2023 Spring Practice Notes - Offensive Line

[Dr. Strangelove]

3 hours ago, Undone said:

So we have to wait how many more seasons to determine that we just didn't have good enough OL talent before we determine whether the guy can coach the position? Serious question there.

 

Back to this season & predictions there, I think if Nouili is healthy and plays at least at the level he did in 2021 that our line has a good chance of being better across the board.

Honestly, to judge the OL coach, t probably takes 3 years to determine if they're good coaches. It takes a year to get recruits, and typically 1-2 years before they're ready. 

 

I don't think this is true for all position groups, where guys can play as true or redshirt freshman. It just so happens that it takes a lot of physical development for the lines, and as such more time to judge if coaches are good or not.

[Undone]

1 hour ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

Honestly, to judge the OL coach, t probably takes 3 years to determine if they're good coaches. It takes a year to get recruits, and typically 1-2 years before they're ready. 

 

You're describing what it takes to take a kid out of high school and get him ready to perform at the college level competently. We have a roster full of upper classmen linemen who are physically the same size as the average of other O-linemen on other B1G teams who have been lifting weights for 3 years, etc., etc.

 

But you've described our current O-line roster as "sh!t," so I get that you don't believe there's any coach out there that could do anything with these players. I just disagree with that assessment.

[huskerfan702]

Usually OL coaches are tied to certain coaches and schemes. Kinda hard to judge a man who was brought on to a sinking ship. I say give the man a clean slate and see how he develops the younger players 

[Dr. Strangelove]

7 hours ago, Undone said:

 

But you've described our current O-line roster as "sh!t," so I get that you don't believe there's any coach out there that could do anything with these players. I just disagree with that assessment.

Honestly, you may not be wrong. I personally believe that the players aren't particularly good, but in fairness to them they've had multiple coaches across multiple schemes. Improving with little continuity is difficult. 

[Lorewarn]

10 hours ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

Let's not act like this iteration of the Oline has been anything other than a disaster. The last 4 quarterbacks thats had the misfortune of taking snaps behind it has been injured. 

 

This is a garbage and disingenuous argument. Quarterbacks get hurt, especially in running schemes. If you look at our school and you look at most schools across the country, having a starting quarterback get injured isn't an uncommon experience.

 

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Just now, Lorewarn said:

 

This is a garbage and disingenuous argument. Quarterbacks get hurt, especially in running schemes. If you look at our school and you look at most schools across the country, having a starting quarterback get injured isn't an uncommon experience.

 

 

Casey Thompson wasn't exactly a run first QB. I don't know what you're talking about. He ran for his life, missed games, and had off season surgery. 

 

Having all all three of your QBs get injured in the same season - two of which required off season surgery - is rare. The backups did have more designed runs called, but getting both injured is still rare.

 

By any metric, the pass blocking was horrid.  113th in overall sack rate, they were 104th in standard down sack rate. 111th in passing down sack rate. No matter how you dice it, they were bad. 

[Nebfanatic]

19 hours ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

Really it was just an analogy buddy.

It was an analogy that compared our student athletes to piles of s#!t. Completely unnecessary analogy if you ask me, I'm sure there were better ones to make your point. Do you think Coach Rhule or any good leader of young men ever refer to someone in that way? You can be honest about their performance last year but that doesn't mean you have to be disparaging or derogatory. You can justify it all you like but these are young men trying to be their best and you are calling them piles of s#!t before they even have the chance to redeem themselves from last season. It's sad to see. 

[Dr. Strangelove]

On 8/10/2023 at 9:03 AM, Nebfanatic said:

It was an analogy that compared our student athletes to piles of s#!t. Completely unnecessary analogy if you ask me, I'm sure there were better ones to make your point. Do you think Coach Rhule or any good leader of young men ever refer to someone in that way? You can be honest about their performance last year but that doesn't mean you have to be disparaging or derogatory. You can justify it all you like but these are young men trying to be their best and you are calling them piles of s#!t before they even have the chance to redeem themselves from last season. It's sad to see. 

Fair enough. I certainly could have used different words for my analogy that weren't as colorful to express my belief that our Line play had to do with player quality instead of their position coach.

 

My apologies.

[Toe]

Sounds like there's still a lot of 'throw s#!t at the wall and see what sticks' going on with the O-line right now. Different guys playing, and at different positions. I'm not very optimistic that they'll be gelled as a unit by the start of the season.

[runningblind]

24 minutes ago, Toe said:

Sounds like there's still a lot of 'throw s#!t at the wall and see what sticks' going on with the O-line right now. Different guys playing, and at different positions. I'm not very optimistic that they'll be gelled as a unit by the start of the season.

Ditto. This is why I say pump the brakes on a 3-1 start and winning either of the first two on the road. If it happens, great but I am not expecting W's out the gate.

[Decked]

27 minutes ago, Toe said:

Sounds like there's still a lot of 'throw s#!t at the wall and see what sticks' going on with the O-line right now. Different guys playing, and at different positions. I'm not very optimistic that they'll be gelled as a unit by the start of the season.

A lot of that also is Nouili getting hurt. So both he and Luto have swapped. I don’t buy this. 

[Loebarth]

@Toe @runningblind

 

Like the two of you I've been saying a 2 & 2 to begin is a win.. (my 2023 rhyme) 

[JJ Husker]

1 hour ago, Loebarth said:

@Toe @runningblind

 

Like the two of you I've been saying a 2 & 2 to begin is a win.. (my 2023 rhyme) 

As long as neither of those losses is to sCUm I’ll go along. They are in no better situation than us and arguably were worse the last couple seasons. That is a loss I would not take well.  If only that mattered…

[Toe]

2 hours ago, Decked said:

A lot of that also is Nouili getting hurt. So both he and Luto have swapped. I don’t buy this. 

 

What difference does that make? A guy getting hurt doesn't exactly help matters, both for his own development and for the line as a whole learning to play together as a cohesive unit.

[admo]

10 hours ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

Fair enough. I certainly could have used different words for my analogy that weren't as colorful to express my belief that our Line play had to do with player quality instead of their position coach.

 

My apologies.

We have to watch how we use words on the free internet, amongst a ghost of people, instead of randomly speaking our minds and thoughts (like in the early 2000's).  Supposedly, some people that read a post that we add to - being blunt or opinionated - means it can hurt feelings. 

 

Even when it isn't personal and just our opinions on something.  I miss the old days of just typing something you want to say and nobody being offended.... but now feel like you have to say "my apologies".