Possible Nebraska Offensive Coordinators: Someone Please Help Our Pass-Crappy Offense

Nebraska needs a new offensive coordinator. If you don't know why, then ask a 'Husker fan who's been paying attention or click here to read my previous post on why Shawn Watson needs to be fired, quit, or just disappear. Even though most Nebraska fans are on board with this, there aren't many names being put forward as possible candidates for the job. Getting anyone to come to Nebraska will be difficult for many reasons, so I think we need to shoot for more under-the-radar candidates in general who are ready for a program that's larger than where they're at now. To be part of the solution instead of just complaining, my good friend and fellow Nebraska-born Big Red fan Steve and I spent a little time throwing some names around. Here's mostly what came out of that conversation.

Scott Frost, Wide Recievers Coach, Oregon

Nebraska fans are already on top of this. With Oregon in the national title game, it's not surprising for people to be looking at members of Chip Kelly's staff anyway, so he's hardly an unknown at this point. Add the fact that Frost was a star quarterback at Nebraska in 1996 and 1997 and has coaching experience on both sides of the ball, and you have an easy choice that fans are gravitating toward.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Frost


Kenny Edenfield, Offensive Coordinator, Troy

Mr. Edenfield is a coach who I feel is still mostly unknown. Here is a quote from his bio page at Troy's website:
"In his first season as an assistant coach at Troy, Edenfield was part of the staff that led the Trojans to a national ranking of 26 in total offense with 421.42 yards per game. He also led the Trojans rushing attack to a 36th-place national ranking, while the passing game came in at 32. The Trojans were the 23rd highest scoring team in the country in 2008, averaging 33.25 points per game."

For the record, Troy finished 11th overall in passing yards in the FBS in 2010. Apparently, the only job offer he got in 2010 was at Louisiana-Lafayette, and he turned that offer down. With the running talent we have at Nebraska he could deliver the balanced attack that we need.

https://www.nmnathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17200&ATCLID=1375273

Chad Morris, Co-Offensive Coordinator, Tulsa

Mr. Morris just completed his first year as a college coach. The program that put Gus Malzahn of Auburn on the map is probably going to do the same thing for Morris in short order. Tulsa finished 13th in overall passing yards under him and 15th in overall running yards with Herb Hand still in charge of the run game. Hell, let's take them both. Seriously. The only real problem we'd have with getting him is that he lived a long time in Austin and has close ties to the Longhorns. His family may not like the reception they'd get back in Texas if he became a 'Husker. Morris may be new on the college scene, but if you have any doubts as to his ability to get results, take a look at this page:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/TU/article.aspx?subjectid=94&articleid=20100118_29_B1_IwertA459244&allcom=1

Mick McCall, Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach, Northwestern

Mr. McCall is another offensive coordinator who seems to be on track to a head coaching position, even though he's taken a much longer time to get there than most in his field. His knowledge of how to run the spread offense and adjust to adverse events makes him a prime candidate for the disastrous situation at Nebraska. He's been coaching college and high school football since 1979, and his position at Northwestern is the most prestigious he's had so far. The Wildcats wouldn't be too happy about us taking him away from them, but chances are they don't like us anyway.

http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/mccall_mick00.html

Mark Mangino, former Head Coach, Kansas

Yeah, so he got railroaded out of Kansas for hurting some player's feelings. Yeah, he made a bad move by playing Todd Reesing while he was injured and keeping it a secret. Yeah, he's fat. Who cares. He has a specific talent for finding skilled offensive players and finding players who may not have everything ready on the surface but who can be developed. He's a strict coach who gets results, and with some additional supervision and accountability for him to answer to, our problems could be solved in extra-wide order. However, adding his temper to Pelini's could cause a nuclear swear word explosion that could land Nebraska in big trouble.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Mangino

