He is widely known as the best DL coach in the country. There was a reason why LSU, PSU, Florida, and Texas A&M were after him.
D Line Coach Watch
- Thread starter Removed Spleen of Jordan
- Start date
Looking at this situation in a sensible and realistic way based on practical rather than theoretical considerations--you know, pragmatically, like you and Chris--it's like a coach's IQ is determined by the talent of his players.
My expectation is that he'd get smarter and smarter once he got here as our DL coach.
They all dropped out of the sweepstakes, rather than overspend. Like I said, I'm sure he is a great coach when surrounded by the talent every one of those teams mentioned brings to the table. A little nervous what's in store with Nebraska/Syracuse talent, but Rhule has to shoot his shot. I hope it all works out!
Those teams didn't drop out because they were afraid to over spend, they dropped out because DL isn't as high of a priority as all those teams (minus aTm) are putting together new staffs. All of them are prioritizing offense over defense. We are emphazing defense over offense. We couldn't stop the run this past season, and if that continues into next year, we win 3 maybe 4 games next year max. Not saying spending 7 figures to get ER will solve everything, but if it does and let's say we go 7-5+ next year. I would say money well spent, as we have a grueling schedule of Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Washington, Iowa, Illinois.
The important thing here is that Matt Rhule recognizes that Nebraska's biggest problems this season were terrible pass pro from the OTs and lack of rush defense. And to that end, on paper, he's made the coaching changes necessary to address those glaring problems. Will it work? Only time will tell. However, Matt Rhule making these changes earns back some respect. (Not that he's worried about some nobody rando on an internet message board.)
Since we're talking about new coaches being hired, I want to talk about something Sean Callahan brought up recently on his podcast: Lack of QB sacks. While obviously the terrible rush defense is the priority, Sean mentioned that Nebraska brought in Williams Nweri (?spelling?) and Dasan McCullough, spent like 2 million bucks, and got a grand total of 4.5 QB sacks this season from them combined. The upshot was if you're looking at it from a cost to benefit ratio, Nebraska didn't get what it paid for, so that's another issue the coaches need to address.
So Nebraska has 3 areas of focus this off-season:
1. Pass pro improvement.
2. Improving the rush defense.
3. Getting more sacks and QB pressure from the DL.
It appears on paper that the the coaching deficiencies have been addressed. Next step is finding a couple of OT and DTs from the Portal.
So Nebraska has 3 areas of focus this off-season:
1. Pass pro improvement.
2. Improving the rush defense.
3. Getting more sacks and QB pressure from the DL.
It appears on paper that the the coaching deficiencies have been addressed. Next step is finding a couple of OT and DTs from the Portal.
I've wondered about the sacks too- suspecting that our (very) good (for awhile anyway) pass D meant less emphasis on getting to the QB. I mean, that shouldn't be a given but certainly seemed to play out that way.
For the record: NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com
The ends coach they brought in , his guys had 28 on the 32 his old team had .
Last edited:
We have current numbers to suggest Geep is a great hire. My questions are with ER. It's sad to admit the Huskers are competitively much closer to Syracuse the last decade than they are LSU and Texas A&M. Rhule is looking to upgrade at pressuring the QB and stopping the run. Here is a side-by-side comparison of Nebraska (w/o ER) and Syracuse (with ER) this past season.
Syracuse ranked 100th with 20 sacks last year.
Nebraska ranked 105 with 19
Syracuse was 99th in Rush yards allowed per game
Nebraska was 95th
Syracuse was 131st with 5.3 yards per attempt
Nebraska was 116th at 4.8 YPA
I'm not suggesting ER is not an upgrade over Bradden, but these numbers don't lie. To measure a coach's success by the number of guys he has put in the league is naive. Look at the number of 4 and 5* studs Robinson had at his disposal at A&M. For whatever reason he did not have near that kind of talent at Syracuse. It's still about the Jimmy's and Joe's. Rhule has to give this a try, but throwing a mill at a Dline coach is no guarantee of success.
Syracuse ranked 100th with 20 sacks last year.
Nebraska ranked 105 with 19
Syracuse was 99th in Rush yards allowed per game
Nebraska was 95th
Syracuse was 131st with 5.3 yards per attempt
Nebraska was 116th at 4.8 YPA
I'm not suggesting ER is not an upgrade over Bradden, but these numbers don't lie. To measure a coach's success by the number of guys he has put in the league is naive. Look at the number of 4 and 5* studs Robinson had at his disposal at A&M. For whatever reason he did not have near that kind of talent at Syracuse. It's still about the Jimmy's and Joe's. Rhule has to give this a try, but throwing a mill at a Dline coach is no guarantee of success.
