The Athletic: Nebraska’s biggest preseason question - Can substance rise above style?

[Saunders]

Quote

 

The narrative persists that Nebraska, as a program, continues to confuse its priorities.

 

It began, well, sometime between the firing of Frank Solich 16 years ago and the torturous fall of 2017, by which time it was clear to all who watched that the Huskers were lost in the woods more than half a decade after diving into the Big Ten.

 

Under the leadership of Scott Frost during the past 32 months, Nebraska football has made important strides on the inside to change attitudes and expectations. It remains far from perfect; Frost is the first to say it. But little doubt exists among those who watch the Huskers closely that they’ve achieved something important.

https://theathletic.com/1969842/2020/08/04/nebraska-huskers-football-preseason-question/?source=emp_shared_article

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

29 minutes ago, Saunders said:

 

I know I'm a negative Nancy, but I'm not sure that the internal workings of Nebraska football are as in sync as the article portrays.

 

The high profile departure of JD Spielman and of Gray and Francios to a lesser extent suggest that there is still some culture issues with current recruits and players.

 

Along with the staff shakeup of replacing the OC, Frost is still in "trying to figure it out" mode in my opinion. 

[84HuskerLaw]

Each individual player, staying or leaving, needs to be considered separately imo.   A bunch of guys have departed early for a bunch of reasons.   Many, perhaps most, that have transferred, seem to have done so for want of playing time prospects based on published reports (for what they are worth).  Style of play, particular skill sets mismatch to Frost schemes vs Riley, new recruits arrival present new competition, etc.  

Still others left for apparent personal, family and health issues.  

  JD was really the only example of an apparent starter with plenty of good reasons to stay who opted to leave.  His could be a number of issues from coaching and scheme changes to a desire to get out of the Big Ten’s physically tough play to perhaps a different setting.  He may have had personality issues with some other players, coaches etc.  

All of this may broadly be lumped in to the whole ‘culture’ deal but there is no surprise that with big and sudden change, some people embrace it - others do not.  

I am not sure we can say everything Frost has done is positive or negative - just quite a bit different really.  Time will tell.  

Frost has plans and method in the semi-chaotic turbulence of years 1-3.   The season getting cancelled will be yet another seismic event as Husker football - the program - is rebuilt from scratch.  There is plenty to be excited about but things that are concerning as well.   Stability is key so lets hope that the program settles into a steady gradual ascension into national relevance and stature. 

[Undone]

Strength & conditioning under Bo was actually pretty good. I'm choosing the words "pretty good" carefully - so, not "great" but also not "bad."

Then Riley not only didn't bring in quality linemen on both sides of the ball but practically abandoned serious weight training, at least as far as I understand it. 

 

Outside of Ohio State's insane evolution to a completely other level, the rest of the decent-good teams (outside of Indiana) still play power football on both sides of the ball. In our division, Wisconsin & Iowa consistently develop strong offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and linebackers.

Until we get our big guys strong again - really big & strong - we will continue to suck in the B1G. This is foundational, and it doesn't get fixed in just two seasons.

[84HuskerLaw]

13 minutes ago, Undone said:

Strength & conditioning under Bo was actually pretty good. I'm choosing the words "pretty good" carefully - so, not "great" but also not "bad."

Then Riley not only didn't bring in quality linemen on both sides of the ball but practically abandoned serious weight training, at least as far as I understand it. 

 

Outside of Ohio State's insane evolution to a completely other level, the rest of the decent-good teams (outside of Indiana) still play power football on both sides of the ball. In our division, Wisconsin & Iowa consistently develop strong offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and linebackers.

Until we get our big guys strong again - really big & strong - we will continue to suck in the B1G. This is foundational, and it doesn't get fixed in just two seasons.

This is all very true.  

[Undone]

Even just the title of the article underscores how Frost's year two at UCF shaped the aura of him as a coach as well as the presumptive way that Nebraska football would look and feel when he took over.

 

Then we examined the extreme attrition of the 2017 recruiting class, combined with not a whole lot to work with on both lines (in addition to just not being big & strong enough on those two units) and out popped a pair of losing seasons.

 

I can't read the article, but I'm going to assume that "style" refers to UCF's year two "basketball on grass" system. I think that any offensive style can work in any conference...but in the Big 10, your offensive line has to be big & strong. I still don't think we have that yet heading into this season, but it could be in place by the start of year four.

[Husker in WI]

1 hour ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

I know I'm a negative Nancy, but I'm not sure that the internal workings of Nebraska football are as in sync as the article portrays.

 

The high profile departure of JD Spielman and of Gray and Francios to a lesser extent suggest that there is still some culture issues with current recruits and players.

 

Along with the staff shakeup of replacing the OC, Frost is still in "trying to figure it out" mode in my opinion. 

 

Spielman I'll give you, but the culture had nothing to do with Gray leaving and I haven't seen anyone implying it was a factor for Francois either. Definitely still figuring it out though - I think many (me included) assumed he'd figured out enough at UCF to be good in the big ten right away.

 

Going undefeated is a major achievement no matter where you do it, so I still think Frost is very good coach. But it's a whole different ball game here - the teams we play, the pressure around the program, and the situation we had. Hasn't done himself any favors with some of his one-liners either, but you could argue that's been Frost trying to set the standard rather than style with no substance. Is it all talk and no substance, or just preaching a level of competence that we haven't reached yet?

