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Luke McCaffrey to Louisville

I think there has been spots of development through all three coaches just not across the board. There is no doubt that Williams developed WR's, SM improved every year under him. Also I feel Parrella was developing his DL in the short time he was at NU, would have been interesting to see him retained by SF. Fisher is developing his secondary as well IMO, best coach on the staff.

But you are right, some nepotism has been holding NU back.


C
Spot development. You gotta love it. I just will never understand hiring anyone, friend, family or whatever, if they aren’t top notch. It comes back on you, you know, like you suck at your job or what not. Too many moving parts on a team to have a few areas not pulling their weight. If NU has some sub par coaches that seemingly cannot develop players, get rid of them. Why tie a boat anchor around your neck? Makes zero sense.
 
I'm not responding to your comment, rather your signature... I think the squat machine one is in jest, but what about the lunch room lady one? I think the latter holds some merit. Just curious.
Squat machine I’m mocking because in October 2018 there was an article that stated we moved the squat machines out of the football weight room and we have now brought them back with this staff and people really thought 1) that squat machines were a real thing and 2) it was going to help us. But here we are in 2021 worse than when we “didn’t have squat machines”.

The lunch lady is a Pat Fitzgerald quote about what he looks for when recruiting which was fitting for us when we’ve been having some problems and I also like that he indirectly called some kids “turds” which is a great insult.
 
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How could you see it in a different way? He has shown no ability as a QB. I’ve been lurking for many years and a member this last year and this the first time I have disagreed with your point of view.
I disagreed that “Louisville has to be looking at him for something other than QB.” That’s what I don’t agree with.

Let me put it another way... do you think he’s heading to another program that he’s not familiar with to be a slot WR and he left here where there’s a slot WR opening because he just hates our staff and Lincoln that much? I don’t believe that to be the case.

None of that really matters I guess, because the main reason I disagreed was due to knowing he’s getting a shot at QB.
 
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Seems silly really. He had all that at Nebraska. Tells me it is something deeper. NU would have let him stay a QB, or move to receiver or RB. Looks, on the surface, like he’ll be in the exact same situation there. I don’t get it.
I didn't check, but does LU have a talented underclassmen at QB to challenge LM? Maybe LM saw Smothers sitting in the wings, and figured the odds of him being "the guy" here at NU were dropping, and decided the QB inheritance potential at LU was better. Or, maybe he just doesn't have confidence in the QB coaching here at NU any longer. We haven't had a lot of great success so far with QB improvement. As has been mentioned by others, it's all speculation and I don't know anything that the rest of the fanbase doesn't. Maybe someday we will find out, but right now Frost has to accelerate the development of Smothers, or we are one AM injury away from another disappointing season.
 
I didn't check, but does LU have a talented underclassmen at QB to challenge LM? Maybe LM saw Smothers sitting in the wings, and figured the odds of him being "the guy" here at NU were dropping, and decided the QB inheritance potential at LU was better. Or, maybe he just doesn't have confidence in the QB coaching here at NU any longer. We haven't had a lot of great success so far with QB improvement. As has been mentioned by others, it's all speculation and I don't know anything that the rest of the fanbase doesn't. Maybe someday we will find out, but right now Frost has to accelerate the development of Smothers, or we are one AM injury away from another disappointing season.
Well, we’d all better hope he left because Smothers is a bad ass. If not, with a lateral move, it says something more is the problem. Time will tell.
 



If it was "lack of development" as a lot of posters are speculating about as the reason he left, it is mostly on him. I agree, and not just at his position, but there are some players who just "seem" never get better as they go up in grade or even seem to digress as they get older. But, Luke was only in his 2nd year at Nebraska and only his 3rd year (1 in HS) as a QB. He played in 4 games (one a single snap) his 1st year. His 2nd year, he not only played a significant amount, but he also got 2 starts. His throwing was always "hit or miss" but he excelled running. So much, that he played some slot WR. Well, it wasn't just like after 2 starts, 1 TD and 6 INT's, and demoted back to 2nd string, that he said, "This staff isn't developing me to the point I need to be so I am going to portal." IF THIS IS THE CASE, I call BS that it is the staff's fault at developing him. He has less than 3 years TOTAL as a QB, including all his schooling before Nebraska. He earned starts but under-performed/under whelmed. Made really basic bone head plays (though I give him kudo's for trying to do good things but there are times to definitely eat the ball). Let's say a few bounces go his way and he had 4 TD's and 3 INT's and there were fortunate bounces on his bone head plays and they weren't negative plays. I would bet then he felt he was getting the development/teaching he needed. But, really, none of us will ever know why he left. And, AGAIN, like Delancy to Toledo, I guarantee he didn't go into the portal thinking, "Louisville, here I come, baby!!" He is a project at QB but a natural slot WR or even a RB. I just hope that Frost didn't make him stay at QB when he wanted to do something else (though I believe this is not the case).

Now, to finalize. If Smothers, who has been a QB since Jr High portals out due to not playing or having a similar case happen to him as it did to Luke (play, maybe start a few, get benched for someone else) then I will say our staff can't develop a QB (and, who would argue, especially with AM's seemingly digression, though I believe personnel has to do a lot with that). But I don't think that is the case, yet. Luke, for beng in his only 3rd year, at any level, of being a QB was, like 90% of kids today. INPATIENT. He thought he should be a Heisman candidate QB in his 1st start. He wasn't terrible but he saw what he was after getting waxed in his loss, being a TO machine like no one else. So he left, knowing we had Smothers, and Haarberg, both who were actual HS QB's with extensivel HS experience. I am hoping he just did the Crouch "I am a QB, not a WR" and saw that he really wasn't going to hold off Smothers, et al, so he left. But who knows.

