Brohm sees similarities between his rebuild and Frost's job at Nebraska

In nearly every way possible, Purdue personnel understands the 0-3 world their opponent this weekend is living in.

Jeff Brohm says he expects to see a desperate Nebraska team Saturday as the Cornhuskers try to escape from their 0-3 start to Scott Frost's first season at his alma mater. Following an 0-3 start at Purdue in what was considered a critical second season for Brohm, he said Thursday he understands what it takes to get a team, season and program back in the left-hand column of the standings.

"I'm sure they're going to be hungry and angry and I expect they'll respond," Brohm said Thursday. "So that means we're going to have to hang in there and get it in the fourth quarter with a chance to win."

Not only is this the worst start for Nebraska since 1945, but this 0-3 start is also newfound territory for Frost as he tries to rebuild Nebraska in the mold of the program he played for in 1996 and 1997. Frost has never started a rebuild of a program as an assistant or head coach with this kind of setback. As an offensive coordinator at Oregon, the Ducks won 24 games in his first two years, then Frost turned a UCF team that went 0-12 the previous year into a program that went to a bowl game in his first season. Three straight losses are newfound territory for Frost as he works with players in his and his staff's systems.

"Coming into Nebraska and hearing how things went down last year, I want to make sure nobody decides to go off on their own. We’re all in this together," Frost said Monday. "There is a lot that had to be fixed. We’ve fixed a lot of it. There’s still a lot more to be fixed.”

Brohm can relate to the culture change Frost is trying to enact in his first year with a Power Five program but that doesn't mean he'll have compassion on Saturday.

In a big-picture way of thinking, Brohm said Thursday he could anticipate what Frost is going through revolves around the confidence of the players in his locker room.

"In Year 1, you have to understand players go through a lot of coaches and a lot of different people so you've got to get them to trust you," Brohm said. "I'm sure Coach Frost has his guys believing in what they're doing but, guess what, they've lost three in a row. Any time that has happened, there's a little doubt that peeks in with your players and you can't have that."

As offensive gurus trying to revive Big Ten programs, both head coaches Saturday seem to have respect for each other and the job they've undertaken. If the gap between Wisconsin and the rest of the Western Division of the league is to shorten, Brohm and Frost are pointed out first as coaches with the best chances to help make that happen.

"I think Jeff Brohm is one of the best coaches in the country," Frost said Monday. "He did a great job where he was at and he always gets his team playing well. I don't think there's much different in them and us from the standpoint of they're not where they want to be record-wise but they've had two losses on walk-off field goals. The only difference is they're coming off a win and we're coming off getting our butts kicked."

Purdue quarterback coach Brian Brohm said this week in the world where "everybody steals from everybody else," he and his older brother have taken a look at what they've done schematically at Oregon and UCF to see if it could translate to their spread offense.

"He proved at Central Florida that that could work," Jeff Brohm said. "Right now, like certain teams, maybe it's not working as effective as he wants but it doesn't take long, and as soon as it clicks, sometimes it clicks, and from there you ride off and things start to go a lot better. So I'm sure he realizes that it will eventually happen and people are getting accustomed to how he practices and what he wants to do. So just a matter of time. We've just got to try to delay it as much as we can."

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