Cameron Norcross, Run Game Coordinator & Offensive Line Coach, Nevada

Getting him to leave Nevada would be difficult in my opinion. He's obviously comfortable after playing there from 1997-1999 and coaching from 2001 to the present, where he now coordinates the run game and the offensive line. He's active in other aspects of Nevada's athletic program as well, so convincing him to uproot his family and leave everything he has built for himself would be improbable no matter how much money Nebraska offered. But one can dream.

http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10000&ATCLID=549139

Mike Leach, Former Head Coach, Texas Tech

His name has been popping up all over the place, and Nebraska fans have contributed to the chatter. There's so much to say about him he gets his own post a bit later. Even though he deserves a mention, it's really a waste of time since there's no way he'd take the job.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Leach_%28coach%29

The Holiday Bowl, 12/30/10: Washington 19, Nebraska 7

Before this game started, I was telling people I knew that we were going to lose. My father, whose opinions regarding college football I always respect and take heed of, was warning those around him that "It's going to be a lot worse than you think." I don't know what kind of responses he got, but what I heard varied from contemplative silence to "Well, I don't know..." to "But we're favored by 14!"

If there's one thing I've learned after researching betting lines and college football, it's that no one predicts better than 60% consistently. There were games this year that the bookies had right on, and there were some betting lines I saw that made me stop and say, "What? Are you kidding?" (e.g., the Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech game on Oct. 16 where the line was Tech -3.5; if those who make the lines had actually watched each of these teams play, they would have clearly known that OK State wasn't going to lose). It would seem that too many betting lines are created by people who only look at overall statistics and not those who actually watch the games. So, when I heard that Nebraska was favored by 14, I knew once again that no one with any clout was paying attention.

How did I know we were going to lose? Four pretty obvious reasons:

1) Washington was coming off a three-win streak at the end of their season
2) They wanted Nebraska blood spilled for the embarassing loss we gave them in week 3 on national television and were hungry for revenge
3) They had plenty of time to prepare for our now totally predictable offense and research the weaknesses in our defense
4) With Shawn Watson as our offensive coordinator, we have nowhere to go but down

Remember the way Texas beat us on Oct. 16? Washington did the exact same thing, but they did it better. Once again, we waited until we were desperate to go to our extremely talented tight ends/slot receivers. Once again, Taylor Martinez displayed his inexplicable ignorance with his dangerous short forward passes to avoid yardage losses (on the second one, he would have actually gained two yards as he ran out of bounds had he held on to the ball). Once again, instead of throwing an opponent a curve ball by starting a quarterback other than Taylor Martinez, we put all our chips on T-Mart and kept on playing that hand until he couldn't run any more.

We have seen that once given a little time to settle into a game, Cody Green can perform well enough to keep opposing defenses off-balance even with his sporadic efficiency. I actually feel sorry for him. He works hard and has a good attitude, and there he has stood, ready and able on the sideline, having to play a strict second fiddle to T-Mart because of T-Mart's ego and the coaching staff's lack of cojones. We could have been using them in a tandem attack that would have turned our season into something to truly remember instead of another black mark on our scarlet hearts that we will pray to forget for years to come. Congratulations to Steve Sarkisian and his staff, Jake Locker, and the Huskies.

Game Prediction Results for 12/4/10

No. 17 Nevada 35, Louisiana Tech 17
Nevada won by 18, four more than I had called. Pretty close. Betting line was Nevada -7.5.

No. 2 Oregon 37, Oregon State 20
Oregon won by 17, and I had said they'd do it by at least 12. Lookin' good. Betting line was Oregon -16.

No. 1 Auburn 56, No. 19 South Carolina 17
Auburn won by 39. Not quite the max of 6 that I predicted. Betting line was Auburn -3.5. The bookies didn't even see this one coming. What the hell happened, Gamecocks?

No. 15 Virginia Tech 44, No. 21 Florida State 33
Predicting a game based on emotion almost never works, and it sure didn't here. I just wanted five games to write about, and this one was an easy shortcut. I won't be doing that again. Betting line was Virginia Tech -4.5.