[Husker in WI]

21 minutes ago, Undone said:

I can't read the article, but I'm going to assume that "style" refers to UCF's year two "basketball on grass" system. I think that any offensive style can work in any conference...but in the Big 10, your offensive line has to be big & strong. I still don't think we have that yet heading into this season, but it could be in place by the start of year four.

 

It's actually not much about the offensive style, just the "we know where we're going, and we're close" narrative around the program and whether that's based in reality or just talk.

 

I agree on the offensive line, but I think we're close enough this year to be successful with it. IMO, Jaimes and Farniok (at Guard specifically) are good enough. Jurgens in year 2 as a full time Center I expect to be much improved. I really want to believe Wilson's play last year was due to nagging injuries like Austin said - if he's back to his play 2 years ago that's big. Benhart is probably still a little young, but the size is there. So definitely not a dominant big ten line, but one that's good enough to move the ball I think.

[Undone]

8 minutes ago, Husker in WI said:

It's actually not much about the offensive style, just the "we know where we're going, and we're close" narrative around the program and whether that's based in reality or just talk.

 

Gotcha, this makes sense.

 

8 minutes ago, Husker in WI said:

I agree on the offensive line, but I think we're close enough this year to be successful with it. IMO, Jaimes and Farniok (at Guard specifically) are good enough. Jurgens in year 2 as a full time Center I expect to be much improved. I really want to believe Wilson's play last year was due to nagging injuries like Austin said - if he's back to his play 2 years ago that's big. Benhart is probably still a little young, but the size is there. So definitely not a dominant big ten line, but one that's good enough to move the ball I think.

 

Jaimes is an excellent player and I'd take a guy of his caliber for any season, for all time. Without disparaging specific guys, my genuine prediction is that as a unit our O-line just won't be there for this season.

 

I'd loosely define "being there" as being able to hand the ball off in inside zones and not get destroyed by teams like, let's say, Minnesota. Or, faking a zone read handoff, dropping back to pass, and having a couple seconds for your QB to scan the field and throw the ball.

 

I think we'll be there at the start of year 4.

[teachercd]

Let me do the story

 

Did NU make a mistake in firing Frank, yes.  Did they make a mistake in hiring BC, yes, should they have fired BC, actually maybe not, did they make a mistake in hiring Bo, no, did they make a mistake in firing him, yes.  Did they make a mistake in hiring Riley, yes, did they make a mistake in firing him, no.

 

Now, if you read that would you please venmo me 3 dollars.

[gossamorharpy]

57 minutes ago, Husker in WI said:

 

Spielman I'll give you, but the culture had nothing to do with Gray leaving and I haven't seen anyone implying it was a factor for Francois either. Definitely still figuring it out though - I think many (me included) assumed he'd figured out enough at UCF to be good in the big ten right away.

 

Going undefeated is a major achievement no matter where you do it, so I still think Frost is very good coach. But it's a whole different ball game here - the teams we play, the pressure around the program, and the situation we had. Hasn't done himself any favors with some of his one-liners either, but you could argue that's been Frost trying to set the standard rather than style with no substance. Is it all talk and no substance, or just preaching a level of competence that we haven't reached yet?

Different game for sure in terms of style, player, etc.  Can't help but also add that Frost simply had better players across the board at UCF then he inherited here.  

[Undone]

22 minutes ago, gossamorharpy said:

Can't help but also add that Frost simply had better players across the board at UCF then he inherited here.

 

*proportionate to UCF's competition, I think you're right. But not necessarily as a one-for-one comparison.

 

Anyway, I agree with you.

[Dr. Strangelove]

2 hours ago, Husker in WI said:

 

Spielman I'll give you, but the culture had nothing to do with Gray leaving and I haven't seen anyone implying it was a factor for Francois either. Definitely still figuring it out though - I think many (me included) assumed he'd figured out enough at UCF to be good in the big ten right away.

 

Going undefeated is a major achievement no matter where you do it, so I still think Frost is very good coach. But it's a whole different ball game here - the teams we play, the pressure around the program, and the situation we had. Hasn't done himself any favors with some of his one-liners either, but you could argue that's been Frost trying to set the standard rather than style with no substance. Is it all talk and no substance, or just preaching a level of competence that we haven't reached yet?

I agree with you mostly.

 

I think fans in general underestimate the polarization happening in CFB. The SEC and B1G are considerably better than the other leagues. It isn't even close. The gap between those two leagues and the rest of CFB is growing rapidly. 

 

Frost has a difficult job. But Nebraska will very likely not play this season and struggle in 2021. 

[hunter49]

3 hours ago, Undone said:

Strength & conditioning under Bo was actually pretty good. I'm choosing the words "pretty good" carefully - so, not "great" but also not "bad."

Then Riley not only didn't bring in quality linemen on both sides of the ball but practically abandoned serious weight training, at least as far as I understand it. 

 

Outside of Ohio State's insane evolution to a completely other level, the rest of the decent-good teams (outside of Indiana) still play power football on both sides of the ball. In our division, Wisconsin & Iowa consistently develop strong offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and linebackers.

Until we get our big guys strong again - really big & strong - we will continue to suck in the B1G. This is foundational, and it doesn't get fixed in just two seasons.

 

agree with all your points.  play in the Big is not for everyone, this is a very, very physical league.

[hunter49]

6 minutes ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

I agree with you mostly.

 

I think fans un general underestimate the polarization happening in CFB. The SEC and B1G are considerably better than the other leagues. It isn't even close. The gap between those two leagues and the rest of CFB is growing rapidly. 

 

Frost has a difficult job. But Nebraska will very likely not play this season and struggle in 2021. 

we can't afford to struggle next year.