Satterfield

[NorthwoodHusker]

This is going to be a road of steady improvement. Try to get a to a bowl game this year. Maybe finish 7-5 next year. Try to get to 9 wins the year after that. It isn't a quick fix. It wasn't that last year's team was just poorly coached, it was poorly assembled and developed. Mickey and crew made the most of it, and we saw glimmers of what the defense could be and has been.

In defense of the previous staff (I won't say that often), I think we had more depth at QB. Smothers was improving and has done well at Jacksonville State. I'd agree, development as a whole was poor under the previous regime (and even really the one before it).

The complete negligence for O-Line improvement was one of the biggest issues from the previous staff. The O-line isn't haven't been a one or two year thing, its been a while since we've had that area as a strength. Jurgens was the best O-lineman we had in recent memory, and he had periods of time at Nebraska where he was terrible. He did develop enough toward the end to make it to the NFL, but I think you've seen him fly off the charts since moving up to the NFL.

The Jurgens thing was the biggest tell. Unparalleled athleticism, home grown kid and a self starter, yet took forever to learn to snap?

We took for granted our big uglies on both sides, and even at LB.
We watched it slowly erode, no LBs, then walk on ends, then no true O tackles, then patchwork lines.
We've always had great dbs, but even at rb we saw the slow depletion, at wr as well.
TE and DB has always been solid for us, but everything is has been depleted, and one place it started turning around, at rb, we lose one guy to portal then two early on for the season.

I agree, a long slow steady climb out of the hole we're in.
I almost want to say the last couple of staffs were on vacation picking up good paychecks looking like they were working.

It's refreshing to see this staff doing the work, hitting the grind, its been awhile.
Riley had a couple coaches on his staff, as did SF. With the above, bet you can guess who they were.

 

[DuckTownHusker]

The Jurgens thing was the biggest tell. Unparalleled athleticism, home grown kid and a self starter, yet took forever to learn to snap?

We took for granted our big uglies on both sides, and even at LB.
We watched it slowly erode, no LBs, then walk on ends, then no true O tackles, then patchwork lines.
We've always had great dbs, but even at rb we saw the slow depletion, at wr as well.
TE and DB has always been solid for us, but everything is has been depleted, and one place it started turning around, at rb, we lose one guy to portal then two early on for the season.

I agree, a long slow steady climb out of the hole we're in.
I almost want to say the last couple of staffs were on vacation picking up good paychecks looking like they were working.

It's refreshing to see this staff doing the work, hitting the grind, its been awhile.
Riley had a couple coaches on his staff, as did SF. With the above, bet you can guess who they were.

Ohh ooh! The "jelly donut" OL guy? Cavanaugh?

I just remember videos of him yelling at O-linemen, telling them they were soft like jelly donuts. It was like when Mickey called Rocky a tomato and told him he'd need to crap lightning. Except we never won any titles.

 

[Cornhuskers7]

The Jurgens thing was the biggest tell. Unparalleled athleticism, home grown kid and a self starter, yet took forever to learn to snap?

We took for granted our big uglies on both sides, and even at LB.
We watched it slowly erode, no LBs, then walk on ends, then no true O tackles, then patchwork lines.
We've always had great dbs, but even at rb we saw the slow depletion, at wr as well.
TE and DB has always been solid for us, but everything is has been depleted, and one place it started turning around, at rb, we lose one guy to portal then two early on for the season.

I agree, a long slow steady climb out of the hole we're in.
I almost want to say the last couple of staffs were on vacation picking up good paychecks looking like they were working.

It's refreshing to see this staff doing the work, hitting the grind, its been awhile.
Riley had a couple coaches on his staff, as did SF. With the above, bet you can guess who they were.

We've had some guys who could ball out, but they've been few and far between. I do think we opted to spend our resources on trying to bring in some of the guys at flashier positions. There are a lot of things the you can point to that have been wrong over the last few years. I think it takes a bit to fix, but hopefully Rhule and crew will start showing the improvements to keep the fanbase happy.

This season still has a long way to go and I expect the team we see when we play Iowa will be different than they one we watched this past week. We were in a very similar position last season at this point. Need to keep these guys battling and trying to get us to 6-wins.

 

[BigRedMachine]

How many truly elite portal QBs are there each year? How many portal guys seem like flame outs and end up going somewhere and doing really well?

Look at the PAC12- Bo Nix and Penix Jr. are two of the best QBs in the country, right now. Bo Nix at Auburn was a hot mess. He was a 60% completion guy who did more with his legs than his arm and made questionable decisions. He got to Oregon and suddenly is a 75% completion guy who could potentially be a Heisman darkhorse. Penix Jr. spent four years at Indiana and didn't do much. Goes to Washington, and looks like one of the best QBs in the country.

That was the hope with Sims. These portal guys are going to have their warts. You hope when you bring them in that the change of scenery will allow for that switch to be flipped. For every Nix and Penix Jr., there are a slew of guys who are who they showed previously.

The portal can be a solution, but I don't think it is best answer. Recruit and develop. Pull some guys from the portal as a supplement, and maybe you hit on some of them.

Yeah but unfortunately the guys we're recruiting don't appear to be all that good. I hope I'm wrong but Kaelin hasn't been impressive at all this season. That's why I say go after multiple QBs in the portal.

 

[BGRed]

Jeez we look like a peewee team whenever we get the ball. After getting stuffed in the middle for God knows how many times, Satterfield just kept right on calling those between the tackle handoffs for 1 yard.

We don't have a passing threat, so until we recruit better QBs it's on the OC to make something happen with the current roster. Our entire playbook seems to be Haarberg run, Grant up the middle, slant throw to Kemp. Rinse and repeat.

