Coach Riley,
I have said it before and I will say it again.....you MUST run the ball to be successful at Nebraska. It is the culture and tradition here, and it is the way to success in any brand of football. That pass-first West Coast passing game was tried here before in the Callahan years and it was a disaster. You must coach up the offensive line to be MAULERS, to pancake defenders, and plow thru a defensive scheme. You have the running backs, I feel you have the offensive line if coached right.. Nebraska during its most successful period of decades of winning, was always a running-based offense, consistently leading the nation in rushing, year in, year out. My biggest concerns are you personally and your staff. I am afraid you and Langsdorf simply lack the know-how to put together a powerful rushing attack. You have lived and breathed with a passing game and immobile QBs your whole coaching time that I feel you don't have the knowledge to put it all together....an old dog can't change its spot, which is actually surprising you went down this passing mentality road considering you played for Bear Bryant in the 70's when he ran the ball a LOT out of the Wishbone, I would think you would have a much better appreciation for the running game than you currently do. QBs should not be just hand the ball off and drop back and throw type players....they can be RUNNERS, too.....Inside and Outside Zone Read, QB Draw, QB Off tackle, etc.
All I can say is I really hope you get it together, you and your staff, and figure out that to win a lot of games (not just the .500 record you currently have, which is simply not good enough for a place like Nebraska) you must have an OVERPOWERING rushing attack (examples - Nebraska from the 90's, or in current day....Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Auburn, Georgia Tech, etc.). Please investigate and invest time into learning how to run the ball and have a rush-first mentality instead of the current throw the ball all over and only occasionally run the ball. I think you will find it leads to much better success!
I have said it before and I will say it again.....you MUST run the ball to be successful at Nebraska. It is the culture and tradition here, and it is the way to success in any brand of football. That pass-first West Coast passing game was tried here before in the Callahan years and it was a disaster. You must coach up the offensive line to be MAULERS, to pancake defenders, and plow thru a defensive scheme. You have the running backs, I feel you have the offensive line if coached right.. Nebraska during its most successful period of decades of winning, was always a running-based offense, consistently leading the nation in rushing, year in, year out. My biggest concerns are you personally and your staff. I am afraid you and Langsdorf simply lack the know-how to put together a powerful rushing attack. You have lived and breathed with a passing game and immobile QBs your whole coaching time that I feel you don't have the knowledge to put it all together....an old dog can't change its spot, which is actually surprising you went down this passing mentality road considering you played for Bear Bryant in the 70's when he ran the ball a LOT out of the Wishbone, I would think you would have a much better appreciation for the running game than you currently do. QBs should not be just hand the ball off and drop back and throw type players....they can be RUNNERS, too.....Inside and Outside Zone Read, QB Draw, QB Off tackle, etc.
All I can say is I really hope you get it together, you and your staff, and figure out that to win a lot of games (not just the .500 record you currently have, which is simply not good enough for a place like Nebraska) you must have an OVERPOWERING rushing attack (examples - Nebraska from the 90's, or in current day....Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Auburn, Georgia Tech, etc.). Please investigate and invest time into learning how to run the ball and have a rush-first mentality instead of the current throw the ball all over and only occasionally run the ball. I think you will find it leads to much better success!
Last edited by a moderator:
