Staff Changes

[HuskermanMike]

I don't see Frost firing anybody. Verduzco comes to mind but Frost says he is one of the best in the business, so I do not see Frost letting him go.

 

If he does do this or Verdu decides to retire, I would love for Frost to get Helfrich as Co/OC and QB coach. Plus, Helfrich has coached QBs before on top of being a great offensive mind. Frost can still have input during games but this gives Frost a coach with p5 experience and lessens the load for him. If I had to pick one I would want Helfrich calling plays, but both Lubick and Helfrich can have input on things. I think something like this could help get us over the top because Frost looks stressed calling plays and managing the team. I could see Helfrich wanting to get a grad transfer qb to get us over the top at this spot. 

 

As for special teams, the LSU Safeties coach Bill Busch just parted ways with them. He is from Nebraska and coached here before so I would go after him. We need to find a way to get him in the program because he coached special teams and is the best option we got with ties to the program. If we fired Verdu, this would be my next choice as he would be a great hire. This is my second choice because Frost needs to give up playcalling duties. He can take them back down the road but right now someone else should call plays. Bill Busch would be the most experienced staff member and has proven his ability as a p5 coach. Look at his resume and I do not see one coach on this staff with a resume as good as his. 

 

I do not believe Frost wants Lubick to call plays for whatever reason. Also, getting another offensive guru in Helfrich might make him reconsider doing it. At the very least, it would give Frost another trusted mind to tell him things that will work. I don't see Frost coaching the qbs as that would put more stress on him. I see this going three ways:

 

1) Verduzco is kept on staff.

 

2) Verdu retires and we get Helfrich/another offensive coach to coach qbs and possibly have input on offense.

 

3) Verdu retires and we go after a much need ST coordinator- like Bill Busch.

[HuskermanMike]

Double post, my bad.

[admo]

This is ridiculous.  Staff changes during a throwaway pandemic season?  Unless this is the SEC, give it a break. 

 

I mean even Bo Pelini is safe.

 

https://www.houmatoday.com/story/sports/college/lsu/2020/12/21/lsu-football-defensive-coordinator-bo-pelini-fired-reports-say/3969210001/

 

 

Uh, Oh... 

[seaofred92]

2 hours ago, Huskers93-97 said:

Exactly, we are a blue blood that behaves like a middle of the pack program. Do you see Ohio state training staff for P5 competition or do they let other programs do that for them? They hire them once they have the credentials 

Well. Ryan Day had been a coordinator all of two separate one year stints (one at Temple and one at BC) before becoming OC for a season at OSU and then head coach at Ohio State currently. Also Brian Hartline served one year as a GA before becoming their WR’s coach as his first assistant coaching gig ever. 

 

Oklahoma hired Lincoln Riley with zero head coaching experience. 

 

You hire good coaches and people and let them learn on the job. Every situation is unique and different. One of the most important things NU needs to to establish and develop an identity and culture. For everyone (me included) complaining about the play calling at times this year- we were 4th in the B1G and 1st in the West in YPG. The team is/was extremely young. Let these guys develop and be patient. The biggest area NU can and should continue to invest in is our recruiting staff and capabilities- this is ultimately the thing that will turn this around. Need to continue to recruit better athletes across the board, and actually keep them here once they get on campus.

[Danimal]

3 hours ago, HuskerNation1 said:

Frost is the CEO of this staff and it's ultimately up to him to decide which assistants give the team the best chance to win.  Thus far he has not shown a great willingness to part ways with his staff, and the exit of Walters appears to have been mutual.  If Frost truly feels he has several more years as HC regardless if the team continues to underperform, he will be inclined to keep most if not all of the current staff.  However, if he is feeling some pressure from Moos, Green or Carter to show substantial improvement in year 4, he may be willing to rock the boat and make some broader changes. 

 

I agree with many of the posters that we have seen some marginal improvements on defense over the past 3 years, while the offense and special teams have really struggled.  With that said, I am not sure we should be seeking even just marginal improvements when the baseline we are improving from is so low.  Instead, we need to be swinging for the fences with assistants and finding coordinators that can help give NU the best offense, defense, and special teams in the BIG West division.  To be truly competitive on the national stage you really need top guys in all 3 phases of the game.

 

If Frost is protecting his buddies because he feels he has all the time in the world for things to work-out then he isn't the right guy for the job, and neither is Moos for giving him that idea. He took the big money job, that comes with having to be brutally honest about where improvements can be made and making tough choices. I'd be fine with replacing Chin with a top DC but I can accept giving him more time to keep on progressing. Our St's have sucked all three seasons. Our O has digressed since year-one, we double our wins this season with the year-one O. We are still an error-prone team. Those things absolutely have to be addressed 

[ScarletRevival]

1 hour ago, seaofred92 said:

Well. Ryan Day had been a coordinator all of two separate one year stints (one at Temple and one at BC) before becoming OC for a season at OSU and then head coach at Ohio State currently. Also Brian Hartline served one year as a GA before becoming their WR’s coach as his first assistant coaching gig ever. 

 

Oklahoma hired Lincoln Riley with zero head coaching experience. 

 

You hire good coaches and people and let them learn on the job. Every situation is unique and different. One of the most important things NU needs to to establish and develop an identity and culture. For everyone (me included) complaining about the play calling at times this year- we were 4th in the B1G and 1st in the West in YPG. The team is/was extremely young. Let these guys develop and be patient. The biggest area NU can and should continue to invest in is our recruiting staff and capabilities- this is ultimately the thing that will turn this around. Need to continue to recruit better athletes across the board, and actually keep them here once they get on campus.

 

Good post.

 

I don't get all of the hate for Austin.  Sure the OL hasn't been great,  but against Rutgers we started 3 freshman, a RS sophomore, and a 5th year senior who might be the worst of the starting bunch.

 

At some point,  Nebraska fans will need to realize that it's not the 70's- 90's anymore. Those years were an anomaly, lightning in a bottle.  2 HoF HCs. And college football is so much different than it was 25 years ago.

 

We aren't a destination job. We are Iowa,  NW, and Purdue.

[Scarlet]

8 hours ago, lo country said:

Exactly.  A WR shouldn't have to take away carries from RB's....Did it last year as well.  RB room, IMHO, is a mess.  And if not for Luke sitting the past few games the leading rushers would be AM, LM, Mills (or Wan'dale) as Rutgers REALLY helped Mills totals.  As it is now AM, Mills (by 30 yards) LM, Wan'dale.  All the scholarship RB's (Less Mills) combined for less yards than Wan'dale.  

You asked who Held has recruited who has planned out.  He recruited Wandale.  Also Mills, Corcoran, Jonas.  The others he's recruited are young. I wouldn't write them off yet. 

[Huskers93-97]

4 hours ago, seaofred92 said:

Well. Ryan Day had been a coordinator all of two separate one year stints (one at Temple and one at BC) before becoming OC for a season at OSU and then head coach at Ohio State currently. Also Brian Hartline served one year as a GA before becoming their WR’s coach as his first assistant coaching gig ever. 

 

Oklahoma hired Lincoln Riley with zero head coaching experience. 

 

You hire good coaches and people and let them learn on the job. Every situation is unique and different. One of the most important things NU needs to to establish and develop an identity and culture. For everyone (me included) complaining about the play calling at times this year- we were 4th in the B1G and 1st in the West in YPG. The team is/was extremely young. Let these guys develop and be patient. The biggest area NU can and should continue to invest in is our recruiting staff and capabilities- this is ultimately the thing that will turn this around. Need to continue to recruit better athletes across the board, and actually keep them here once they get on campus.

The difference is those guys were hired as an assistant then promoted internally because they knew what they had from first hand experience. Also when they were hired as an assistant it was 1 position coach. We have an entire staff learning on the job.

[Huskers93-97]

3 hours ago, ScarletRevival said:

 

Good post.

 

I don't get all of the hate for Austin.  Sure the OL hasn't been great,  but against Rutgers we started 3 freshman, a RS sophomore, and a 5th year senior who might be the worst of the starting bunch.

 

At some point,  Nebraska fans will need to realize that it's not the 70's- 90's anymore. Those years were an anomaly, lightning in a bottle.  2 HoF HCs. And college football is so much different than it was 25 years ago.

 

We aren't a destination job. We are Iowa,  NW, and Purdue.

