Huskers Add Former Notre Dame Staffer as Special Teams Analyst

[Nebfanatic]

I have read (maybe from this site, maybe from another site, can't remember) that Alabama has like 8 former coaches in the Tide athletic department and they're all analysts.

That's 8 former football coaches on top of the Tide's NCAA allotted full time-coaches and graduate assistants.

Often wondered if that is true, and if it is, and the NCAA allows it, then why doesn't Nebraska do something similar?

we just did

Do we have 8 former coaches in the athletic department working as analysts?
(I am not sure actually how many the Tide have) 1 < 8. Stay tuned for more riveting facts....

Bama is also the most successful program in the country with arguably the greatest coach of all time. Every coach not working as a coach for Alabama knows that it's a better move for their career than 90% of the coaching jobs out there. Look at Sark. I'm sure there are others who have seen a boost to their career by just working with Nick Saban. That up close experience with greatness is absolutely going to rub off on you and help you in the long run.

What you're saying is true, but isn't really germane to my questions.
1) Is having that many analysts (8 or however many the Tide have) in your athletic department, exclusively for football, legal as far as the NCAA is concerned?

2) If yes, how many does Nebraska have?

Clearly we have one right now. Do we have any others?

Yes it's legal because these guys don't interact with the players and Nebraska has 1 but the point is most coaches aren't going to take that position unless it benefits them and when it comes to this in particular there is really no way we can compete with Bama on that front at this point. We are making an effort so that is good

 

[Toe]

Unless I am misunderstanding, this guy is leaving a AC job to be an analyst here? Hence the "hmmmm".

Elliott left an analyst job to become an assistant here...

 

[Red Five]

He was let go from ND, I think (I think they had a lot of transition there as well recently, with pressure on Brian Kelly). It sounds to me like they want a guy who can play some recruiting/ST/etc roles without being an official coach.

Ok, this makes more sense knowing that he was let go from ND.

 

[tmfr15]

This kind of news just makes me wonder if we actually know what the heck we are doing.

We got rid of our special teams coordinator and now we are hiring someone who will advise us about special teams but not be on the staff.

There are two positions to have here 1) Our staff had the knowledge to take over special teams without need for a coordinator; or 2) We made the change to show we are willing to make changes.

It appears that we were in the second category.

When you hire someone because he is a veteran with a great feel and knowledge for the game, you expect him to show up at the door with a great system and a great way of teaching that system. When a coach comes in with a plan, then makes wholesale changes two years later, you realize the original plan sucked. And, if the first plan sucked, what confidence can we have that plan two will be better than plan one?

 

[Making Chimichangas]

This kind of news just makes me wonder if we actually know what the heck we are doing.

We got rid of our special teams coordinator and now we are hiring someone who will advise us about special teams but not be on the staff.

There are two positions to have here 1) Our staff had the knowledge to take over special teams without need for a coordinator; or 2) We made the change to show we are willing to make changes.

It appears that we were in the second category.

When you hire someone because he is a veteran with a great feel and knowledge for the game, you expect him to show up at the door with a great system and a great way of teaching that system. When a coach comes in with a plan, then makes wholesale changes two years later, you realize the original plan sucked. And, if the first plan sucked, what confidence can we have that plan two will be better than plan one?

At least Mike Riley isn't standing pat and staying with what wasn't working, so there's that.

Plus, there are many different ways to address a problem and Mike Riley is addressing it in the way he thinks will work and be great for the program.

Will it work?

But at least he's proactively addressing problems and not insisting he's "...excellent in every area..." and doing nothing.

 

[StPaulHusker]

I have no problems with Riley hiring who he did to start at Nebraska and I have no problem with who he has fired since. The point is to evolve and improve.

 

[tmfr15]

This kind of news just makes me wonder if we actually know what the heck we are doing.

We got rid of our special teams coordinator and now we are hiring someone who will advise us about special teams but not be on the staff.

There are two positions to have here 1) Our staff had the knowledge to take over special teams without need for a coordinator; or 2) We made the change to show we are willing to make changes.

It appears that we were in the second category.

When you hire someone because he is a veteran with a great feel and knowledge for the game, you expect him to show up at the door with a great system and a great way of teaching that system. When a coach comes in with a plan, then makes wholesale changes two years later, you realize the original plan sucked. And, if the first plan sucked, what confidence can we have that plan two will be better than plan one?

At least Mike Riley isn't standing pat and staying with what wasn't working, so there's that.

Plus, there are many different ways to address a problem and Mike Riley is addressing it in the way he thinks will work and be great for the program.

Will it work?

But at least he's proactively addressing problems and not insisting he's "...excellent in every area..." and doing nothing.

