, if you head down this path, like I've been down that path before, let me help you out. The same thing with the quarterback. I think there's got to be truth tellers around him to make sure that he can really develop as fast as possible. I think everyone's Journey is a little bit different. I think there's some guys where it definitely benefits, or even for the club, it benefits to sit for a year. I don't think any one situation is the same as the other. So I think if you support that player the best you possibly can, you're honest and you have good, you know, transparency to get them to where they need to be, because sometimes we've got to speed up that development to get them where they need to go. But I think you need to lean into some of the failure too, because I think there's a lot of learning that comes from that as well. But that takes mental toughness and physical toughness to kind of get through that learning period.

Host/Interviewer 1 (43:42)

Obviously, you know, went to Boston College, you know that world, but now you're in Chicago. What's the. What's the best pizza place? Like, what's your favorite? What's your favorite Chicago pizza? I mean, like, I. I go there, I'm overwhelmed with choices. What are you doing?

Ryan Poles (43:57)

Yeah, it's terrible. I don't eat that much pizza, which is.

Host/Interviewer 1 (44:01)

I wish I had that discipline.

Ryan Poles (44:02)

I know, I know. But, yeah, there's not one specific pizza we go to.

Host/Interviewer 1 (44:07)

I have to tell you, like, during COVID because you were home every day and my family's gluten free. Not me. All my family. Celia, Blue Mountain, we ordered blue malnatis from Chicago. Have it flown down because they have a gluten free crust and. Yeah, I mean, you know, Covid, we lost track of time and space. I think we. I think we probably kept them afloat during that time. So usually, if you have PE tonight, you might want to give a shot.

Ryan Poles (44:29)

That's my son's favorite.

Coach Scott Frost (44:31)

Yeah.

Host/Interviewer 1 (44:32)

Well, thank you very much, man.

Coach Scott Frost (44:33)

It's an honor to have you here.

Host/Interviewer 1 (44:34)

And I love what you're doing on Go Bears Dubbears.

Ryan Poles (44:38)

Yeah. Thanks, man.

Host/Interviewer 1 (44:39)

Thanks, brother.

Host/Interviewer 2 (44:42)

All right, Time now, because we have a renaissance, man. All right. You are anything but football. And here's what I gotta ask you.

Coach Scott Frost (44:52)

This is the most nervous part of my week. I want to make sure everyone knows. They don't tell me ahead of time, like, hey, this is what we're going to do and anything, but I don't have any idea what you're going to say right now.

Host/Interviewer 2 (45:03)

I got to ask you, do you really know a lot about hip hop? All right. Especially, you know, being from New York during the heyday.

Coach Scott Frost (45:13)

Hip hop.

Host/Interviewer 2 (45:14)

But do you really know hip hop?

Coach Scott Frost (45:16)

Like, I know, like 80s, 90s and 2000s hip hop. Like, what our team Listens to now. If I walk out in the weight room and I have the weight room, okay, there's no players lifting in the morning. If it's in the morning, I go gospel hour from 6:30 to 7:30. Right. You know, I think, I think, you know, I. I need that in my life.

Host/Interviewer 2 (45:34)

Yeah.

Coach Scott Frost (45:35)

But if it's in the afternoon, it's a combination of like country, like real country and 90s hip hop. It's the greatest mix you've ever seen. So it might go from like, it might go from like the Turnpike troubadours to like, to like, to like the Far side to like, I mean, to like George Strait to like, I mean, to like Cool Modi. I mean, like, it's just, it's, it's just. And it's just what I like, you know, I like what I like.

Host/Interviewer 2 (46:05)

So let's look ahead. We got HCU coming and it's going to be Operation Blood Moon. Tell us about it.

Coach Scott Frost (46:17)

Yeah. So first of all, Houston Christian is a team that knows how to win, right? They're coming in one on one. Went to Eastern Kentucky last week, you know, perennial FCS powerhouse and had a chance to win. They just fumbled the ball away. Top two or three in every category on defense. So great challenge for our offense. They've only given up 1/3 down conversion in two games. So I'm not a big like, well, this is the levels. I'm more like, tell me who, tell me which teams know how to win. I was telling the story in my press conference. I'll say it to you because you'll get it. Like when I was at Temple, I didn't want to play Villanova. Like Villanova knows how to win. You know, at the time, like Andy Talley was the head coach there. Like, they know how to go to the playoffs and win. I'd rather play a team from like a power conference that doesn't know how to win, right? So I believe, like, I believe playing against teams that know how to win. So this will be a great opportunity for us. It's 11 o' clock game, so, you know, different time of day. We played two night games. Now we get to play in the morning and teach ourselves how to get up and be ready to go. You gotta wake up like livid. You gotta wake up excited on an 11 o' clock kickoff, man. But one of the things that we did was we have a guy, Ben Newman, who works with us. He works with Kansas State as well. The Indiana Fever, Miami Dolphins. Been with Alabama before, North Dakota State and he came in and he was telling us a story about bin Laden. I think they called it, like, Operation Neptune Spear. And I heard it and I was like, you know what I always say? Like, hey, this week we got Houston Christian one and oh, I've done that for years. One and, oh, one and oh, one zero. And I kind of always liked that military component, right. Of each game's an operation. And, you know, you have to go out and the plan, you know, the plan might change, like, all of a sudden, like, hey, it's a rainy day. Hey, it's a windy day. Hey, they're blitzing you, like the tactics, the strategy. But you have to figure the mission doesn't change. You have to come out one and, oh, every week after that, you gotta look at, hey, what do we need to improve? So we had. Operation Arrow Storm was what we called the Cincinnati game. And, you know. Cause we respect our opponents, but we wanna make the game about us and the way we approach it. So this week we had Operation Zero Hour. You know, hey, we had 10 days to get ready for that next game. And could we be a better team? Could we chase the hours until we were a better team? And this week's Operation Blood Moon. And, you know, this summer, when we were going through the black uniforms that we released the alternate uniform and an alternate uniform in Nebraska, because we have an iconic look, an iconic uniform, right? And there's not a great track record of winning in the alternate uniforms, but the reality is there's also not a great record over the last, however many years of just winning. So to me, it's not necessarily an alternate uniform. It's just been getting the football right. And so this generation, the kids I'm recruiting, they want. They want, hey, I want to wear this. I want to wear that. Like, they like that stuff. And so, you know, as we were talking about the black uniform, and my goal's been to do a black uniform once a year, every year, and have it be something way out there, cool. Every year a different one.