Which, to me anyway, is extremely odd because as a general rule, you don't want your DBs having to cover WRs for extended times on pass plays because the more time a QB has, the more likely a receiver will get open. I guess looking back in hindsight, that's another reason why John Butler was let go. As I understand it, Butler's defenses had alignment issues, players not filling the right gaps, going the wrong way, taking incorrect steps, not reading their keys, and other forms of mental errors. All this taken together would certainly explain the lack of run defense. I hope our new DC and DL coaches can rectify these problems.
In fairness, Nebraska has had way worse DCs than Butler: Cosgrove, Banker, Diaco, etc.
Just because someone is the only one swimming against the current, it doesn't mean they're wrong. Your concern has been noticed.
He's NOT the only one who notices. I, for one, notice the same issues he's mentioning. However, I am reserving judgement until there is sufficient data to fairly assess the situation. The metrics of consideration are: run stopping and pass rush / QB hurries and sacks.
If both those metrics improve significantly, then money well spent. I just don't see any benefit to openly pooh poohing the new coach hirings before they've had an opportunity to show what they can do.
But to say he's the only one who notices the concerns is blatantly not true.
I'm going to swing back to Snow's presser and its relationship to incoming, and remaining, defensive coaches. Again, I'm biased because I like Phil as a coach, but I think his presser has some raw validity. Clearly his statements were pretty damning, but it's the reasons for the statements that piqued my interest.
I personally don't think he was saying the situation was so much because of incompetence and inability to understand what the defense was doing by the coaches, but rather that it was the wrong strategy at the wrong place (ie college ball), Emphasis was on scheme and not on intensity and a basic understanding of what was being asked. I SUSPECT the complexity was too much for young college athletes to internalize and maintain the intensity needed to hold the fort. I for one am very glad that Matt is looking at college coaches with strong college experience.........currently.
ER seems to fill that bill pretty well. Physical, intense and has success at making good college players very good college players. I hope we get him.
I personally don't think he was saying the situation was so much because of incompetence and inability to understand what the defense was doing by the coaches, but rather that it was the wrong strategy at the wrong place (ie college ball), Emphasis was on scheme and not on intensity and a basic understanding of what was being asked. I SUSPECT the complexity was too much for young college athletes to internalize and maintain the intensity needed to hold the fort. I for one am very glad that Matt is looking at college coaches with strong college experience.........currently.
ER seems to fill that bill pretty well. Physical, intense and has success at making good college players very good college players. I hope we get him.
RECRUTING is why he's being hired IMHO
While I don't think he's going to be given the kind of money everyone is talking about just for recruiting, he does seem to get 'dudes' under his wing. Some coaches can just sense potential and his track record seems to point to the fact that he has that ability.......as well as the ability to convince them to come and play for him.
I think Rhule's love affair with NFL coaches may be waining.
You mentioned an emphasis on scheme (and I agree) but I also think part of the issue with guys used to coaching in the NFL is a natural tendency to take the psychological aspects of their players' game preparation for granted because they're used to working with mature, 30-year old adults. I'm not saying former NFL guys can't excel coaching at the college level but its got to be an adjustment.
In Bradden's case, he had high-level knowledge base, but he was taking over a young, unproven DL after Ty and Nash left a big hole. The pressure was on those guys immediately and Bradden was a first-timer when dealing with the stress, anxiety, and confidence level of his young troops. With the benefit of hindsight, we can be critical of Rhule for his hiring of both Bradden and Butler, given the make-up of the defensive team they were taking over. But it still comes down to stepping up to the plate and coaching.
FWIW, I will say, in Coach Rhule's defense, that he was quick to realize his mistakes (on both sides of the ball) and had been working to quickly correct them. I've been used to watching Husker coaches respond to perceived staffing mistakes by stubbornly doubling-down on the status quo.
Good post. I think coaching at the different levels is just fundamentally different. In college, simple schemes that are well executed are most effective. So the coaches who can really drill the basics and then motivate players to want to go out and destroy someone will be most effective. In the pros, well paid adults are supposed to have mastered the basics and be capable of motivating themselves. So schemes, nuances, and intricate game planning are more important.
