152 — 79 true/redshirt freshman.
We almost have 2 full rosters that need to be managed with the same # of coaches as other schools.
We almost have 2 full rosters that need to be managed with the same # of coaches as other schools.
Roster size
- Thread starter jlb321_rivals110621
- Start date
I'm for it, think it's awesome
next man up mentality, hope these guys are going balls to the wall every single practice
iron sharpens iron GBR
next man up mentality, hope these guys are going balls to the wall every single practice
iron sharpens iron GBR
Yep, we have a very young team. When those sophomores become seniors and the freshman becomes RS sophomores or juniors...our Huskers will be firing on all cylinders and we will be owning the West. GBR
Obviously it is up to the coaches.
Personally, I think it is too many. Frost has already stated that we don’t have enough space for meetings etc and that Duval is having to have extra lifting sessions to accommodate the size.
Practice hours are limited so you either have a lot of players not getting any reps or the reps to scholarship athletes are being diluted.
Coaches are having to manage more players than many other schools - using the teacher analogy larger classroom size - less individual attention.
Again if the coaches feel it is beneficial - so be it. Would be interesting to compare numbers of other highly successful programs - maybe we aren’t that far off the norm
Jib, we get it. You're unhappy about the roster size, which isn't surprising as you're usually unhappy about everything.
Give it a rest, deb.
Just for reference - more than half of the freshman - 45 of the 79 - are walkons
by the time the freshman and RS freshman classes are juniors or seniors they will be more in line with what the current junior and senior classes are. There will be a few walk-ons that get playing time, but many will decide, while it was cool to be a part of, that working as hard as everyone else, knowing you are never going to get on the field, isn't worth it.
One can look at the walk on classes from years past and see what the percentage of the walk on class makes it all 4 years.
Then factor in the scholarship guys that are inevitably going to wash out.
The 150 is almost always going to be freshman and RS freshman heavy.
In order to manage roster size, Frost will have to manage "voluntary attrition." To me that means the team will always be heavy with first and second year players. Scholarship players should be able to hold their place on the team, but the walk-ons will need to really need to perform in order maintain their roster spot. I'm sure there will be scholarship players that don't meet expectations, but in order to keep around the 150 size some players will need to move on.
Frost's comments about meeting space was meant to say that we need a facilities upgrade, not that the roster was too big. There's a lot of advantages to a large roster. It means that you might find a difference maker walk-on that was a late developer or overlooked instead of them playing at Chadron State before going onto a long NFL career. There are ways to ensure reps. You just have to have multiple units running plays at the same time instead of all eyes on just one unit.
So essentially:
-Tom Osborne won over 250 games in his career with this sort of big roster.
-Over the next 20 years Nebraska was mediocre at best (minus a few Solich early years) in which essentially Frank and 3 other coaches did it "their way" aka smaller roster.
-Scott Frost has shown to be a stud in his early coaching career and wants to bring back the Osborne method of a big roster.
Ummm dude you don't have a leg to stand on for this argument. I'm going to trust Scott and if he wants a bigger weight room/locker room etc and let several teams scrimmage at the same time then fire away...you build players with reps not watching the #1's and #2's each practice.
So if you have a different opinion that Scott Frost, then you don't have a leg to stand on? Even if it proves out that other top programs don't carry rosters of 150+?
With that said, the difference between us and them is that they load up on talented 4 and 5 stars year after year. So when their #3 OT is going against their #3 DE, it may well be a couple of 4 stars going at it. We are currently looking at a couple of walk ons to be starters on our OL.
Iron sharpens Iron, aluminum doesn't sharpen iron. Carlos Davis doesn't get better repping 1 on 1 with the 250 lb walk on true freshman OT from Ord.
Reps are important, but I think you over value the reps of players 140 and 141 on the roster and misunderstand why Frost wants 150+ on the roster. Having 150 players on the team and loading up the walk on program is more about getting the locals back involved in the program, getting kids to want to be a part of Nebraska football again, more than it is about player development. Now if you find a couple of walk ons that contribute, that is gravy, but if you have more than like 5-6 of the dudes in the 120s through 150s in your 3 deep, then something is wrong.
I am not against the 150+ roster, that is 100% a coach's decision, if it does what it is supposed to do and gets the communities and the high school athletes back wanting to be a part of the the Nebraska football program awesome. However, you can build quality depth with 110 or 120 players.
I don't agree, why would you want the headache of managing 150 players if you don't think you can find someone who can contribute out of that?
By the tone of your post, you're acting like having a walk-on starting on the O-line is a bad thing. A good quality player can come from anywhere. What you did in high school isn't the only thing that matters.