Host/Interviewer 2 (49:10)

I mean, look at this, look at this. It's so cool. I love you. I think I'm cool because I'm wearing this.

Coach Scott Frost (49:18)

That's right. So, you know, black's a good look. And so we were like, hey, so anyway, we're gonna do the black uniform. And we were like, look, you know, so we started looking up different things. And obviously, obviously, the moon and the lunar cycles are important in an agricultural community. And you're going all the way back to Native American tribes here in the state and then to the farmers. And so we started reading about red eclipses and blood moons, but the uniform was all black. So a blood moon, which is red and black. It didn't make sense. We threw it away. So we were getting ready for this game and we were like, hey, operation. We had some names for it. And Susan was like, Dr. Elza, she was like, hey, you guys know this is Sunday. She goes, you guys do know there's a blood moon tonight. And I said, really? So we had talked about blood moons and if you read about a blood moon, a blood moon, when you look up and the moon is orange, it's red, it's a lunar eclipse, solar eclipse. I'm not smart enough to explain what that is, but one gets in front of the other. Right, right, right. Chat GPT later. But what happens is, is that you go back to all these ancient times. People would always think of it as this was like a time of war. Like they either believed like either a wolf was trying to eat the right dragon, all these different cultures, but it kind of usually always meant like, hey, battle, like war is coming. And so it's a really important week for us. We're playing Houston Christian at home. It's also an important week for us in the state because Bud Crawford, the pound for pound king is, is going to fight Canelo in Vegas on Saturday night with an opportunity. This, this guy is, he's pound per pound king and two time undisputed at different weight classes, unified title holder. And he has a chance now to go be the, to do it the third time, the first person ever to do it three times and here he is. You know, I know Buddy's a huge fan of ours. Let us out. Talked to the team last year at Colorado, let us out. But here's a guy cuz it's made all this money. He's one of the, you know, he's a first ballot hall of famer, but he hasn't left Omaha. He's still pouring into the kids in Omaha. He's still pouring into the community. He's a Nebraska guy, he's a Husker. And so here he is, he's going out there to fight. He asked me to go out last week and a bunch of our players, we went out to his send off after we played Cincinnati and it just hit me like he has this legacy and yet he's taking on this challenge. He could just sit there and say, you know what, I don't want to take this on. He's going up in Weight class. Yeah, he's an underdog for the first time. Like, like, like. But, like, why would he do this? Because he's a competitor. Because he's a warrior, and a warrior lives to fight. And so when I started thinking about the fact that Bud is fighting on Saturday night and how much he means to our team, but also the message he's sending to our team, it's not about what people say about you. It's, did you take on the challenge or not? Did you test yourself or not on Saturday? And then on Sunday was the blood moon, we said, hey, this week's Operation Blood Moon. And, you know, we're proud when we walk on the stadium. You know, Bud gave us some shirts. We're going to wear Bud Crawford shirts over there because you know what? Like, we want to be the first round of that day. We want to come out swinging, play our best game against Houston Christian, be a better team this week than last week, and then watch. Watch our hero, Bud Crawford, go out there and lay it all on the line.

Host/Interviewer 2 (52:31)

I love it. Are you guys going to watch the fight together? You're going to do that?

Coach Scott Frost (52:36)

You know what if I try to say to the guys, hey, do you guys want to watch a fight with me? They'd be like, coach, we love you, but we're not hanging out with you on Saturday night. I'm sure a bunch of them will get. We watched. See, last year, he fought during training camp, and we all watched the fight as a team, right? But I. On a Saturday night after. After a football game, they don't want to see me. They don't even see me on Sunday.

Host/Interviewer 2 (52:57)

I'll be over. All right, I'll see you Saturday night. We'll watch it. I love it. Operation Blood.

Coach Scott Frost (53:02)

Boo. Well, that's it. Another episode of House Rules. Please, like, share, share and subscribe on YouTube or wherever. Get your podcasts, and please remember to follow us at House Rules on all your social media platforms till next week. It's another episode. This is House Rules. Express yourself.

Host/Interviewer 2 (53:26)

Express yourself.