Sounds like what it comes down to, is we haven't had the staff or S/C coaches to build or train these kids, in a long time. Which is it ?
GBR!!!
I personally have struggled with understanding this myself. I really don't think a lacking S&C department has been the team's greatest downfall over the last 10-15 years. A lot of people locally and around the country had worked with the previous staff's S&C guy - Dobson - and had really good things to say about him.
I think some of the bigger factors at play have been in the recruiting and coaching realms. I have a lot of thoughts on these, but to summarize the first part, I think recent coaches have either missed out on bringing in recruits that could've made an impact or the recruits they did bring in never reached the potential fans and even coaches had for them. I don't like to call out individual players, but Andrew Rodriguez is a guy I look at here. A highly touted four star from Nebraska that appears, at best, to have made Honorable Mention All Big Ten team. And in terms of players the university has missed out on, Andrus Peat is a big name who is now in the NFL.
From a coaching perspective, I don't know if our technique/fundamentals ever really reached a consistent level either. I also don't think Nebraska has had a solid identity in years. It seemed like a lot of guys just weren't developing on the line or making the improvement you'd like to see. In my opinion, when your best offensive lineman in recent history is a former walk-on and nobody else even really holds his jock strap, that's a failure from the top down. The line needs to be better. That's not meant to disrespect Spencer Long, either. But, the Huskers really aren't in a position to rely on hoping against hope that their walk-ons will turn into potential All-Americans.