Twenty-one games into Scott Frost’s tenure as Nebraska’s head coach, fans are in their feelings far more than they expected to be. After an off-season filled with dreams of unearned glory, the reality of a 4-5 Nebraska squad and a long, arduous rebuilding process stares them square in the face. Everyone connected to the program has struggled for some concrete evidence to base a judgment about how a programs like Nebraska’s can be floundering so badly.

At least, I felt adrift and without any good answers. Then I read this quote in a story by Parker Gabriel of the Lincoln Journal-Star from senior linebacker Mohammed Barry, one of the team’s captains, given before the Purdue game (emphasis added):

“We’ve said that stuff three years in a row,” Barry said. “I’m not going to keep putting it on that. I know what teams (with bad culture) look like. There were guys that literally did it deliberately, just wasn’t bought in, wanted to go against Coach. There’s no rebellious people on the team now. That’s not happening. That’s all shut down. It’s just people have to want it more, have to just be disciplined.”

Maybe I’m just naïve. Maybe this comes from a place of never having played football.

But Nebraska’s been through some dark times. The hand-picked heir of a beloved icon was fired less than two years removed from a national championship appearance. The fanbase was torn apart by a forced culture change that didn’t work. A head coach literally said “fuck you” to the fanbase and literally attempted to sabotage the program after he got fired.

But through all that, I never heard of a team in open rebellion against a coach. Maybe it’s happened and we’ve never heard of it. Hearing Barry say it out loud, though, in public is jarring to see, and really puts a new light on the depth of the hole Frost is digging Nebraska’s program out of.

I know, we’re all sick of hearing about culture and knowing where things are going. But seriously, if the baseline you’re having to start with as a new coach is “I wonder which of my guys are going to actively ignore the things I tell them,” you’re starting at quite a disadvantage.

Barry says that rebellious players aren’t an issue anymore – which hopefully is true, although I’m not sure we’d know about it if it wasn’t.  But even this year, Frost’s second, is the first year of just building trust and buy-in, that helps explain why we’re still asking questions about “culture” eighteen games into his tenure.

A smart and particularly handsome analyst has been giving you, Husker Fan, reasons for optimism about Nebraska football going forward. Well, if you want evidence of how bad the problems were when Frost arrived – and therefore how much time he’s going to need to have a reasonable shot to fix them – look no further than Barry’s revelatory quote.

GBR, baby.