I feel good with what we have but we do need to recruit another HS QB. A juco/portal QB? If that happens, probably get ready to go to Smothers farewell party. JMO there though.
 
I disagreed that “Louisville has to be looking at him for something other than QB.” That’s what I don’t agree with.

Let me put it another way... do you think he’s heading to another program that he’s not familiar with to be a slot WR and he left here where there’s a slot WR opening because he just hates our staff and Lincoln that much? I don’t believe that to be the case.

None of that really matters I guess, because the main reason I disagreed was due to knowing he’s getting a shot at QB.

Only thing I can think of is that he may have seen the writing on the wall at QB (that he'd eventually be overtaken by someone with passing skills) and he didn't want to be a sometimes-QB with special packages while not wanting to be a slot WR for NU where they couldn't really make things happen for Robinson at that spot either. Maybe Luke thought he'd take a chance at a similar setup but maybe a better chance to shine overall?

No idea. Seems like a lateral move in a lot of ways, but NU's offense has been broken for too long and Luke may have decided to see if a different offense wouldn't be?
 
I disagreed that “Louisville has to be looking at him for something other than QB.” That’s what I don’t agree with.

Let me put it another way... do you think he’s heading to another program that he’s not familiar with to be a slot WR and he left here where there’s a slot WR opening because he just hates our staff and Lincoln that much? I don’t believe that to be the case.

None of that really matters I guess, because the main reason I disagreed was due to knowing he’s getting a shot at QB.
He may think they’re going to give him a shot at qb, but in the end they will put him in another position.
 
Only thing I can think of is that he may have seen the writing on the wall at QB (that he'd eventually be overtaken by someone with passing skills) and he didn't want to be a sometimes-QB with special packages while not wanting to be a slot WR for NU where they couldn't really make things happen for Robinson at that spot either. Maybe Luke thought he'd take a chance at a similar setup but maybe a better chance to shine overall?

No idea. Seems like a lateral move in a lot of ways, but NU's offense has been broken for too long and Luke may have decided to see if a different offense wouldn't be?
Probably true. Certainly a lateral move. I would definitely have stuck it out here if I were him rather than going to an unknown.
 



He may think they’re going to give him a shot at qb, but in the end they will put him in another position.
I guess. But i'm just speaking of what's happening right now. I'm not versed on their depth chart or how good any of their guys are to give a hypothetical opinion on what will happen with him. All I really know is that he wasn't ready, yet fans were calling for him to start, we saw him for a few games now he's no good.

I think he wasn't happy with his development. Speculating.
 
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Best of Luck to Luke, but Louisville? UGH! Another of those cheat at all costs schools.
Like Delancy to Toledo, McCaffrey didn't put his name in the portal and then instantly say, "Come on, Louisville, please come through with an offer cause that is where I want to go!!" Like his brother, (and MANY, MANY others in the portal) he didn't get the offers he felt he would. Unlike his brother, he didn't go to Northern CO to play for his dad. Yes, some athletes go into the portal and get to choose where they want to go...but they are the very small minority of the players in the portal. Look at all the recent huskers to go in...ALL went to smaller, lower division schools. The Florida players, except for Delancy, went to decent schools but non-power 5 (except the one who went to Maryland).

Here are the recent locations huskers from this year and the 2020 class ended up at:

FIU, FAU, UCF, Toledo, WKU, Louisiana, Tulsa, Kentucky, Maryland, and Louisville....I just did this years players and commits who never practiced/played (i.e 2020). I could go back to 2018, when the portal reared its ugly head but I wanted to stay with players that were mostly Frost's players (though I realize a few may be Riley holdovers even then).

Not a name school among them. I get Kentucky is SEC, Louisville is ACC, and Maryland is B1G but they are all middle.lower tier schools and have never been elite. I get Nebraska is the same but at least we are still considered a blue blood. All those schools? A bunch of non-power 5 and such.

So the gist of this is that Luke did NOT get the offers he thought he would get. He "accepted" the best of the list of options he had. Unless there is a huge reason he wants to be in the city of Louisville or there is something about Louisville football we don't know about. This is the reality of the portal and players like Luke, who may be athletic and have a great future but there just aren't enough slots for all the players in the portal.
 

I didn't check, but does LU have a talented underclassmen at QB to challenge LM? Maybe LM saw Smothers sitting in the wings, and figured the odds of him being "the guy" here at NU were dropping, and decided the QB inheritance potential at LU was better. Or, maybe he just doesn't have confidence in the QB coaching here at NU any longer. We haven't had a lot of great success so far with QB improvement. As has been mentioned by others, it's all speculation and I don't know anything that the rest of the fanbase doesn't. Maybe someday we will find out, but right now Frost has to accelerate the development of Smothers, or we are one AM injury away from another disappointing season.
I disagree with the last. Am
Isn’t so great he can’t be replaced. If the back ups are that far off a mediocre to bad qb then then it’s on the coaches for not recognizing the problem and finding a decent backup in the portal. At the end of the day if frost has another losing season i will be on the side of fire him. You can’t have four losing seasons and expect to still have a job.
 

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