I am happy to see a contradiction in football practices between Mike Riley and Billy C. That's always a positive.

Here's hoping it all works out. And, like everyone here has said before, Mike is a nice guy. If you are a Husker fan, you are pleased with the way he represents the program. He seems to be trying to do whatever he can to be successful. And we are rooting for him.

It's just that sometimes I read something, think..... huh? And then start thinking negatively. I might need aversion therapy for that! LOL

 

[Mavric]

[No message]

 

[Cdog923]

I have read (maybe from this site, maybe from another site, can't remember) that Alabama has like 8 former coaches in the Tide athletic department and they're all analysts.

That's 8 former football coaches on top of the Tide's NCAA allotted full time-coaches and graduate assistants.

Often wondered if that is true, and if it is, and the NCAA allows it, then why doesn't Nebraska do something similar?

we just did

Do we have 8 former coaches in the athletic department working as analysts?

(I am not sure actually how many the Tide have) 1 < 8. Stay tuned for more riveting facts....

Gotta start somewhere.

 

[Mavric]

As for Booker, he rose quickly to a full-time position at Notre Dame in 2012, but was among the coaches Brian Kelly let go after a 4-8 season for the Irish. Special teams did struggle for Notre Dame in 2016. The Irish allowed four returns for touchdowns a season ago -- two on kick coverage, one on a punt return and another on a blocked punt.

If last year was a bad one for all involved with Notre Dame, Booker had some impressive accomplishments in South Bend, too.

As pointed out by NDInsider.com, In Booker's first season as Notre Dame's tight ends coach in 2012, senior Tyler Eifert led the Irish with 50 catches, 685 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Eifert was selected with the 21st overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.

The following season, junior tight end Troy Niklas — a converted outside linebacker — recorded 32 catches for 498 yards and five scores.

LJS

 

[huKSer]

[No message]

 

[Roger Dorn]

I think he will help with some special teams but will have a significant role within the recruiting department. He is a good recruiter and will be valuable in helping with that as well.

 

[Toe]

We got rid of our special teams coordinator and now we are hiring someone who will advise us about special teams but not be on the staff.

There are two positions to have here 1) Our staff had the knowledge to take over special teams without need for a coordinator; or 2) We made the change to show we are willing to make changes.

3) Special teams is a job that other coaches can teach the nuts and bolts of, but it's still worth having an advisor/analyst on the staff for, for planning and prep purposes.

Think of this in terms of roster management. You can only have so many 'actual' coaches on the staff who teach players. Why get so worked up about expanding the staff with a hire that doesn't count against limits on the number of coaches you can have?

 

[huKSer]

We got rid of our special teams coordinator and now we are hiring someone who will advise us about special teams but not be on the staff.

There are two positions to have here 1) Our staff had the knowledge to take over special teams without need for a coordinator; or 2) We made the change to show we are willing to make changes.

3) Special teams is a job that other coaches can teach the nuts and bolts of, but it's still worth having an advisor/analyst on the staff for, for planning and prep purposes.

Think of this in terms of roster management. You can only have so many 'actual' coaches on the staff who teach players. Why get so worked up about expanding the staff with a hire that doesn't count against limits on the number of coaches you can have?

Doesn't Alabama have more "analysts" than coaches?

 

[84HuskerLaw]

If Alabama has the 'greatest coach in history' and presumably a bunch of the top tier assistant coaches, why in the heck does the greatest coach in history need a dozen "consultants' to tell him what to do?

Frankly, in addition to all the official assistant coaches, they athletic department has many other staff positions, from recruiting gurus to secretarys and computer and video and stats and etc etc etc. College football is played over about a 5 month 'season' and then you add in a couple months of spring training and another couple of winter conditioning and summer passing leagues which are very limited in hours per week, per month and who may attend, instruct or even watch, I am not sure what these very highly paid people do to avoid getting bored to death. Golf and fishing and lots of working vacations where they travel to Florida, Texas, California, Hawaii etc to recruit a couple guys and spend several days relaxing, etc.

Osborne and his staff put a tremendous product out on the field and his spring games 'looked like college football games' instead of disorganized practices, etc. Pelinis devolved into half assed practices with more standing around scratching butts and horsin' around than focus on playing like a polished top notch team. After the long winter and spring practices, there is no excuse for a bunch of the best football players we can recruit not looking like a real, honest to goodness, elite football team. You play as you practice many well known coaches say. Sadly, this has been the case for far too many years. I hope with all this high dollar staffing, they product we will see will look prepared, fit and ready to play great football. For the millions being spent, we have a right to expect nothing less.