[ad_1]
The Nebraska football program and coach Scott Frost are under investigation by the NCAA for misuse of analysts and consultants during practices and games, sources told The Action Network.
The school, according to sources, has “significant video footage” confirming that the practice violations took place in the presence of Frost and other assistants.
Frost obtained legal advice and the NCAA interviewed Frost, several current and former staff, administration and football players about the allegations, sources said. The allegations date back 12 months.
Additionally, last year – when the NCAA banned organized sporting activities due to the pandemic – Nebraska moved its strength training sessions to an undisclosed off-campus location to avoid detection by officials of schools other than football, sources said.
The unauthorized organized workouts took place under the direction of NU’s conditioning and fitness staff, in direct violation of NCAA rules. It is not known whether the NCAA is investigating these specific allegations, a source said.
Among the possible NCAA penalties that Nebraska could receive include the suspension of Frost for an unknown number of games, an NCAA source said. Nebraska opens the season in Illinois on Saturday, August 28.
Coincidentally, two Nebraska staff – analyst Jonathan Rutledge and chief of staff Gerrod Lambrecht – have left the program in the past eight months. It is not known if these departures are related to the ongoing investigation.
“There have been some egregious actions taken by the football program,” said a source.
The investigation and allegations worsen Nebraska’s unfulfilled expectations under Frost, who is entering a critical season in his fourth year in his alma mater.
The NCAA investigation includes the inadmissible use by Nebraska of analysts and consultants conducting and monitoring exercises involving special teams.
Last year, Frost made Rutledge responsible for special teams as the senior special teams analyst, even though Rutledge was not one of 10 full-time field assistants in Nebraska. NCAA rules allow analysts to speak to assistants and the head coach, but analysts may not have direct contact with players. This includes practices, theater times and during games.
However, the school has significant video footage documenting the inadmissible use of analysts and consultants while assistant coaches and Frost were on the pitch or on the sidelines, sources said.
Rutledge was fired on January 14. Local media reported that Rutledge’s departure was due to poor play by the Nebraska special teams.
Then, on August 6, Frost announced that Lambrecht was leaving the program to pursue another business opportunity. Lambrecht had been Frost’s chief of staff for the past five years at UCF and Nebraska. Frost told reporters that he considered Lambrecht “one of my best friends in the world.”
The Lincoln-Journal Star reported that Lambrecht helped oversee the development of Nebraska football’s response to the pandemic last year. He was credited by Frost with organizing NU through the uncertainty of spring and summer. This delay would coincide with the alleged unauthorized off-campus training in Nebraska under the direction of strength and conditioning staff.
The NCAA does not comment on ongoing investigations.
Earlier this year, Frost and Lambrecht were key supporters, along with other administrators, in an attempt to abandon Nebraska’s Sept. 18 game in Oklahoma, a source said.
In March, I reported that Nebraska was trying to stop playing OU, marking the 50th anniversary of the 1971 OU-NU Century game. Nebraska contacted several schools in the Group of 5 Conferences to replace Oklahoma in the game. schedule, sources told me. However, once my report became public, the negative backlash from the Nebraska fan base forced the Huskers to play the game as planned.
“Frost and Gerrod Lambrecht sought a replacement for Oklahoma without permission from (then athletic director) Bill Moos,” a source said. “Frost was in favor of eliminating the Oklahoma game.”
Moos, who announced his retirement as NU AD three months later in June, “jumped on the grenade for this debacle” and took the public relations blow, a source said.
Frost, a former Nebraska quarterback, came to NU after two seasons at UCF. He went 13-0 at UCF in 2017, but is only 12-20 in three years at Nebraska. Frost is the Huskers’ first coach with three consecutive losing seasons in 60 years.
As of 2021, Frost already had one of the most prominent coaching seats in college football. Add to those NCAA allegations, the embarrassment of the game in Oklahoma, the hiring of new athletic director Trev Alberts and it’s obvious this will be a critical season for the former great Nebraska quarterback.
[ad_2]
Source link