CHICAGO — Heading into his second year as Nebraska‘s coach, Scott Frost appears to be very happy with where sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez is entering preseason camp.
“I wouldn’t trade our guy for anybody in the country at that position, at the quarterback position,” Frost said at Big Ten media days Thursday. “On top of being a great player, he’s just a great individual. Exactly what we’re looking for to run our offense. We’re probably going to go as far as he can take us this year.”
Martinez is coming off an impressive first year in Lincoln in which he helped the Cornhuskers win four of their last six games following an 0-6 start.
Martinez, who is receiving a lot of preseason hype as a Heisman Trophy candidate, averaged 231 passing yards and threw eight touchdowns to two interceptions in those wins. He also averaged nearly 50 rushing yards in those games.
He finished the season with 3,246 yards of total offense and 25 total touchdowns.
“I played the position, not as well as he plays it, but I played the position,” Frost said. “And from personal experience and coaching experience, I think particularly at that position, your biggest jump comes from your first year of playing to your second year of playing. And I’ve seen that happen with some of the guys that I’ve coached, as well.
“As good as he was last year, if we get a similar jump, we’re going to be really strong at that spot.”
Frost also elected to bring his young quarterback to media days, something that is usually reserved for Nebraska seniors. But with few offensive seniors returning this year and the fact that Frost expects Martinez to be one of his team’s top players and leaders this fall, he decided his quarterback earned the chance to represent Nebraska as a face of the program this week.
“He’s as good a player as we have, and I think as good a player as a lot of people have around the country, so he deserves to be here,” Frost said. “Coaches also kind of think we’ve got to bring a guy that is going to speak well to represent us and say and do the right things — and he’s the poster child for that. He deserves to be in the spotlight. He can handle it. He’s ready for it, and he’s here.”