We have a local 4* coming in. What we really need are offensive linemen.

 

[NorthwoodHusker]

We've had some guys who could ball out, but they've been few and far between. I do think we opted to spend our resources on trying to bring in some of the guys at flashier positions. There are a lot of things the you can point to that have been wrong over the last few years. I think it takes a bit to fix, but hopefully Rhule and crew will start showing the improvements to keep the fanbase happy.

This season still has a long way to go and I expect the team we see when we play Iowa will be different than they one we watched this past week. We were in a very similar position last season at this point. Need to keep these guys battling and trying to get us to 6-wins.

Yep
This staff will make whole rooms look better as each player gets better.
I just think of the parallels of coaches and players. On off, can play with Michigan and osu, then can't own a pesky ND North.
The players emulating their coaches.

I think this week we start with a consistency even as we are. I saw it playing Michigan, some early hesitancy as MR mentioned and for the first time this year, off our game.
We get it back Friday

 

[Cornhuskers7]

Yeah but unfortunately the guys we're recruiting don't appear to be all that good. I hope I'm wrong but Kaelin hasn't been impressive at all this season. That's why I say go after multiple QBs in the portal.

I don't keep my ear to the ground well enough to speak on Kaelin. Regardless, I don't think he was/is going to be an immediate fix for the program. You likely have another season before he sees the field, unless we get into bad shape.

The issue with QB is that only one guy can realistically play. It is hard to pull in a lot of guys and keep them. You can probably go chase one this offseason, but I doubt you can get multiple good ones, unless Sims and Haarberg both hit the portal. QB is a tough place to build depth. Good players want to play and the portal makes it so they don't have to sit around and hope that some day they'll get their turn.

 

[Cornhuskers7]

Yep
This staff will make whole rooms look better as each player gets better.
I just think of the parallels of coaches and players. On off, can play with Michigan and osu, then can't own a pesky ND North.
The players emulating their coaches.

I think this week we start with a consistency even as we are. I saw it playing Michigan, some early hesitancy as MR mentioned and for the first time this year, off our game.
We get it back Friday

I never expected the Michigan game to be one we would look good in. I hoped we would, but I just didn't see it happening.

Confidence isn't created over night, and it is hard to create without reasons to be confident. You develop confidence by going into places like Champaign on Friday and imposing your will and coming away with a big win. You do it by rattling off a few conference wins in a row. This team's confidence has been broken since the start of 2022. The focus right now is getting it back.

 

[NorthwoodHusker]

I never expected the Michigan game to be one we would look good in. I hoped we would, but I just didn't see it happening.

Confidence isn't created over night, and it is hard to create without reasons to be confident. You develop confidence by going into places like Champaign on Friday and imposing your will and coming away with a big win. You do it by rattling off a few conference wins in a row. This team's confidence has been broken since the start of 2022. The focus right now is getting it back.

I think our pass game looked good, clean up the drops, the batted passes and we may have had something. All fixable.

I really think Illinois won't recognize this team, I'm hoping anyways.

 

[BigRedMachine]

I don't keep my ear to the ground well enough to speak on Kaelin. Regardless, I don't think he was/is going to be an immediate fix for the program. You likely have another season before he sees the field, unless we get into bad shape.

The issue with QB is that only one guy can realistically play. It is hard to pull in a lot of guys and keep them. You can probably go chase one this offseason, but I doubt you can get multiple good ones, unless Sims and Haarberg both hit the portal. QB is a tough place to build depth. Good players want to play and the portal makes it so they don't have to sit around and hope that some day they'll get their turn.

All I know is that after this season we're going to need to find multiple QBs.

 

[foldem_aug]

These coaches need a little time to coach. The team as a whole is looking better every week. The o line went for the worst in the country to just below average. They are recruiting O linemen like crazy and they need to. S & C program made strides in a few months, it will pay dividends in another year. Sat letting a 230lb QB get momentum out of the shotgun, with our line, I liked the call, he was trying to hang with the #2 team in the country, instead of fold. We got some good practice in. Haarberg is learning on the job and getting better. I think he keeps the spot through out the year, takes his lumps but keeps improving.

 

[Cornhuskers7]

I think our pass game looked good, clean up the drops, the batted passes and we may have had something. All fixable.

I really think Illinois won't recognize this team, I'm hoping anyways.

I kind of wish we had passed the ball more. Early on, the only non-completion Haarberg had was the interception. Michigan seemed to play a decent amount of zone, which gave our receivers some openings. Going down 14 points early, I'm sure messed with our gameplan. That was the one thing we couldn't afford to have happen, if we wanted to compete with them.

 

[Cornhuskers7]

All I know is that after this season we're going to need to find multiple QBs.

I expect that will be Kaelin and someone out of the portal (again, unless both Sims and Haarberg hit the portal). I think this staff will try to work on improving what we have (likely Haarberg) and see if they can turn it into something that will work, while also working on depth/the future.

Some of it will depend on how many openings we have, but I'd rather use scholarships on the other positions we need to improve. We can win in the short term with average QB play, if we begin to fix the rest of the our issues. Unless you pull someone really special out of the portal, I don't see us having a guy who is a big enough stud to cover up the rest of our problems. And even if you do, I'm not sure that is best for us in the long run.

 

[HuskerInTexas]

Which is exactly why we need to find some elite QBs in the portal, which I've been saying since Sims' first game. I have faith that Rhule realizes this and already has names in mind.

Hope accuracy and running ability are 1A and 1B on his wish list of attributes.

 

[CO4NU]

I don't care if we sign 5 portal QB's.

I would just like to see a competent QB behind a line that resembles an offensive line

There are multiple facets to our incompetence.