In the 1990s, Florida State and Nebraska pretty much ruled college football.
Both were led by Hall of Fame coaches (Bobby Bowden at FSU and Tom Osborne at Nebraska); Florida State won 109 games and Nebraska won 108; and they combined to win 15 conference titles and five out of a possible 10 national championships.
Team of the Decade? Flip a coin. FSU won the only game between the two in the 90s — a controversial 18-16 nail bitter at the end of the 1992 season than gave the Seminoles their first national title. Nebraska would go on to win three of the next four titles.
Not that they set the bar impossibly high or anything, but the past two decades haven’t been great for either program. Actually, both may have managed to hit rock bottom at right about the same time. And coaching instability appears to be a key factor.
Despite playing in a total of five conference title games (in both the Big 12 and Big 10), Nebraska hasn’t won a conference championship since 1999. They did play for the National Championship in 2001, albeit after failing to make the conference title game.
After having Osborne lead the program for a quarter century, they’re now on their fifth different head coach over the past two decades.
Florida State, which ruled the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 1990s, has won seven conference crowns in the new millennium, but hasn’t regained their place as a national juggernaut. They did win the program’s third National Championship in 2013, but there had been lean times before, and ever since. They have had just three head coaches over that stretch of time.
After Mike Riley ran the Cornhuskers into the ground over three dreadful campaigns (2015-2017), Nebraska went looking – again – for a new head man after the 2017 season.
After Jimbo Fisher, who had replaced Bowden in 2010 and led FSU to the national title in 2013, elected to leave for more money at Texas A&M following that same 2017 season, FSU was also searching for a new leader that December.
The Huskers tabbed one of their own, former Nebraska quarterback and then-Central Florida Head Coach Scott Frost for the gig in football mad Lincoln.
The ‘Noles went across the country and swiped then-Oregon Head Coach Willie Taggart and brought him to football mad Tallahassee.
Frost was hailed as the Prodigal Son, returning to his home state to take over the program he’d led to a National Championship two decades earlier. It was as if the previous 20 years hadn’t even happened.
But working with Riley’s recruits across the board, Frost’s team stumbled to an 0-6 start and a 4-8 finish. Still, it appeared brighter days were ahead. Nebraska finished hot and was in most preseason Top-25 rankings going into the season.
The optimism was short lived.
After a 4-2 start that included a blown 17-0 lead at Colorado, the Huskers have now dropped three straight in painful “come from ahead” fashion, and sit at 4-5 with bowl eligibility very much in doubt.
In Taggart’s first season, the former Western Kentucky standout player and coach suffered through a 5-7 season that left FSU home during bowl season for the first time since 1981. It didn’t get better.
This season, Taggart’s team blew a first half lead against Boise State and lost their home opener, setting the stage for their own 4-5 start that included a 27-10 defeat at the hands of arch-rival Miami. After nine games and a 9-12 overall record, Florida State fired Taggart last Sunday.
Frost’s 8-13 start is actually a game worse, yet he’s in no danger of being let go by his alma mater. Chalk that up to different philosophies for these two college football blue bloods.
This is where the question of patience comes into play. How much is enough?
More successful coaches than these two have struggled out of the gate – and been given more time to turn things around. That being said, the trend nowadays is towards less patience, and more demand to “win now.” Unlike what Frost stepped into at Nebraska, the cupboard wasn’t bare when Taggart arrived at FSU, and the school administration expected better, quicker results. They sighted less than acceptable ticket sales and lack of enthusiasm among boosters in making the change.
Taggart was most certainly a victim of a quick hook, which came as a surprise to most. But now that FSU has made the move, the dye has been cast and the bar set for whomever lands what is still a coveted gig in recruiting-rich Florida. Win now…or else.
Frost and his young coaching staff have struggled this season making in-game adjustments and getting their very young squad to finish games. This season can’t be blamed on Riley. But while Nebraska is unlikely to ever return to the glory days of the 1990s, the championship-QB-turned-head coach should, over time, return them to Big 10 contender status.
Riley was only given three seasons – not even a full recruiting cycle – before pulling the plug. It was the shortest tenure for a Nebraska head coach since 1956. They aren’t going to go down that path again.
So for those keeping track of such things, it will be interesting to watch and see which of these two programs, so prominent and successful at the same time in the 1990s will return to top-shelf status sooner. The one who gave their head coach the quick hook, or the one now vowing to display some patience.
Listen to Mark Knudson on Monday’s at 12:30 with Brady Hull on AM 1310 KFKA and on Saturday mornings on “Klahr and Kompany” on AM 1600 ESPN Denver.
