Danny Bateman

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/12/10/7359965/mike-riley-nebraska-head-coach-recruiting-strategy Pretty good article describing both Riley's offensive and Banker's defensive philosophies in a simple way. From that and other searching I've done, Banker ran a 4-3 in OSU most recently. Their Rivals site lists a 4-3 depth chart. I'd be willing to bet a good amount Banker may use some 3-4 looks but will have a base 4-3 defense, at least for now. If we can see it's what our personnel are better suited for, he can as well. I like the idea of a... multiple defense *** throws up in mouth ***. It can confuse the offense, as opposed to our multiple offense, which mainly, well, confused the offense.

I'd think Bando would be an ILB and Newby/Love would be ideal OLBs in this scheme, but then you'd have two inexperienced starters on the outside. I just remember back, though, to Love getting some pub for being a real handful off the edge in the spring. We'd certainly have a logjam somewhere with the LBs though. And it all depends what type of 3-4 Banker likes to run. Sometimes, you have a more pure pass rusher as one of your OLBs and a guy who's a bit more well-rounded on the other side who can handle pass coverage if needed. I honestly have no idea what Banker is going to try to run since I haven't watched enough OSU film.

That right there is AWESOME. I think this is some of the creativity we heard of in regards to Riley on the recruiting trail. Going the extra mile to reach out to a former player who's family? Definitely earned some points there. I know Bo was a tremendous closer during in-homes and all the recruits and families loved him, but I never heard any kind of quote like this about him. It's just so refreshing to know our new head coach isn't going to pretend former players don't exist. That's a GREAT start here. Hope we get this guys signed!

Damn. Bring on the beef! Let's see what Riles and Cav can do!

Why not? It is fairly common.Carl did it, but I don't think it's that common to coach the DL and try to orchestrate the whole thing.McBride did it too. Granted, he had a DE coach also.Well, dang. Didn't know that... Bit on the younger side. Didn't know NU had such a rich tradition of DC/DL coaches! One thing that bothers me is that Banker has no experience coaching DL going all the way back to his first year as a GA in '79. Yeah, you read that right. He's been coaching for 35 years. I guess it could work pretty well. I just can't wait for the full staff to be announced like everyone else! I'd imagine this anxiousness is increased tenfold for recruits!

Why not? It is fairly common. Carl did it, but I don't think it's that common to coach the DL and try to orchestrate the whole thing.

Ok, if these two have an official scheduled today and loved Kaz, I think it would be prudent for Riley to have his ducks in a row and tell them who their position coach is. I know one tweet had Banker listed as a DL coach/ DC, so either he's the DL coach or he's the DC and Rikey likely already knows who his DL coach is. Surely he wouldn't pull double duty...

Hmm... Well if he is in fact our new DC, I'm a bit underwhelmed. Considering Coach Riley will be running the show on offense, I was really hoping for an experienced, home run, big name hire as DC to handle the other side of the ball. We've seen firsthand how bad it can be when you turn one half of your team over to someone who is ill-equipped to orchestrate its workings. On the other hand, Banker is at least very experienced. He's coached at least one very good year (2012) and several impressive single game performances versus top ranked opponents with great offenses. He'll have access to much higher tier talent at NU and that attacking defense sounds very enticing after too damn much read and react. Also, Riley played and coached DBs for much of his early career, so he'll actually be able to help to some degree. And big name does not always ensure good results -- see Weis, Charley, Muschamp, Will, and Tedford, Jeff, among others. Success is relative and depends largely on circumstances. We'll see.

no one said Bo isnt a good coach. He just isnt good enough. Hes been hired by an FCS program. Tressel agrees. God you people. Let me be the first then. Bo isn't a good head coach. Now here's the spade. Would you like to be the last to shovel dirt on that grave. FIFY. He could be a damn good position coach or a damn good DC. Being a CEO and managing all aspects is a bit too broad in scope for him at this point.

Yikes for assistants. Gonna be quite the step down for our own wunderkind, Mr. 750K.

