Does 3 new coordinators to start the season concern you?

[BIGSTICK67]

Offense and special teams are upgrades

Not sure what to think of defense

This is where I'm at as well. Now watch it be the complete opposite.

The thing I like about Dana is there's a proven track record of consistency. I genuinely believe he's one of the top offensive minds in college football. I think the talent is there for 8-10 wins on offense. If Cockeye can win 7-9 with shitty personnel and weak schedules, we should be able to get to 8 wins minimum.

Special teams has been cursed, so there's part of me that wonders what it'll take to get over the mental hurdle of blocked kicks, punts, zero return yards, etc. Great coordinator who may be scratching his head until ST can get over the mental blocks.

Defensively I'm probably more concerned about personnel loss than coaching. Especially since Phil Snow will be working with Butler...AND Rhule has always been known to have good defenses. Which means he can devote significant time to Butler/Snow come up with a successful plan.

 

[Quint]

I posted this on 'X', but was curious this boards thoughts. I would be in the "that's rarely good" camp... however, offensive coordinator should be an upgrade in my opinion. Special teams wasn't any good so can we be worse? I do worry about DC.

I’m in the same boat.

Holgorsen and Ekeler are definite upgrades. Butler is a bit of an unknown for me, but I think the losses up front are likely a bigger issue.

Should overall be a better coached football team.

 

[Husker_in_OK]

Defense - losing Nash and Ty are going to hurt, and Butler is a wildcard.

Special Teams - Can't get much worse than Foley and we know what Ek can do. Expect a big turnaround

Offensively, I think this will be the most improved unit. Dana knows what he’s doing, and just having him around for the last part of 2024 laid the groundwork for real progress this year.

 

[That SOB Van Owen]

I expect the defense to be materially worse.

Offense and ST should be improved.

 

[Stenge85]

John Butler was the DC at Penn State in 2013 back when they had 6 total scholarship players starting on defense. The Huskers that season allowed 376 yards per game in the Big Ten. Penn State allowed 381 yards per game that season. The Nittany Lions were strangely competent that season despite having the same number of scholarships as an FCS program.

When Bill O'Brien left for the Houston Texans that following winter, he only took 3 Penn State coaches with him. Butler, his running backs coach, and their Safeties Coach. And outside of legendary Defensive Line Coach Larry Johnson going onto Ohio State, none of those other Penn State coaches had good coaching options. So it says something about Butler's ability that O'Brien wanted him to join him in Houston.

Butler was then the Secondary Coach at Houston for 3 seasons. He went to the Bills where he became their Passing Game Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach. During that time, he only interviewed for a DC job once.

I think Butler probably could've left Houston and Buffalo a handful of times to go become a DC at the Power Conference level.

Also, I can't seem to get past how everyone just glosses past Tony White's inability to stop the RPO. I will have to search for the source and the numbers, but something like 73% of the total yardage allowed by Nebraska in 2024 came against an RPO. And that stat becomes really eye opening when you consider that 73% total yardage allowed came on something like only 35% of the snaps.

If Butler can just prove to be competent vs. the RPO, that's improvement enough for me, even if the defense suffers in other spots.

These are all fair points and I hope it works out. But I think the fact that we have to speculate Bill O'Briens mindset in 2013 for reassurance is enough justification for Butler to be the most uncertain

 

[Cornicator]

These are all fair points and I hope it works out. But I think the fact that we have to speculate Bill O'Briens mindset in 2013 for reassurance is enough justification for Butler to be the most uncertain

Seems fair, but I will point out that NFL position coaches have some of the most insecure jobs in all of football. It has to be the highest per capita position in America where dudes earning more than 200k per year are on month to month leases.

Butler was never canned. Think about that. He lresigned from Buffalo and took a year off before coming to Nebraska, but he was never termed.

He survived Houston. Then he went to Buffalo where he remained for 7 seasons. This is a dude who people appreciated, and IMO, I think his career progression was likely forsaken due to his own loyalty.

 

[ShortSideOption]

Don't we have the same OC that ended the year?

The question was "3 new coordinators to start the year compared to the start of last year". Satterfield started the season last year.

 

[ShortSideOption]

I’ll vote no, it’s not a worry. Here’s why.

Typically it would be worrisome, but both OC and DC were with the team for at least a portion of last season. That consistency is a huge advantage over the typical offseason hire. I’m willing to concede DC is a drop off, but not as much as it might appear to outsiders who are just looking at names and experience. It’s hard to argue OC isn’t a huge improvement.

Special teams is different. It appears we hired a better STC, but Foley wasn’t the only issue. Asking Ekeler to fundamentally change how special teams operates, get the other coaches up to speed and on board, get Rhule to emphasize it by allocating appropriate practice time and film study, and get the players/better players to execute at a higher level is a big task. We might be better on paper, but it may still look clunky to start the season.

That's a good point about OC and DC being here last year. I will say being on staff and calling things is much different, but that does give a little bit better optics for me.

I just think 3 brand new coordinators to start the year... there's going to be some rough patches. You think about how we were recruiting for special teams, we brought guys in in January that left due to who we hired. You could also say some of our defenders took off that we recruited here due to our DC leaving. I think that's where I get a little concerned whether they were here or not, philosophy or how they coach changes a bit.

But overall I agree them being here is massive. Probably why Rhule had Holgo take over last 4 games and brought Butler in a year early (though it's a reason White took off).

 

[SoCal_Corn]

EA Sports is @ Concerned

 

[Kaladin]

I will not stand for the JoBu slander

 

[Frogsker30]

2-3 are proven.
In baseball that’s a pretty good average

 

[Kaladin]

JoBu is an elite Dc and he is going to fistfuck all of you for this slander

 

[Boondock_St_Sker]

JoBu is an elite Dc and he is going to fistfuck all of you for this slander

 

[Kaladin]

 

[Pepe Silvia]

I'm optimistic that a much improved offense (and possibly special teams) will put our defense in better positions

With the front 7 being inexperienced, getting out to early leads and making opposing offenses more 1 dimensional would be a huge help

 

[Hotcarl]

Every year we upgrade players AND coaches. This isn’t hard.

 

[Quint]

EA Sports is @ Concerned

View attachment 55598

I know Texas Tech bought some players in the off season, but that defense was so bad last year, the influx of talent will likely just get them to average rather than top ten.

A Tech kid must be on their programming team.

 

[Quint]

JoBu is an elite Dc and he is going to fistfuck all of you for this slander

At this point JoBu should not be offended, as this is all supposition.

If he does well in season and is still taking flak for not being Tony White, I’m not OK with an aggressive rectal exam, but I’d understand his negative reaction.

 

[FreightPimpDawg]

You guys shouldn’t worry about it. The program is on the ascension. Strap in and enjoy the ride. Next stop is Big 10 champs and CFP.

 

[Carm]

It's going to be a significant plus for the defense to have Holgorsen as the OC.