No. 9 Oklahoma 23, No. 13 Nebraska 20
I got the winner correct, and during the fourth quarter I was fully expecting the Sooners to score that last touchdown. I'm actually surprised they didn't, seeing how gassed our defense was. Unfortunately for my last desperate hopes for Husker dignity, I was right on with the fumbles and dropped passes. Betting line was Oklahoma -4.5.

Overall, the predictions went very well. It's too bad I didn't have the time to have more fun with this over the season.

Underinformed Game Predictions for 12/4/10

This is my first installment of Underinformed Game Predictions. I'm always underinformed, but this year I've been busier than usual and haven't had as much time to devote to watching every game possible and reading up on results and analysis. Since there are so few teams I've gotten to watch this year, my predictions will be very limited.

No. 17 Nevada at Louisiana Tech : Those Louisiana boys are tough. Really tough. However, even though this is a home game for LT, I think that Nevada's persistence in the second half with their varied offensive looks and well-learned pass defense will confuse the Bulldogs enough to pull out a win by 14.

No. 2 Oregon at Oregon State : The Beavers are unpredictable this year. I think coach Riley was relying on the Rodgers brothers too much (even before the injuries) and painted himself into a corner. Oregon State will try to perform their historic role as spoiler in this rivalry, but Oregon's defense is maniacal. There is no other word for them. They're just in-your-face mad. Because of this, the Ducks win it by 12 at least.

No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 19 South Carolina : South Carolina is familiar with a loss to Auburn already, and people say the second time around in the same season spells disaster for the team who won in the first meeting. However, if Auburn can come from behind and win like they did last week, then it would seem that they can survive any storm. But then, South Carolina beat Alabama too. Hmm. I can see this one possibly going into overtime, but I think Auburn will win it outright. In either case, I don't think they win it by more than 6 points.

No. 21 Florida State vs. No. 15 Virginia Tech : Honestly, I haven't seen either team play very much this year,  so I can't call this one with anything other than emotion. Being from Nebraska, I really don't like either one of them. I think Virginia Tech has been overrated for a long time and I'm a sucker for rooting for the underdog, so I'll pick Florida State by 7.

No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 13 Nebraska : If you read a couple of my other posts, you'll know how I feel about Nebraska's offense and the reasons why we suck. The only things that give me hope are that we actually looked like a real football team against Oklahoma State and Bob Stoops can be predictable and stubborn to adjust on the fly. With that said, I'll have to resort to the metaphysical to predict this game. Because Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit are providing the commentary, I predict that Brent's mildly handicapped ramblings and Kirk's deep but hidden resentment for Nebraska will affect the Nebraska faithful worldwide. They will create a vacuum for hope during the beginning of the second quarter that will dig us into a hole of fumbles and dropped passes that we won't be able to recover from. Musberger and Herbstreit will create, in effect, an anti-prayer. Oklahoma wins by 9 or 10. If, by some miracle, the 'Huskers dig deep and do the right thing, they could pull an upset by 5 or less.

One way or another, it's going to be an exciting day in college football.

Brock Huard: ESPN, Give This Guy a Promotion

It's pretty obvious that ESPN gives out their commentator assignments based mostly on seniority. If they based the assignments on the individual's ability and presentation, goofballs like Bob Davie, Brent Musberger, and biggest-asshole-in-the-business Craig James would be relegated to lesser duties while people with real talent for the profession would take over the prime spots. The man poised for an elevated position in the ranks more than any other is Brock Huard.

Mr. Huard, a former quarterback, was the Gatorade National Player of the Year in high school. He continued his career at Washington where he still holds many school career records to this day. He was an Academic All-American and held a 3.6 GPA. His time in the NFL was brief (1999-2004) with the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts. I'm assuming that he left because of his injuries, but the available information doesn't specify this. His time at Washington was also plagued with injuries. Perhaps someone was trying to tell him something. Here's his Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock_Huard

Whatever the case, we as college football fans are blessed that he left the field and went into the booth to don the headset. The man is a natural when it comes to calling the color commentary for football. It's as if he was born for this profession. His perspective and analysis on the game is in-depth and complete. He captures the mood of the game and keeps the listener informed without having to slap you in the head with statistics every time he speaks. Plus, his commanding baritone voice makes the game relaxing and fun to listen to without lulling us into boredom.