Wow, there was a time when our practices were orchestrated to the utmost efficiency. We'd send guys to the NFL and they would comment on how less efficient their new NFL practices were. And now we have guys standing around? Sheesh, why all the GPS tracking stuff then?Lol. I remember that article. What a joke. So, all this time I've spent complaining about our S&C being sub-optimal and leading to injuries, and now you're telling me it was Bo's practices? I need to sit down...

Someone somewhere in this hot mess also suggested perhaps Banker was moving into Jamrog's job as Associate AD for Football Ops. That would mean he's not technically a part of the active staff while still being very involved. Probably not how it works out, just a thought.

Beemer, Trost: Welcome to the board. I'm glad you chose Huskerboard as a place for discussion. There's a lot of different personalities here, but it all works together pretty well and we're very user driven. It's not just one or two people posting everything and everyone else responding to it (alba another site which shall remain nameless) but everyone is welcome to share opinions and create discussions as they fit. Honestly, we get news as fast if not faster than the pay sites, which seem ridiculous to me anyway, and the mods do a great job cleaning up the garbage. Certain posters can get somewhat snarky at times. Some are more open to debate, others it would be best to ignore. But the mods usually do pretty well weeding out the trolls, too. Welcome again! Always good to meet the new folk.

Thank you so much for your insight on these guys! I really appreciate the perspective you've brought to the board regarding Riley and Co. as well as some insight into the OSU program itself! Hope you stick around after all of this shakes out.

It all goes back to Damon Benning's assertion that this squad needs a calming influence instead of someone ripping them on the sideline when they do make a mistake. It will be extremely interesting to see how they perform when they have said calming influence at the helm. They loved Bo, but the guy flat out destroyed their confidence and in turn wasn't putting them in a position to succeed.

you mean like the year we crushed Washington State and turned around and they beat our ass in a bowl game?

... because there are a lot of idiots on this forum... Tressel was a fantasy... and Frost would have been a huge gamble. At least Bo had considerable experience in the role of DC. Frost is still on Helfrich's short leash. He's little more than the Papuchis of Oregon (albeit with a much better mentor). I'm sorry, while we have the fortune of a few decades of great history (you know, Minnesota once had that too, before most of us were born)... we're no Alabama or Ohio State. There's no Saban or Meyer who's going to come on board here, because they know they can't recruit to the level they need to easily win here. That said, Riley has done some noteworthy things, with a team which is another notch, or two... below where we are, in terms of recruiting appeal alone. I would FAR rather see an experienced coaching staff (far more experienced than Bo/company), one which has so much respect, they were even considered by a number of elite programs, one which HAS won games against top 10 opponents, with inferior talent, a history of identifying/developing that inferior talent into NFL drafts, etc... I would much rather see them come on board at Nebraska. They could be a flop... every new hire is a crap shoot. But I like the odds way better, than some of the numb skull suggestions that so many have suggested here. Now Riley is going to bring on/retain the guys he's comfortable with, thinks can get the job done. I'm pretty certain, he knows far more in what to look for in terms of qualified candidates, than anyone here. I suggest everyone buckle up, take it all in, and hang on for the ride.. all the whining/complaining/second guessing in the world, isn't going to change the outcome. Great post... +1.Assembling a staff is tough. It's not just as simple as hiring the best recruiter at each position. You assemble dream teams in between seasons in free agency on your Xbox. In real life, Riley probably isn't comfortable hiring a lot of guys if he doesn't know even if they are fantastic coaches. The guy DOES have to assemble a staff with some semblance of chemistry, after all. He needs like minded guys working towards the same goal. Very excited about our new coach! Which is exactly what BO. did I would rather have a proven track record at the highest level attainable.There's a difierence between building a staff of legitimate D1 coaches and pulling guys from high schools/coaching golf/promoting GAs. I was kinda exaggerating to make a point, did he not say we will surround these kids with the best or at least allude to that, a few of these guys look good but hardly proven with the record they have put out there especially lately. It didn't look they were overachieving anymore, and with a possibility of people with better track records possibly interested i am disappointed if it turns out to be just another ham and egg squad.I wholeheartedly agree we should aim high. I think Coach Riley should sit him down, make no bones about what is and is not tolerated when recruiting to NU, and hire Coach O. If he's truly interested, hire Steele. Those are the only two high-profile names I have heard bandied about, aside from the pipe dream that is Frost. But who knows how Riley defines "best." Just because some of theses guys coached at Corvallis does not mean they can't be fantastic coaches. Bray appears to be that to me, and Brennan coached up the Biletnikoff winner last year and many other impressive WRs before him. I question how much of the complaining from OSU fans was purely due to coaching and how much was inadequate talent. I guess my point is that I for one trust Riley knows what he wants in his assistants. We should at least let him officially build his staff before we start the full-scale indictment that we didn't make the effort.

