As Nebraska gears down hard for its 14th season of Big Ten football play, the Huskers’ standing in the conference in terms of relevance and overall prestige isn’t quite what Big Red fans imagined back when Bo Pelini was running the program.
Nebraska hasn’t really even sniffed a Big Ten championship — losing 70-31 in the league title game doesn’t qualify as a “sniff.” Plus, in case you’ve forgotten, NU last played in a bowl game in 2016 — the Music City Bowl on December 30 of that year. That was a fun bowl trip for fans (and media). I would’ve concentrated harder on fun in Nashville if I had known such a long bowl drought would ensue.
So, it’s not exactly “all eyes on Nebraska” as it heads to Big Ten Media Days this week in Indianapolis. The league has swollen to 18 teams, and the Huskers get a little lost in the shuffle. They’re generally picked to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack in 2024.
Their profile always gets boosted at this event by a strangely large media contingent that covers the program. It’s larger than almost any other Big Ten team’s media corps. Sometimes I wonder what others must think of us — not that I really care all that much. Granted, there’s more to do in places like Los Angeles (Go Trojans! Go Bruins!). But would you rather live in L.A. than Lincoln? How about Chicago? Minneapolis?
Give me the Havelock part of Lincoln any day of the week.
We know that Nebraska second-year head coach Matt Rhule will be impressive in Indy. The Husker contingent — Rhule will be joined by athletic director Troy Dannen and players Isaac Gifford , Ty Robinson , and Ben Scott — will be on hand Wednesday.
At the end of Nebraska’s appearance, at least a couple national media members will approach me and say how lucky we are to have such a quotable head coach. I’ll never take Rhule’s eloquence and openness for granted.
But my main interest Wednesday will be a question I have for Dannen.
Stay with me on this.
Column: Why Knighton’s group arguably strongest on team; some Barthel quotes to ponder; and Rhule sings Shedeur’s praises
Bill Moos sort of stole the show in 2019
Media types benefit greatly from these events because important people — Dannen, for instance — are on hand for a litany of questions. I’ll come back from Lucas Oil Stadium with tons to write about. It’s a critical part of the offseason.
How about an interview with Nick Saban , now of ESPN (if he’s in Indy)? Wouldn’t that be fun?
Some years are better than others at media days. The 2019 edition of Big Ten Media Days got particularly interesting when Bill Moos gave me a memorable answer to a question that I thought he might dance around as if he were one of Gladys Knight’s backup singers.
The question was this: How would he characterize a successful season for Nebraska in the second year of Scott Frost’s program?
“We really need to get to six (wins),” said Moos, who hired Frost in late 2017. “We need to get in the postseason and get all those extra practices and get that recognition in college football.”
Nebraska finished 5-7 in 2019. You know the rest of the story.
How would Dannen answer the same question? After all, it’s Rhule’s second season in charge. You know what? Dannen just might have an answer that’s similar to the one Moos rolled out, although Dannen saying “we really need to get to six wins” would probably disappoint some Nebraska fans.
That’s because six wins would be a little light for Rhule’s crew, which returns 10 starters on offense and nine on defense. Rhule has a good team on his hands. He makes no bones about it. He says it’s a team capable of playing in bowl season.
If I were Dannen, I’d say, “It’s clear that Matt thinks he has a team that’s capable of reaching bowl status. I agree with him. I’ll leave it that and let our play do the talking.”
I look forward to hearing Dannen’s real answer.
Rhule has a couple new subjects to address
As for Rhule, he always has something interesting and useful to say. He fills up notebooks, at least for those of us who still use notebooks.
Since his last local media appearance — about a month ago — he’s had to replace Nebraska secondary coach Evan Cooper , a close confidant of the head coach. It couldn’t have been an easy situation for Rhule. He’ll get asked about the matter — Cooper’s departure was characterized July 5 as a resignation for personal reasons — and Rhule will handle it all well.
He’s proven to be adept at smoothing out rough edges. But the fact is, he currently has a new secondary coach, former Buffalo Bills assistant John Butler , learning Tony White’s 3-3-5 scheme and the team’s personnel and even its opponents as quickly as he can. How challenging is it for all involved? Are we making too much of it?
What’s more, since Nebraska media has last talked to Rhule, it’s become clear Memorial Stadium is going to a grass surface, perhaps as early as 2026. He’s made it clear he feels grass is a safer surface than the synthetic stuff, and I imagine he’ll make it clear again. There’s a lot of repetitive information at these functions.
But, hey, it’s my experience in the past 30 years that Nebraska fans will read repetitive information.
They’ll also want to hear from the players on hand. Gifford and Robinson help lead a Nebraska defense that finished 13th nationally last season in points allowed per game (18.2). What is their expectation for 2024? Is this really an elite unit?
Talk to me Oct. 26 after Nebraska plays Ohio State.
As for Scott, the Husker senior center, I want to ask him what it’s like playing for Donovan Raiola , whose teaching style trends toward unique. Bottom line, it’s time to see excellence from Raiola’s crew.
There are plenty of other subjects to think about. I haven’t even mentioned Dylan Raiola .
Yes, sir, multiple notebooks will be needed.
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The post Steven Sipple: Multiple notebooks needed as Nebraska heads to Big Ten Media Days appeared first on On3 .
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