LINCOLN — Nobody stuck a “For Sale’’ sign in Barney Cotton’s front yard. There were no obscene phone calls at his house at 1 a.m. No barrage of terse e-mails from the loyal customers who focus their binoculars on the life and times of the offensive line.
And even if any of those things had happened last season, Cotton wouldn’t admit it.
Cotton is a no-nonsense, no-excuses offensive line coach at Nebraska. That’s redundant. Clete Fischer was that way. So were Milt Tenopir and Dan Young. The profile of the offensive line coach at NU came out of a country song. These were the type of men who would have a beer and spit some tobacco, develop their big uglies with tough love and tool around in a pick-up truck.
Tenopir used to drive around in a big red truck with a license plate that read “Oline.’’ Nebraska’s offensive line got the name “Pipeline’’ over the years, but I always thought a truck was a better symbol for this group. Tenopir’s lines were as dependable as his giant pickup and they could mash you like one. People took Uncle Miltie for granted. There’s an old saying: Nobody notices an offensive lineman until he screws up. The same goes for offensive line coaches.
Last year, everybody noticed Cotton.
As Nebraska’s offense sputtered around, some folks got so tired of yelling at coordinator Shawn Watson that they turned to berating Cotton. The line can’t block. Time for a new line coach.
Never mind that Cotton’s group was chopped up with injuries, the lack of depth, people playing out of position. Those are just excuses. Cotton would have none of it.
“Don’t kid yourself, we know when people talk about us,’’ Cotton said. “It’s hard but it’s not something you talk about. You can’t whine, you can’t complain, you can’t make excuses and you can’t talk about it.
“I give the guys a lot of credit, they took a lot of heat. And nobody put their hand up and said I can’t do it anymore. The young guys saw that and I think that will help us in the future.’’
The future is now. The most important story of the spring is the return of the offensive line. It’s time to get the truck out of the shop. Nebraska has aspirations of championships next season. But that won’t happen without a productive, consistent offense carrying its weight. And that won’t happen without the big men up front returning to glory.
They used to be rock stars. But how long has it been? Nebraska hasn’t had an offensive lineman win the Outland Trophy since Aaron Taylor in 1997. The last Husker offensive lineman to make All-American or first-team All-Big 12 was Toniu Fonoti in 2001.
“Clete Fischer, Milt Tenopir, Dan Young, all the way back,’’ Cotton said. “There’s a high standard here and we readily accept it. Our guys want to win those kinds of honors again. We relish in high expectations. And if you’re not getting the job done, there should be a little heat under the collar.’’
Nobody expects the 1994 Pipeline to show up next fall. But everyone expects a better group. Depth is one big reason. Tenopir always had numbers enough to develop the big boys by the time they started they were married, had three kids and a beard. Last year, Cotton struggled some practices to find five healthy linemen.
“Milt loved guys to play hard and play physical,’’ Cotton said. “That’s what Nebraska was known for. The other reputation was, after the first team came out, you better strap it up because the second team is fresh and they’re going to get after you. You throw 10 guys with fresh legs at five defensive linemen over a game, and you’re going to be better.’’
Fans saw this group’s potential in the Holiday Bowl when, as Cotton said, “we were healthier, but not healthy.’’ NU rushed 48 times for 223 yards and 4.8 yards per carry. The healthy return of Mike Smith and Marcel Jones, along with the additions of huge tackle Jermarcus Hardrick and Brent Qvale and Jeremiah Sirles, give Cotton some healthy numbers to work with.
But when it comes to potential, you wonder: Was the Holiday Bowl rushing success because of the line’s health or the healthy commitment to run it? And did the commitment have to do with the line being healthier?
“I think they’ll be more straight-ahead, and pulling people more, that type of thing,’’ said Tenopir, who met with Bo Pelini and Watson in the offseason. “You still have to schematically give them the opportunity to be physical. If you are in pass (protection) most of the time, that takes away from the physicality. That’s kind of been the norm in college football lately.’’
That’s a generational debate. Cotton, who played for two of the all-time great line gurus in Tenopir and Jim Hanifan with the St. Louis Cardinals, says physical blocking is physical blocking even out of the shotgun and spread.
“It looks more finesse but our kids are blocking it the same,’’ Cotton said. “There are some different things there, but by and large, a double team is a double team and a scoop is a scoop. Just because it’s done with no tight ends and a shotgun doesn’t mean it’s different than with two tights, a wing and a fullback.’’
In layman’s terms, what he’s saying is there are different models and years of trucks, but a good truck is still a good truck. For Nebraska, it’s time to get back on the road.
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mmmtodd
All-Conference
Danimal
All-Conference
Husker_x
All-American
I agree. I'd love to see him prove everyone wrong. But until he actually does it, speculation floats around.
Vince from ShamWOW
All-Conference
You should read more of his stuff as he is, without question, the best in the state. I don't always agree with him, but he is the state has with Chatelain being second.