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Winless Nebraska Coach Now Accusing Another School of Tampering

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Nebraska football coach Scott Frost spent seven seasons battling Oregon State while he was an assistant at Oregon, and now he’s accusing his former rival of tampering with one of his players.

It all started when Nebraska running back Greg Bell requested that he be released from his scholarship after losing his top position on the depth chart.

Nebraska granted the release, but as many programs do, the Cornhuskers had certain restrictions about with whom Bell could talk about transferring.

Those included fellow Big Ten members, nonconference opponents of Nebraska over the next three years and, oddly, Oregon State.

The Beavers have become sort of a pipeline for disgruntled Cornhusker players as three Nebraska players recently transferred to the school. Additionally, four former members of Nebraska’s staff now also work for Oregon State.

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Frost believes that where there is smoke, there’s fire, and that members of OSU’s staff have been in contact with the players who have left his program.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that those kids were probably in touch with some people that they formerly knew that were here,” Frost said during a news conference Thursday about the three former Nebraska players now at Oregon State.

Bell, who signed with Nebraska out of junior college, wasn’t recruited by Nebraska’s former staff, but the list of blocked teams by Nebraska has been rendered moot anyway due to new transfer rules.

A new NCAA rule that goes into effect on Monday says athletes will be able to transfer wherever they want without a school’s permission.

Once released from his scholarship, which has already happened to Bell, the school then enters his name into a nationwide database that allows other schools to contract him directly.

Frost clearly isn’t in favor of the new rule, likening it to the Wild, Wild West.

“It’s already gotten a little messier this year; I’m sure it’ll continue to get messy,” Frost said. “The bottom line is, this day and age, a lot of people want what they want and they want it now. There’s not a lot of patience, there’s not a lot of willingness to fight through and to change their circumstances.

“People have a tendency just to think the grass might be greener somewhere else. I hope it doesn’t become the Wild West and college basketball with everybody transferring, but we’re all going to have to figure out how it looks and do the best with what we have.”

With as much as Nebraska is struggling on the field this season, the last thing Frost wants to worry about is something taking place off the field.

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Will Nebraska get its first win of the season vs. 2-3 Northwestern?

Nebraska is 0-5 and one of two teams in a Power F conference that is still winless (UCLA is also 0-5 under first-year coach Chip Kelly).

After losing last week 41-24 to Wisconsin, the Cornhuskers have now lost nine straight games dating back to last season, which is a new school record for futility.

Nebraska’s next opportunity to get a win comes Saturday at Northwestern (2-3).

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Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009.
Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009 and previously worked for ESPN, CBS and STATS Inc. A native of Louisiana, Ross now resides in Houston.
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