Shatel OWH: From recruiting to play-calling, NU coach Mike Riley tailors his plan to the place

[The Duke]

Omaha World Herald's Tom Shatel got to sit down with Mike Riley for 30 minutes to provide us with this great interview: http://www.omaha.com/huskers/shatel-from-recruiting-to-play-calling-nu-coach-mike-riley/article_d4293b30-f60c-5054-b520-468523ffdd05.html

Some comments that stood out to me were:

"We have Boyd Epley here. To me, he's the scientist. He's been at the forefront. We want to utilize his experience, the research lab expertise. We want to give these guys a picture of who they are, but also a vision of where they can go."

My Opinion: If Boyd Epley is involved...Husker Power is back!

This was the real money quote...

The pro-style guy says he's considering moving to a quarterback run game for the final act of his career. "I'm intrigued by it. We're not going to be a dropback passing team, or pro-style, like we were at Oregon State because of our skill set here. You don't coach plays, you coach players."

My Opinion: Mike Riley is a veteran coach who understands that you must tailor your offense to what your players can run. I think Nebraska's offense next year will resemble that of the San Francisco 49ers & the Seattle Seahawks from the past few years. Pro-style at it's core, but also included will be the read option, and designed QB Run game.

There is plenty more included in this wonderful interview where Coach Riley touches on his vision for how he wants to recruit to Nebraska, to Bear Bryant, and how his house hunting is going.

Fall camp can't get here soon enough.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Great interview. I love hearing him talk about his offense evolving.

 

[Treand3]

From an offensive standpoint, Nebraska has enough talent to win the west, even did last year. The difference this time is that there will be coaches that will understand to cater things to the strength of their players on hand. Riley spoke of transitioning to a QB run game at OSU before he even took the Nebraska job.

A lot to like here.

 

[The Dude]

Great interview. I love hearing him talk about his offense evolving.

And I don't think it's just talk. We saw some of it in the spring game. Nothing about it seemed like a "square peg - round hole" situation like when Callahan tried implementing his offense. I feel a lot better about about the transition after watching the spring game. They're doing what they can to make it as seamless as possible.

 

[True2tRA]

 

[BigRedBuster]

From an offensive standpoint, Nebraska has enough talent to win the west, even did last year. The difference this time is that there will be coaches that will understand to cater things to the strength of their players on hand. Riley spoke of transitioning to a QB run game at OSU before he even took the Nebraska job.

A lot to like here.

Which leaves me scratching my head at the fans who claim they know exactly what offense he will run because coaches don't change what they've ran for years. And then claim we don't have any QBs on the roster to run his offense.

 

[True2tRA]

From an offensive standpoint, Nebraska has enough talent to win the west, even did last year. The difference this time is that there will be coaches that will understand to cater things to the strength of their players on hand. Riley spoke of transitioning to a QB run game at OSU before he even took the Nebraska job.

A lot to like here.

Which leaves me scratching my head at the fans who claim they know exactly what offense he will run because coaches don't change what they've ran for years. And then claim we don't have any QBs on the roster to run his offense.

It appears those people are wrong.

Maybe in the future this staff will recruit a quarterback to fit their ideal offensive style, whatever that may be, but it looked to me like the zone read was still part of the offense; That's not something I think these coaches are particularly known for.

There is still time for these coaches to teach a current QB a system more like the pro-style offense they've been used to. As much as they may want to build around the talent they have, I have no reason to believe they will simply continue to allow the offense to be limited in some of the aspects this staff feel is important.

 

[CharlieTuna]

I'd like to think this staff realizes the need to win now, and has recognized that they will need to tailor the offense to maximize the current QB talent on the roster.

But based on the QB prospects being recruited, I think it's also safe to say Riley and Langsdorf are looking for dropback pocket passers consistent with their offensive history.

 

[caveman99]

Great interview. I love hearing him talk about his offense evolving.

And I don't think it's just talk. We saw some of it in the spring game. Nothing about it seemed like a "square peg - round hole" situation like when Callahan tried implementing his offense. I feel a lot better about about the transition after watching the spring game. They're doing what they can to make it as seamless as possible.

I felt the same way after watching the Spring Game as well. That was my biggest concern since the O had been well above average lately and has some really nice pieces to work with. Everything I saw gave me confidence that the O wouldn't take a dip and in fact may be more efficient in some areas, areas that plagued them the last 2 years.
I was also impressed by how much better the LBers looked, the D looks like it should be quite bit better IF it stays healthy. I have gone to an optimistic frame of mind. Maybe it is the Spring koolaid, but frankly that is part of the staff's job is to instill Speing confidence in both the players and the fans IMO.

 

[caveman99]

From an offensive standpoint, Nebraska has enough talent to win the west, even did last year. The difference this time is that there will be coaches that will understand to cater things to the strength of their players on hand. Riley spoke of transitioning to a QB run game at OSU before he even took the Nebraska job.

A lot to like here.

Which leaves me scratching my head at the fans who claim they know exactly what offense he will run because coaches don't change what they've ran for years. And then claim we don't have any QBs on the roster to run his offense.

It appears those people are wrong.
Maybe in the future this staff will recruit a quarterback to fit their ideal offensive style, whatever that may be, but it looked to me like the zone read was still part of the offense; That's not something I think these coaches are particularly known for.

There is still time for these coaches to teach a current QB a system more like the pro-style offense they've been used to. As much as they may want to build around the talent they have, I have no reason to believe they will simply continue to allow the offense to be limited in some of the aspects this staff feel is important.

I think your sentiments are spot on. It got overlooked a bit, but Riley was looking at putting in ZR and some spread elements at OSU before NU came calling. He had a year-end presser where he said things needed to change, and he wasn't just talking about the D. He has said in interviews since that he was already looking at spread concepts and using more shotgun concepts before he had to evaluate how to adapt to NU personnel. I think they will evolve over time as they can mold the roster a bit through recruiting, but I think a fair bit of what they do in the 1st 3 years here will become a core part of what they do long term.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I'm still mystified why Husker fans keep looking to offensive play-calling as the key to turning Nebraska football around.

Last year Nebraska had a Top 20 offense and a Bottom 50 defense, a disparity that had become ingrained.

There are plenty of good options on offense and a good pool of skill players. We all have our favorite schemes and plays, but a coaching staff with a better eye for player development and a tougher mental attitude could take any scheme and get us more consistent results.

But none of it will matter if the defense doesn't start playing major college football.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Guy,

I don't disagree with you and there is plenty of discussion about the defense, Banker, LBs, DEs...etc.

I think most people realize the offense was decent last year with still room for improvement. I think the discussion on offense comes from the fear/happiness that the scheme may change drastically and how that transaction is going to be handled.

I'm not as pessimistic as some.