Jesse Palmer was rewarded with a quick rise to commentator fame because of his ability to remember stats and spit them out like a damn computer while maintaining an even level of professionalism no matter who he talks about, and he has a knack for pointing out angles of the game that other commentators neglect. Plus, I'm sure he scores well among the female viewers. Brock has the same level of talent without being a stats monger and should be rewarded for it.

ESPN, he makes far too many of your current commentators on staff sound like total amateurs. For God's sake, promote him. Please put him in place of one of your more agitating airbags. I've given you three obvious examples already, and replacing Bob Davie is the most logical move. You know I'm right, ESPN. Don't procrastinate with this. Just do it.

Oklahoma's Fight Song: The Most Annoying Thing In College Football

There is a blog post that came out on Sept. 30, 2010 titled "The Top 10 Most Annoying College Football Fight Songs". The writer is dead on with some of his choices, but he made one glaring mistake. While I agree that "War Chant" (Florida State's favorite song) gets old quickly, there is no tune that comes close to the level of annoyance that "Boomer Sooner" accomplishes.

In response to the blog post previously mentioned, there was a post on OrangePower.com about this. One member cleverly posted his amended top ten list with Boomer Sooner occupying all ten spots. I'd like to take this opportunity to post my amended top 10 list. You'll see some similarities.

10) "Tribute to Troy" (USC)
9) "War Chant" (Florida State)
8) "The Eyes of Texas" (Texas)
7) "The Eyes of Texas" (Texas)
6) "The Eyes of Texas" (Texas)
5) "Boomer Sooner" (Oklahoma)
4) "Boomer Sooner" (Oklahoma)
3) "Boomer Sooner" (Oklahoma)
2) "Boomer Sooner" (Oklahoma)
1) "Boomer Sooner" (Oklahoma)

Here's the thing about the the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band: It's not that they play "Boomer Sooner" in its entirety repeatedly. It's that they play one part of the middle section (a stanza, if you will) by itself. It's only fifteen notes long. They play it over and over and over again, and then they play it again. Then, just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, they play it over and over and over and over again, no matter what the hell happens in the game. Sometimes they play it twice, sometimes three times, and just to be dicks they'll sneak in those fifteen notes just one time through, inserting that goddamned melody in any available dead airspace. I can't stand it. It makes me want to shove the first long and sharp instrument I can find in my ears to make it stop.

Attention CIA: If you want to extract information from enemy combatants, here is your song. It's such an easy solution, you should have no trouble getting all the dirt on Al-Qaeda you would ever want. In fact, just torture them with the entire replay of the Oklahoma/OK State game that just aired. That song combined with the sloopy mumblings of Brent Musberger should make all captured enemies turn to butter in your hands. Just think! No more waterboarding! No more scandals or international incidents growing from accusations of breaking the terms of the Geneva Convention! Your answer is right here in America's greatest sport.

In all seriousness, I don't see how Bob Stoops hasn't gone literally batshit insane yet. Perhaps he had to let part of his brain die in order to keep coaching there. Perhaps they put something in the water and subliminally taint the nightly news in Norman to make you think that hearing the same fifteen note excerpt of "Boomer Sooner" makes you smarter and happier. I don't know, but if there ever was a conspiracy in college football involving mind control, it would have to be this.

p.s.: While writing this, I had those fifteen "Boomer Sooner" notes stuck in my head. I couldn't concentrate and had more misspelled words to correct than ever before when trying to write anything. I literally had to listen to USC's "Tribute to Troy" to get my mind back to normal and finish this post.