Ross Els

[Count 'Bility]

In my humble opinion, Ross Els needs to go. He is the special teams coach, linebackers coach and the recruiting coordinator and he isn't getting the job done in any of his areas. Our special teams are absolutely horrendous; we can't even field a punt! I have never seen any other team have as many issues with that as we do now. He was blessed to have Levonte at LB last year, but other than that our linebackers have been a weak point of our defense. Honestly. recruiting has been alright the last couple of years. But we have struck out on some big targets that we have needed to bring in. There are plenty of coaches out there that have a better resume than Els and could do a better job.

 

I'm not trying to troll, or anything like that. I just have thought this for the last few weeks now and I want to know if anyone else out there agrees with me.

 

The recruiting coordinator part is off base.

And I think recruiting is what he has done best. But I'm just not certain is has been him verses our Ohio connection that has done well for us.

Ross spent some time with Solich at Ohio. He has "Ohio Connections" as well.

[Ed Helms]

As a LB Coach: I think Els is doing a good job with the talent he has on hand right now, these last 2 seasons have shown a lack depth at LB because of the style we were adapting to in the Big XII. But, in these next few years look out for our Linebackers: David Santos, Zaire Anderson, Michael Rose, Jared Afalava, Thomas Brown, Courtney Love, Josh Banderas, Marcus Newby. The talent is there for the future, all have the potential to be All Big Ten type players. Could the LB play be better at times? Yes. But I think Els has done a good job of adapting his guys to the Big Ten style.

 

As a Recruiting Coordinator: Els started this year off REALLY strong as the new RC. We saw the creation of the "Big Red Weekend," which drew a lot of buzz. He's an organized, hard-working guy, and holds the coaches accountable for their recruiting efforts. I, as most Huskers fans, have been disappointed with the in-season recruiting these past few years, and hopefully Els and all the coaches can change that. But, having said that, I almost guarantee that the coaches will kick it into high-gear come December, January, February, and Nebraska will end up with some really nice recruits, in addition to the ones we already have.

 

As a SP Teams Coordinator: Els may have the title of "Special Teams Coordinator," but I guarantee almost all of the position coaches (along with GAs) have a hand in the preparation of the special teams, so I don't really think the blame's all on him. We can all agree that this facet of the game needs to get better for the Huskers.

 

As others have said, I think Ross Els just has to much on his plate right now. I personally would give the Special Teams Coordinator spot to another coaching staff member, and let Ross focus on LB's, and Recruiting.

[lionsfan93]

Being that I am the only one who thinks that Els needs to go, I can own up and say that my opinion was wrong. I still think he has much to prove though.

[EZ-E]

I will say the things that Els does in terms of recruiting probably will never be recognized. My only frustration is closing on kids that have great visits. We have a huge disadvantage when it comes to recruiting, so we must outwork everybody else. Where we are on level terms with teams is when kids comes in for night game official visits.

[onlyHskrfaninIL]

I don't think anyone outside that locker room is really qualified to say what kind of job he is doing. Yes, there have been some punt return problems but how much of that is his fault? He's also had his hand forced somewhat by Rex's injury and losing Ameer. Our special teams haven't been disorganized and from what I can remember we haven't had a lot of silly special teams penalties. Kick coverage was a little shaky early on but that problem seems to have been rectified. The rugby style punt was a nice little wrinkle a couple weeks ago, don't know if he had a hand in that. Recruiting has been a little slow in-season but that's been typical Pelini style. Jury is still out on this year's class. If this class does turn out to be weak, it may be because of the B1G more so than anything else. I think he's done a decent job with the LB's considering what he's had to work with. From what I can judge he isn't doing a bad job.

[BIG ERN]

Overall I think Ross has done a pretty good job.

 

But to touch on recruiting isn't Banderas the only recruit he has worked on that signed? I mean he is from Lincoln so his commitment shouldn't have been hard.

[da skers]

Being that I am the only one who thinks that Els needs to go, I can own up and say that my opinion was wrong. I still think he has much to prove though.

I like the guy and I'll give you the fact that special teams needs to be addressed. I'd like to see us practice it first everyday and then get into the guts of the O and D. I hate the way that we never challenge a punt or a field goal. I realize rules have changed in the past few years about jumping over another player etc but it seems we are exactly opposite on the special teams as we are on O and D. We play aggressively on the O and D now almost 100% of the time and we are very passive on the special teams and want to play it safe and protect. I hope we can build depth on the D a little more so we can use those #1 and #2 guys more on those special teams like we did in past years.

[whateveritis1224]

Being that I am the only one who thinks that Els needs to go, I can own up and say that my opinion was wrong. I still think he has much to prove though.

 

Of course he does. Pretty much every position coach outside of WR, RB, and TE, still has something to prove. I think a general concession is that Els might have too much on his plate and we need someone to work either exclusively or give it to an assistant who doesn't have as much on his plate (Garrison was a name thrown out).

[EZ-E]

Overall I think Ross has done a pretty good job.

 

But to touch on recruiting isn't Banderas the only recruit he has worked on that signed? I mean he is from Lincoln so his commitment shouldn't have been hard.

 

RC's don't always go on the road recruiting. He more than likely doesn't have much contact with our current prospects.

[ZRod]

He hasnt even completed his 2nd year yet. Linebackers are not playing that poorly. Special teams could be better. Recruiting is improving. Have you ever been fired for not being perfect at your job after only 2 years on the job?

I have! It was F'ing stupid, everyone I worked with said I should still be there.

 

Oh, that was rhetorical wasn't it?

[zoogs]

I think Els deserves credit for the big turnaround and momentum our early recruiting this year had built up. As EZ said the RCs aren't the guys hitting the road necessarily or being our aces, but they are in charge of organizing and spearheading the whole effort. This is Els' first year as the RC, right? So those early changes were real promising.

[REDSTEEL]

You do have to wonder whose bright idea was to use a guy that had hurt his collarbone and a bad shoulder to catch punts. There has to be someone on the team that would be better suited in punt return situations.

[krc1995]

why can't Heard get back there? He is under utilized due to depth. Awesome talent

[PaulCrewe]

Els has done near miracle work as recruiting coordinator, compared to the likes of Ted Gilmore. As many have brought up he has put forth a very strong emphasis on off season recruiting. This is really a needed boost.

 

And remember the RC isn't responsible for closing on these kids when they visit. He is arranging their trips, setting up flights, making room arrangements, planning activities, meals, etc.

 

And Else has helped land all LBs this cycle, has continued to form solid connections on the east coast and even has a chunk of Ohio for which he is overseeing.

[Polarhusker]

He doesn't need to go, he just shouldn't have as much on his plate. Hard to be successful when you don't have the time to juggle everything.

 

who would you give it too.