Horrible take. We are still  #8 in all time wins after the last 20 years of sucking. Over 900 wins. Purdue has roughly 600. Iowa slightly over 600. Northwestern in 500s. You can’t erase 30 years of history and say without this then they are this. Because even then they are still not close in wins. We are still over 600 wins if you take away our best 30 years. I have never heard lightning in a bottle used to describe 30-40 years of excellence, 1 year maybe. 2017 UCF, 2019 LSU 

[uberism]

Austin is a good coach and will continue to rebuild the OL. All you have to do is watch game film and pay attention to how Farniok struggles to get to the second level compared to the freshman that played against Rutgers that can get to the second level to see the difference in athletic big bodies that are getting recruited t the OL. 

 

LT: Corcoran

LG: Piper

C: Jurgens

RG:

RT: Benhart

 

That will be the most athletic OL in years at Nebraska. 

[Decoy73]

52 minutes ago, uberism said:

Austin is a good coach and will continue to rebuild the OL. All you have to do is watch game film and pay attention to how Farniok struggles to get to the second level compared to the freshman that played against Rutgers that can get to the second level to see the difference in athletic big bodies that are getting recruited t the OL. 

 

LT: Corcoran

LG: Piper

C: Jurgens

RG:

RT: Benhart

 

That will be the most athletic OL in years at Nebraska. 

In your opinion, why has practice not led to correction of the weekly recurring issues with bad snaps, holding and false starts?

The aforementioned players do a lot of good things and are relatively young, but wouldn’t a good coach have fixed these issues by game 8?

[BigRedBuster]

35 minutes ago, Decoy73 said:

In your opinion, why has practice not led to correction of the weekly recurring issues with bad snaps, holding and false starts?

The aforementioned players do a lot of good things and are relatively young, but wouldn’t a good coach have fixed these issues by game 8?

I usually view holding as a result of getting beat.  There are exceptions to this obviously like the total BS holding call called in the Minnesota game at the goal line.  Getting beat usually is either because you don't have the athleticism or the technique to block the guy in front of you.  I believe the young guys have the athleticism we are looking for.  They need to be developed to have the technique.  That takes time.

 

Now....false start penalties?  Those make my head explode.  These guys have been playing these positions since they were in grade school.  Understanding when the ball is going to be snapped isn't rocket surgery.  To me, that's just a total lack of focus when on the field.

 

I personally don't see Austin going anywhere.  I think he's a good coach that, at times, showed improvement on the line this year.

[Hilltop]

1 hour ago, Decoy73 said:

In your opinion, why has practice not led to correction of the weekly recurring issues with bad snaps, holding and false starts?

The aforementioned players do a lot of good things and are relatively young, but wouldn’t a good coach have fixed these issues by game 8?

Not directed at me but I'll give my 2 cents.  

 

The snaps have improved dramatically. 

 

Holding - every team holds on almost every play.  We get called for it and our opponents rarely do.  Even the announcers during the Rutgers game were beside themselves that Rutgers didn't get a holding call several times.  That said, it is pretty understandable that a bunch of rookies are going to get beat a little more frequently than an experienced offensive line.    

 

False Starts - We brought the average down to under 1 per game - with a bunch of freshman linemen!  We had 7 false starts in 8 games.  Piper was flagged for a false start against Rutgers and was pulled for almost 2 quarters.  The penalties are being addressed and the issues are being corrected imo.  

 

I think people just want to be mad instead of looking at what is actually happening.  We started the season 0-2 against the two teams that played for the championship.  After that, we went 3-3 and showed improvement in several areas of the team.  The glaring issues, poor QB play and lack of a stable running back, continued to grab everyone's attention so they neglect to recognize the progress made in many other areas.  This team got better, even at QB and running back, down the stretch.    

[TGHusker]

14 hours ago, lo country said:

In defense of Dawson, I think it's the talent.  Throw in we didn't sign any true OLB (and losing JoJo) I am unsure if we will even be this good next year.  Transfer portal maybe?

Yes, I hope transfer portal or JUCO help

[Husker in WI]

Just now, TGHusker said:

Yes, I hope transfer portal or JUCO help

 

I think Payne and Nelson both flashed a little bit, and I'm hopeful we see a bigger jump next year. But I would never turn down a potential impact OLB, especially not this year. Randy Gregory isn't walking through the door, but I would gladly take some Pierre Allen/Barry Turner/senior year Eric Martin impacts. And I think Nelson/Payne/Tannor are capable of that, but we'll see if it happens.

 

No idea how we replace Jojo - Javin Wright better be the real deal. Otherwise I image we just see more of a true nickel, and play a guy like Farmer out there against spread teams/on passing downs and 2 true OLBs the rest of the time. A lot more substitutions.