15 Snow Day Thoughts: Nebraska Football

Well it looks like we are going to get a bunch of snow in my part of the state so I thought maybe it was a good time to throw out a random thoughts piece on Nebraska football. So in the voice of Heath Ledger’s Joker...here we go:

1. The best thing to come out of COVID (if you can say such a thing) is that Avante Dickerson couldn’t visit Minnesota. He decommitted from Minnesota this past week and it looks like Nebraska could be sitting pretty as Nebraska is the only school he has visited.
2. Reports are that Tennessee is looking at Minnesota’s PJ Fleck to replace Jeremy Pruitt as the head football coach of the Volunteers. We can say whatever we want about PJ Fleck but he has out-coached Frost the past two seasons. I hope he takes that Tennessee job if it’s offered to him.
3. Speaking of Tennessee, their demise over the past couple of decades reminds me of a lot of Nebraska. The Athletic posted an article today ranking the 30 most bizarre moments since 2009 for Tennessee. If you were to go back to 2001 for Nebraska in compiling your own list there have to be some great ones.
4. Still speaking of Tennessee, there was a quote from another The Athletic Article (which I mentioned in my The Counter Bootleg Podcast Episode) about why Jeremy Pruitt failed at Tennessee. It felt a little too close to home. “Said another coach: “I think the biggest thing about Pruitt’s (?INSERT SCOTT FROST?) tenure is he did not have a quarterback who could win him football games. And if you’re looking at the guys who have gotten fired in that league, a lot of times it’s the guys who couldn’t find a quarterback. You aren’t having success at any level without one. If you think about it, your QB is your culture. And if they don’t match, you’re fighting it on every snap.”
5. Scott Frost fired his special teams analyst Jonathan Rutledge and is planning on hiring another special teams analyst. Sure. Fine. Why can’t Frost take on the special team’s coach role himself? By that I don’t mean he would have the same responsibility of a full time special teams assistant. However, somebody needs to be on the field addressing special teams. He said he’s giving up some play calling duties so he does have some extra time...
6. He mentioned that he will be splitting play calling duties with Nebraska wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator coach Matt Lubick. I think he needs to give the play calling job up completely. It isn’t because he’s a good or bad play caller but because I think he needs to take the CEO approach to this program and step in when things need to be addressed. You don’t get to do that when you are preparing for the next offensive drive. He can be completely invested in the game plan during the week but then let your assistants earn their salary. I mean, the way things are working now, really aren’t working.
7. I am an assistant high school basketball coach at a small Nebraska high school whose team currently has less wins than Frost had last year during a football season so I am obviously completely qualified to tell him what he needs to do to coach a division one power five Big Ten football program.
8. What about Wan’Dale? I get it why he left. He played in eight football games and had one receiving touchdown and one rushing touchdown. Both touchdowns came against Rutgers. I would want to leave too if I was him.
9. Scott Frost might have been right. Even though Wan’Dale Robinson was by far the best player on offense maybe there will be some addition by subtraction. Usually when you say that it is because the player you are subtracting is a nuisance or has a bad attitude. This does not appear to be the case at all. However, maybe Nebraska relied on him too much and thus was not able to spread the ball around like Frost would like. This could also all be a load of crap.
10. Wan’Dale left and Nebraska added a FCS All-American wide receiver in Samori Toure. I agree with Nick Bahe and Bo Rudd when they said on Bahe’s podcast that they are going to start assuming that all transfers and freshmen are terrible football players until we see otherwise on the field. So as of right now the assumption is that Toure will greatly underperform. With that said, a transfer from a FCS program is much different than a JUCO transfer.
11. Speaking of Wide Receivers did you know if you google “nebraska wide receiver coach” that Keith Williams is the first name that comes up? I was blanking on Lubick’s name and well there ya go. However, if you add the “s” to receiver then you get Lubick.
12. Nebraska getting, as some USC media have said, USC’s best running back for possibly three more years. Again, we need to assume he will not even see the field right? Markese Stepp is joining a Nebraska offense that needs to lean on running the ball. USC was not interested in doing that apparently.
13. Omar Manning was dealing with personal and/or health issues during the 2020 season. Since he received one target in 2020 it is almost like Nebraska will be adding two physically impressive wide receivers in Manning and Toure for 2021. It is notable that the type of receiver Nebraska has been recruiting subsequent to it’s early recruiting classes have all been around 6’3”.
14. Frost said he is going to work more with the quarterbacks. This appears to be the first step of wondering how long Coach Mario Verduzco will be around. Frost gave him the dreaded stamp of approval. Frost said that he wants to help the quarterbacks with the instinctual part of being a quarterback. Obviously, we all hope that helps but instincts just doesn’t appear to be something you obtain as a junior in college and your 4th season as a starting quarterback.
15. Remember as they start winter conditioning that players will be the strongest they’ve ever been. The team is closer than ever before and they understand the playbook more than ever before.