And if other schools are recruiting 5 stars, and we're not able to get those same 5 star players, we need to find another way to compete. Having several quality walk-ons each year who can contribute might be the way to do that.
Alabama has 120 on the roster -
42 true freshmen - 46%
14 RS Freshmen
20 sophomores - 17%
24 juniors - 20%
20 seniors - 17%
Nebraska has 152
47 true freshmen - 52%
32 redshirt freshmen
26 sophomores - 17%
23 juniors - 15%
24 seniors - 16%
42 true freshmen - 46%
14 RS Freshmen
20 sophomores - 17%
24 juniors - 20%
20 seniors - 17%
Nebraska has 152
47 true freshmen - 52%
32 redshirt freshmen
26 sophomores - 17%
23 juniors - 15%
24 seniors - 16%
doesn't seem like too crazy a disparity
to your point, these are all 4/5 stars who don't redshirt (would go elsewhere instead), can contribute right away and need to backfill the juniors who regularly leave early
we need another year of development for most of our guys, especially in year 2 of Coach Frost's regime. this makes total sense to me.
im Hoping these walkons can develop into 5 star talent! I think we have the right coaches to do it! I’ve always been about what the coaches see and what they can bring out of these players. Love player development!
I just told you why you want the headache of managing 150 players, it is a PR move. It gets the local communities involved with the program again. You will have kids wearing Nebraska jerseys and not Oregon or Clemson or any of the other jerseys and shirts that have been prevalent over the past 15 years.
A good quality player can come from anywhere, I agree, but it should be the exception not the rule. If you are counting on developing multiple walk ons from each class as a way to combat other teams recruiting 5 stars, you are fighting a losing battle.
If linemen like Benhart and Corcoran are getting beat out by walk ons in year 3 in the program, then something is wrong, somewhere.
Depending on the diamond in the rough to be contributors gets you Wisconsin and Iowa, I have higher expectations than that.
Well since you are having difficulty understanding the point, I will explain.
That graphic was to show how even the top teams have almost half of their class as freshman and RS freshman, Alabama has 56 freshman and rs freshman on their roster. The numbers in soph, junior and senior years, includes players that are also rs soph, rs juniors and rs seniors. You can clearly see there is attrition. Nearly the same attrition as Nebraska has as a pct..
Secondly, it was to show that you don't need 150+ to develop good depth. That further explains the PR aspect of Nebraska football.
This is just me and 100% guessing. If Frost chooses to keep his roster at 150+ going forward I do wonder if by the time guys are Senior and Juniors they will pretty well know what they are doing and will be able to run through stuff on their own with minimum coaching and supervision. The coaches will be there for the younger guys. Frost said last year, ideally he would have to coach as little as possible during practices. That the guys should know what they are doing and be helping those who don't.
Now as far as meeting space and weight room. That is where the upgrade in facilities comes into play. Nebraska needs a face lift in the that area. I believe we have one of the smaller weight rooms in the BIG10.
This isn’t that hard. Taco is 100% right.
I wish some of you fellas could have seen the last 10-15 players allowed on Osborne’s teams. They couldn’t play dead in a Western.
I wish some of you fellas could have seen the last 10-15 players allowed on Osborne’s teams. They couldn’t play dead in a Western.
Many great walkons have came through Nebraska. If Frost and Co can handle the number of kids odds say they will hit a few great walkons out of that number.
I guess I think the benefits far outweigh any negatives. I don't think Frost or any coaches need to keep a direct eye and have a hands on approach to every single kid. They should be able to tell pretty quickly which players show potential and which don't. The ones that show potential get put into the more hands on group. The other get put into another. Eventually the ones who know they aren't going to get playing time will move on. Plus as I stated in my earlier response. Im guessing by the time kids are juniors and Seniors they will know exactly what is going on and wont need much from the coaching staff. So My guess in the Frost and the coaches will only have about half that amount to really coach and pay attention to.
If it works, I'm for it. If it doesn't work, then we shouldn't have done it.
Jib, we get it. You're unhappy about the roster size, which isn't surprising as you're usually unhappy about everything.
Give it a rest, deb.
I apologize for coming off this way and I see how it could be interpreted as such.
As I said - it is the coaches decision. I was asked my own personal opinion and gave it. I posted more as a discussion topic to look at the pros and cons for my own and maybe others education.
One potential benefit as others may have pointed out is that, I believe you can only suit 105 for home games and 74 for away. Upperclassman can be left off the game day roster in favor of younger players as a way to encourage attrition. IE - upperclassman scholarship player isn't going to play and RS freshman walkon isn't going to play. You suit the walkon instead of the upperclassman to send the message it is time to move on.
