Shatel: Both Nebraska and Scott Frost are bitter, but can we all please move on?

Please, let this be the last time.

The Scott Frost-Nebraska saga returned to the headlines on a hot summer day in July.

Its not exactly the gift that keeps on giving.

Its more like the sunburn that wont go away.

Its time for Frost to move on from Nebraska.

Likewise, Nebraska.

Of course, Nebraskans were minding their own offseason on Tuesday when Frost dragged them unwittingly into the fray while at Big 12 media days.

It was Frosts first big media session since he returned to UCF.

You expected that he would be asked about Nebraska.

And maybe his answer should have been expected, too.

Asked by The Athletic what he learned from his four-plus years at NU, Frost said, Dont take the wrong job.

Its a quote that will forever follow him in his home state.

Apparently getting paid $25 million (to go 16-31) and having carte blanche to do things his way is the definition of the wrong job.

Now it comes out that Frost was "tugged" to help his alma mater and didnt really want to take the job.

As I recall, he was not dragged in kicking and screaming when Bill Moos introduced him back in 2017.

There was truth to what Frost said on Tuesday.

But it wasnt the whole truth.

Frost came off as bitter.

He did not come off as self-aware or a man claiming responsibility to his 16-31 era in Lincoln.

He's always been blunt and a lightning rod.

But a more polished coach and a Nebraska native with feelings for his state and school would have answered the question, I learned that I wasnt ready for the job.

I love Nebraska and will always wish them the best.

It didnt work out and I take responsibility for my part.

Im ready to move on and take the lessons Ive learned and be a better coach going forward.

Would that have been that hard? Im not sure why Frost would be bitter.

He was given everything he needed.

He had two athletic directors but he had their support along with that of the administration.

He lost.

And he was heavily criticized in the Nebraska Fish Bowl.

As he should have expected but perhaps wasnt ready for.

Hindsight is 20-20 and a two-way street in this story.

Looking back, I recall that Frost looked and sounded uncomfortable as Nebraska pursued him back in 2017.

Even as he spoke at his introductory press conference, it seemed everyone was celebrating but him.

There was no shame in the reason why: Frost had built a winner at UCF in two seasons and was on a magic carpet ride to an undefeated season.

He loved Orlando.

His offense fit the program and conference.

In his second year as a head coach, he had found success and happiness.

Theres an old saying that applies here: you dont mess with happiness.

But Nebraska was home and Husker football was his lifelong passion.

Frost is the son of a former Husker, a protege of Tom Osborne.

As he worked his way up the ladder, it looked like the next great Nebraska football coach one day.

Osborne was calling him back.

So, too, was the idea of his father, Larry, being able to see his son as the head coach at Nebraska.

Sometimes you find a new dream along the way.

This happens often in life.

The example that stands out for me is Roy Williams, who was groomed to be the head basketball coach at North Carolina but turned down his mentor, Dean Smith, to stay at Kansas.

Williams had fallen in love with KU.

That became his dream job.

But Williams couldnt say no to Dean twice.

He eventually left to take the North Carolina job, where he won three national championships.

Theres a considerable difference between Williams and Frost.

By the time he left Kansas after 15 years, Williams was his own coach, one of the greats in the game.

Frost had two years under his belt.

Its easy to see now, but Frost and Nebraska both should have used more caution.

Perhaps they should have considered that the time wasnt right just yet.

That seemed impossible to do at the time, what with Nebraska having had two losing seasons out of three from Mike Riley and craving a magic wand from a Nebraska legend who looked like the next great college football coach.

It didnt happen.

There were too many close losses.

The interruption of COVID-19.

An approach and style that didnt measure up to the physical Big Ten.

And a young head coach with an inexperienced coaching staff that had caught lightning at UCF but didnt have the answers or experience to lift Nebraska above the issues.

Frost is a smart coach.

Youd like to think he would have known going in that he should have surrounded himself with more experience in a job with many layers and in a league full of savvy, smart sharks.

But there was ego, too.

The sharks enjoyed attacking that.

I can say the same about Nebraska, where the issue rarely came up and it was assumed Frost would conquer all because, well, he was Frost.

I was certainly guilty of fueling that.

Theres culpability on both sides here.

But its over.

And now Frost is grinning in the Florida sun and Husker fans are smiling with Matt Rhule, a big-picture CEO with vision and boundless energy who is not a former Husker.

He just sounds and acts like one.

Rhule is a better fit here.

If theres a lesson here, maybe its that being a former Husker comes with no guarantees.

Dont take the wrong job.

And, dont hire the wrong coach.

Now, lets move on.

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