‘I feel for those guys’: Transfers Adrian Martinez, Kade Warner discuss Huskers drama

Adrian Martinez wasn’t sure how to respond when he was asked about Nebraska parting ways with Scott Frost.

Did he want to say anything about his former team and his former coach now that he is the starting quarterback at Kansas State?

At first, the answer was no. But after a few seconds of thought, he changed his mind.

“Still a lot of people there that I care for a lot,” Martinez said. “You hate to see a man lose his job, regardless. Thoughts with him and thoughts with the guys and the coaches and all the support staff that are there, because many people are misplaced in this type of thing. You pray for their families and you hope things end up OK.”

Martinez was one of the first recruits that Frost signed after he was hired at Nebraska. A four-star prospect out of Fresno, California, he remembers being impressed by what Frost accomplished in his previous job at Central Florida. So he decided to give the Huskers a look.

From there, Martinez went on to start as a freshman and amass 10,791 total yards of offense over the next four seasons. But Martinez and Frost were never able to win more than five games in a season together.

This past offseason, Martinez looked for a change of scenery and transferred to K-State. He is off to a 2-0 start with the Wildcats, despite putting up modest individual numbers (154 yards passing, 92 yards and two touchdowns rushing) of his own.

Frost stayed at Nebraska and prepared for a make-or-break season. But he only lasted three games. The Huskers fired him following a home loss to Georgia Southern on Saturday.

Less than 150 miles away, Martinez and two other former Nebraska football players noticed.

Their emotions could be described as a mixture of relief and sympathy. Receiver Kade Warner and linebacker Will Honas have both thoroughly enjoyed their time in Manhattan. But they still have connections to their old school.

It was hard not to think about old memories this week.

“I have talked to some of the players,” Warner said. “They are definitely dazed. I feel for those guys over there, because I have a couple buddies on the team and they are going through their last years. You never want to see that happen to anybody, especially the players. I hope they bounce back, and I hope they win a lot of games this year because I have so many guys on that team that I really care for.”