Dana Holgerson Offense - What do we need?

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...TrueColors...

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Hi guys -

I’ve been thinking a ton about Holgerson’s offense and what we need in order to make it work. It’s obvious he’s got the QB he wants and the most talented one he’s ever had. But what else?

For this exercise I used his 2018 offense that had Will Grier throw for 3800 yards en route to a 4th place finish in the Heisman race. I know; very lofty. But let’s have fun and break down how we get to 3800 yards:

WRs - They come in 3 categories in Holgerson’s offense.

A) 3 guys that catch 700+ yards
B) 1 guy who catches 3-500 yards
C) Everyone else

For this exercise, let’s assume we get Dane Key and can project him in Group A. Let’s also assume we can project Barney to Group A. So the reality is here we need one portal WR (if Key is here) that needs to be a day 1 dude that catches 50 passes for 700-900 yards. This is Jamal Banks level production if you do the math on what he did when Dana took over.

Group B? I feel that you can project a few guys that are on campus now to this group along with guys we signed on Wednesday.

Group C? This is where we can throw the Quinn Clarks and the Keelan Smiths of the world.

Bottom line is I don’t feel comfortable projecting anyone to that top group but Barney and Key (if he’s here). So these are the guys we need.

TE - We need one guy to catch 25-30 passes for around 350-400.

Good news here is that these guys are on campus.

RB - This is where it gets very tough. You need around 3-500 yards receiving from these two And about 2000 yards rushing from this group.

Without EJ, these guys simply aren’t here. This has to have your attention as Dowdell really isn’t a back that’s going to catch out of the backfield and I don’t feel comfortable projecting a true freshman in Parker to give you this either. Dowdell could probably fulfill his rushing quota. But we need two other guys that are going to have to account for another 1000 yards and that’s if you project Dowdell to get to 1k next year.

Where we really need to spend money here is on two WRs including Dane Key and probably two backs that are also healthy Big Ten contributors.

I know most of this isn’t ground breaking stuff. But why I did this is to see just how far away we could be from a top 15 offense next year. The answer is 4 guys, 3 if we can keep EJ.

Now, if we don’t get those 4 we aren’t doomed. But life gets a ton easier to see how this offense will come together if we can add two WRs and two RBs. The good news here is that those guys should be in the portal. We’ve got to come ready to spend some money on them.
 
Mike Gundy is currently in a Mexican standoff with ok state BOR and AD. Could be fired by 5pm if he doesn’t agree to a new contract.

We could use Gundy to be on the offensive staff.

Gundy’s sister lives in Lincoln. His brother in law is a big wig with Nebraska Farm Bureau.

I’m not going to say that he’s going to be here. But it wouldn’t be shocking to me if he hung around Lincoln if he’s not at Okie St.
 
Part of it is pace. With Holgorsen I think we will be throwing the ball more and have a faster tempo. Under Satt, Nebraska was much more conservative and played ball control with a new QB early in the season. Raiola's 225 yard games could have been around 300-325 with more pace. Next year in the non-conference, I say go try and score 70 v Akron and Houston Christian. The team has been having trouble being cutthroat, go blow a team out, don't be nice in the 4th quarter, keep throwing, dont be conservative and try to score 10 TDs. Thats off-topic.

WRs should be easy to find. We got Raiola, he is gonna be very attractive to play with. Id say get 2, maybe even 3 transfers. Neyor still has a year as well, he would be a good #2 or #3 WR.

Running back is where I think you spend money. We havent had a good one for years and it has been fuuccking us over for a long time. Get a back that can get 1000-1200 yards and who can make catches, spare no expense. Maybe easier said then done, but thats where resources need to go
 
I think you're wrong here. It looks like it's Mike Gundy, Cale Gundy, and Kari Long.

Got the name wrong, yes. What I’ll say is that Gundy’s brother in law absolutely works for Farm Bureau. They live in Lincoln.

In fact, I’ve had a cigar with Tom Banderas in his establishment in Lincoln when he told me that Gundy’s BIL is his boss at Farm Bureau and they generally go down to Stillwater as their company outing.
 
Quick google search says Gundy doesn’t have a sister
I couldn't find anything about her living in Lincoln, but a simple Google search showed me multiple sources stating he does in fact have a sister named "Kari"



 
Ok Gundy wife’s maiden name is Strickland.

This guy used to work for the Nebraska farm bureau but moved to Oklahoma in 2023
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Part of it is pace. With Holgorsen I think we will be throwing the ball more and have a faster tempo. Under Satt, Nebraska was much more conservative and played ball control with a new QB early in the season. Raiola's 225 yard games could have been around 300-325 with more pace. Next year in the non-conference, I say go try and score 70 v Akron and Houston Christian. The team has been having trouble being cutthroat, go blow a team out, don't be nice in the 4th quarter, keep throwing, dont be conservative and try to score 10 TDs. Thats off-topic.

WRs should be easy to find. We got Raiola, he is gonna be very attractive to play with. Id say get 2, maybe even 3 transfers. Neyor still has a year as well, he would be a good #2 or #3 WR.

Running back is where I think you spend money. We havent had a good one for years and it has been fuuccking us over for a long time. Get a back that can get 1000-1200 yards and who can make catches, spare no expense. Maybe easier said then done, but thats where resources need to go

Holgerson ran 72.5 plays a game that year at WVU. 37 pass 35 run.

We ran 68 plays against Wisconsin. I think that’s probably the target for the offense.
 
Apparently not. @Herbie why are you doubling down on this? No one is talking about Mike Gundy's wife. Mike's sister's name is Kari Long and @...TrueColors... has verified she lives in Lincoln
Not doubling down on anything.
That golfer chicks that was posted… her dad was a manager @ the farm bureau in Lincoln for a while. In 2023 he moved back to Oklahoma.

FIL obit. His brother in law did live in Lincoln but it was his wife’s brother. His sisters last name is long

 
I do wonder if Dowdell will be more effective with an offense that gets dudes out of the box more. When we lined up with a wide receivers who were shitty blockers, tight end who was a shitty blocker, and an OC that tipped the plays off by personnel it seems like a recipe to not be great.

I think EJ is still probably a better back but I don't think any of our personnel was maximized for at least 9 games last season
 
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