^^^ Was a penalty

... because there are a lot of idiots on this forum... Tressel was a fantasy... and Frost would have been a huge gamble. At least Bo had considerable experience in the role of DC. Frost is still on Helfrich's short leash. He's little more than the Papuchis of Oregon (albeit with a much better mentor). I'm sorry, while we have the fortune of a few decades of great history (you know, Minnesota once had that too, before most of us were born)... we're no Alabama or Ohio State. There's no Saban or Meyer who's going to come on board here, because they know they can't recruit to the level they need to easily win here. That said, Riley has done some noteworthy things, with a team which is another notch, or two... below where we are, in terms of recruiting appeal alone. I would FAR rather see an experienced coaching staff (far more experienced than Bo/company), one which has so much respect, they were even considered by a number of elite programs, one which HAS won games against top 10 opponents, with inferior talent, a history of identifying/developing that inferior talent into NFL drafts, etc... I would much rather see them come on board at Nebraska. They could be a flop... every new hire is a crap shoot. But I like the odds way better, than some of the numb skull suggestions that so many have suggested here. Now Riley is going to bring on/retain the guys he's comfortable with, thinks can get the job done. I'm pretty certain, he knows far more in what to look for in terms of qualified candidates, than anyone here. I suggest everyone buckle up, take it all in, and hang on for the ride.. all the whining/complaining/second guessing in the world, isn't going to change the outcome. Great post... +1.Assembling a staff is tough. It's not just as simple as hiring the best recruiter at each position. You assemble dream teams in between seasons in free agency on your Xbox. In real life, Riley probably isn't comfortable hiring a lot of guys if he doesn't know even if they are fantastic coaches. The guy DOES have to assemble a staff with some semblance of chemistry, after all. He needs like minded guys working towards the same goal. Very excited about our new coach! Which is exactly what BO. did I would rather have a proven track record at the highest level attainable.There's a difierence between building a staff of legitimate D1 coaches and pulling guys from high schools/coaching golf/promoting GAs.

I'd argue it's very difficult to recruit to a program that is definitely lacking in regional talent and now has the reputation of being an also-ran good team that gets blown out any time they play anyone that's a legitimate top 25 team. It's a bit of a chicken or egg problem... What comes first, on field success or top recruiting classes? This year, a top 25 class would be good by me. Recruiting rankings tend to be misleading anyway as they give too much weight to schools with large classes. We've got a small senior class this year, IIRC, so we're a bit hamstrung. I prefer to look at rankings sorted by avg stars per player.

The last thing it is is the lifting weights part. Every single team has guys who can bench x amount and squat x amount. I have always felt this physical thing is mental and emotional. I guess when they were tapping out after just one play alot of the time maybe they were just emotionally stressed. This was a coaching move, entirely intentional, and had nothing to do with being out of shape. It had everything to do with a hockey philosophy, with frequent line changes, where they guys were supposed to give it their all for a play or two, go to the side & rest a second, then go back & do it over again. Before Ameer got hurt he was on pace to break Rozier's rushing record, so this fantasy about being out of shape has no merit. Our visibly out of shape OL begs to differ, Knapp. Our skill position guys seem fit but not very injury resistant. I question how well our S&C staff puts our linemen in a position to succeed.

While I'd be underwhelmed if Banker is DC, this dude certainly has experience. He's been doing this a LONG time. At least no more first-time coordinators. FWIW, I looked up their 2012 D stats during Riley's best year, and they were a top 30 defense across the board. Top 20 in turnovers forced. If nothing else, I'd like to see what he would draw up with the ridiculous step up in talent he'd have at his disposal here.

Good post. We'd better hope so. The alternative is that they're like... The staff Bo assembled.