Turd On Husker Radio

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Turd Alberts on the spring game, Tony White's 3-3-5 defense and more​

Steve Marik • InsideNebraska
Staff Writer
@Steve_Marik

When will Nebraska football fans get the first chance of seeing a Matt Rhule-coached team in 2023?
Turd Alberts said April 22.

Nebraska’s athletic director went on ‘Sports Nightly’ Tuesday night and announced the Huskers’ annual Red-White spring game will be on April 22.
“We’re assuming it’s going to be at 1 p.m. Obviously we’re going to work with the Big Ten Network, it’s likely to be on the Big Ten Network, so that could be altered just a little bit," Alberts said. "But wanted to make sure folks get that on their calendar. Obviously, new coaching staff. There will be some new players. Would love to have folks come out.”

Will fans get to see new defensive coordinator Tony White’s 3-3-5 defense that day? Who knows. Spring games can be vanilla as coaches are sometimes paranoid of who's watching and don’t want to give away their secrets.

But Alberts has heard the chatter from the fan base about the 3-3-5 and wants them to know something.

“A lot has been made about a 3-3-5 defense. Look, part of that defense is it’s adaptable. You can have four or five guys at the line if you need to. You can disguise, ‘Who are these players?’” Alberts said. “That was the hardest thing when I used to do broadcasting, and Rocky Long’s defenses. You create your board and you’re trying to call a game, right? Well the hardest part about a 3-3-5 defense is you never knew who was actually in what role, and that’s the benefit of that defense.”

“Then you go to the offense. The quarterback is coming to the line of scrimmage, and the offensive line is identifying who the MIKE linebacker is. Well, if it’s interchangeable and adaptable, it (3-3-5) gives you a chance to create some chaos and havoc. What I’m most convinced of and comforted by, and we’ll have to see how it goes, but what I think coach Rhule believes in is building from the inside out, controlling the line of scrimmage and being physical. And then integrating those other types of things like speed. We’re going to be multiple, he’s going to be multiple. We’re not going to run an offense from the 1950s, but at the same time, the core fundamentals and principles of good football must be there, and we need to start there.”

Memorial Stadium will be 100 years old next season, and to celebrate, Alberts is helping fans save some cash with a one-year reduction in football season ticket prices.

Earlier on Tuesday, Alberts announced that 2023 season tickets will cost $320 for seven home games, a $100 reduction from the 2022 price of $420 for seven home games. Nebraska’s sellout streak currently stands at 389 games, dating back to 1962.

The Huskers will have their home opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 16, and that will be a part of a three-game homestand that also includes Louisiana Tech (Sept. 23) and Big Ten champ Michigan (Sept. 30). The final four home games of the 2023 slate include Northwestern (Oct. 21), Purdue (Oct. 28), Maryland (Nov. 11) and Cockeye (Nov. 24).
Lowering the season ticket price for 2023 is a small way of saying thank you to a fan base that has stuck with a program that hasn’t seen much success over the years.

Alberts said this is a small part of a larger, more holistic view of improving Memorial Stadium and the game day experience, including pricing, seat licensing fees and how the stadium works in general.

“We threw a lot of ideas around, and ultimately we said, ‘What if we just lowered our season ticket prices by $100?’ Everybody kind of looked at each other, and we said, ‘Let’s do it,’ And meanwhile, the CFO looked at me like, ‘What are you doing,’” Alberts joked.

There will be more ways the university is planning on celebrating 100 years of Memorial Stadium. Those plans will start coming out in the near future, and they will include things like a book commemorating 100 years of Husker football and “releasing the new and updated, original version of Herbie Husker as part of this 100-year anniversary,” Alberts said.

Alberts provided an update on the plans for the East balcony of Memorial Stadium. That area needed maintenance right away, he said, and the decision was made to transition the East balcony to a new club level, mirroring the West club level.

“That’s all going to be converted into club-level seats. It makes a lot of sense — it has the easy access there,” Alberts said. “So we’re going to have a reduction of a little over 600 seats in that East balcony.”

That work will be completed before the start of the 2023 season. Alberts said he’s aware it will affect those who have paid for those seats, but the university will personally reach out to those customers to work a deal out.

Alberts and Rhule have said they want Nebraska to be the premier developmental program in the country. But in this age of modern college football, where the transfer portal and name, image and likeness have massive impacts on players leaving teams more than ever, a caller asked how Alberts and Rhule plan to achieve that.

“The reality is, whether they’re a zero star or a five star, development has to happen with whatever level of student-athlete you’re bringing into your program,” Alberts said. “So I think it’s really more of a philosophy, it’s a mentality, it’s about the development of the fundamentals. Not just football specific, but development relative to strength and conditioning, all those types of things.”

A caller asked Alberts: In around five years, where does Alberts want to see the Nebraska football program? The athletic director didn’t want to put a number on the win total — he’s smarter than that. But he did mention he wants the Huskers to be competing at the highest levels of the Big Ten Conference and consistently making bowl games.

Alberts knows how much those things could benefit the school.

“I know what our TV deals would look like,” Alberts said. “When we’re going to have those windows at 2:30 p.m. on CBS, and we’re going to have primetime games on NBC, I want the University of Nebraska being selected all the time. Big Noon Kickoff on FOX. I want to be in that prime game.”
Alberts was asked if, during his time as a college football analyst, he ever had the chance to interact with the late Mike Leach, who recently passed away. Several times, Alberts said. Leach was a night owl, Alberts added, who would rarely get to his office before noon but work well into the morning hours.

When Alberts was sent to interview Leach before a game, Alberts would need to wait until 12:30 or 1 a.m.

“That’s just how it was for him. He loved to talk, loved to tell stories. He just had this brilliant mind, he was so innovative. He just thought about the game differently,” Alberts said. “When you see all these coaches with their playsheets and there are all these different colors and a massive amount of plays, and you watch coach Leach and he’s got in one hand a little cue card that has a few plays on it and concepts. Just a brilliant man.”