As an aside, this site needs content and clicks to survive/thrive and continue to have a free board. Better to have some spirited football related discussions rather than gun related or transgender athlete pillow fights
Perhaps you could start another thread or participate in a thread already here regarding positive news/vibes or what coaches are doing right or well in your opinion for a change of pace.
Would also help with clicks/views/football.
Osborne ran power. He had walk on 4th or 5th year guys strong as a brick *********. Frost wants those guys lining up against teams that are replacing 5 stars with 5 stars and playing true freshmen/RS freshmen. The scheme isn’t quite right but in my mind I can see how signing lower tier athletes you end up with a youth vs experience battle instead of talent vs talent to try to equalize the recruiting.
It was a quality topic and discussion and I agree the less political and OT threads the better. Thanks for posting and opening up some football related dialogue
I don't think that a larger roster or a smaller roster provides any advantage or disadvantage in itself.
However, I like seeing the vision for the program coming to fruition. I believe that this kind of vision has been lacking from the head coach here for a while.
It hasn't been said explicitly, but I think that our staff believes we will regularly recruit top 20 classes but are unlikely to string together top 10 classes. So how to bridge that gap? By pulling in a contributor or 2 each cycle via greater numbers.
Frost said he wanted a larger program, is pulling in the kids, and has started down the road of increasing capacity of our facilities. He has a plan (outside of winning as many games as possible, which is a goal, not a plan), and is executing it.
However, I like seeing the vision for the program coming to fruition. I believe that this kind of vision has been lacking from the head coach here for a while.
It hasn't been said explicitly, but I think that our staff believes we will regularly recruit top 20 classes but are unlikely to string together top 10 classes. So how to bridge that gap? By pulling in a contributor or 2 each cycle via greater numbers.
Frost said he wanted a larger program, is pulling in the kids, and has started down the road of increasing capacity of our facilities. He has a plan (outside of winning as many games as possible, which is a goal, not a plan), and is executing it.
We all know that in order to win on big stages in college football you need to have good players. With Nebraska being at a recruiting disadvantage, you've got to come up with innovative ways to find players outside of your scholarship athletes to fill gaps. I don't expect a slew of All-Americans to come out of the walk-on population, but having 4-6 of those guys in the 2-deep would be excellent and maybe the difference between winning the division or not.
In terms of practices, Osborne found ways to keep everyone involved without "diluting" the reps for our best players. I suspect Frost is trying to replicate that model in some way. Let's see if it works.
In terms of practices, Osborne found ways to keep everyone involved without "diluting" the reps for our best players. I suspect Frost is trying to replicate that model in some way. Let's see if it works.
And you know why our weight room is too small, meeting rooms etc,right?
TO didn't have this problem,it got downsized under other regimes, instead of half empty, SF wants it half full.
The various reasons for having alot of walkons reinstates our walk on program as one of, if not the best.
Bigger roster is more bites at the apple. Dudes like Janovich are rare, but you can certainly get plenty of kids to crack the 2 and 3 deep lineups and elevate the floor so to speak when injuries or attrition mount.
And yes, it's valuable to establish that tradition again of HS kids just planning to play for NE one way or another. It helps get the scholarship kids as well as the walk ons.
And yes, it's valuable to establish that tradition again of HS kids just planning to play for NE one way or another. It helps get the scholarship kids as well as the walk ons.
TO always thought walkons were an essential part and a driving force of a teams character.
Guys on scholly look up to walkons, and if a walkons getting close in production, they step it up,those on scholarship.
Since we downsized, we no longer have the room, and Suh's weight room was created in those times as well. More bites of the apple is very appropriate,besides the things I mentioned above.
Guys on scholly look up to walkons, and if a walkons getting close in production, they step it up,those on scholarship.
Since we downsized, we no longer have the room, and Suh's weight room was created in those times as well. More bites of the apple is very appropriate,besides the things I mentioned above.
I agree with much of your post, but do scholarship players look up to walk ons?
A scholarship kid who didn’t grow up in the Big Red tradition definitely has plenty to learn from an in-state walkon busting his *** every minute of every day to live out his childhood dreams & represent his family and state
I don’t disagree, it’s just that I would think scholarship players might look down on the less talented walk ons, not look up to them...
I would think it takes time for a scholarship player to embrace a walk on, especially early on in one’s college career...
Think about it, if the young guys ,who dont embrace those walkons as character type guys, the guys those youngins do look up to do look up to those walkons, it's only a small matter of time.
Appreciating the guys who are living their dreams, working their tails off, and following and making the culture the HC is creating too, its only natural as well.