what's the o-lines problem?

redwine65

All-Conference
Jun 23, 2010
10,846
2,162
113
Dr, Tom left with a machine oline. Milt / Young = masters
solich, callahan, bo, riley....besides incognito getting a personal foul every 3rd play...and one center snapping the ball like they were clay at a trap range....
nobody ever complained about them alot
what we hear:
"martinez can't complete a pass because the oline"
"we have no run game cause the oline"
"austin don't want to recruit the oline"
"there been argument between frost and austin bout the oline"
"oline will transfer because they love their oline coach"

why has the oline under frost been problematic so much?
is his plays to pass fanciful?
are we asking our oline to do more than iowa.minn,wis,ksu,cu?
is it a nil problem?
 

Ctlbyr

Redshirt
Dec 7, 2007
178
16
18
They are not killers. When neb was good they always had a couple of thugs on the line. Maybe this new coach will put some nasty in these cremepuffs
 

oldjar07

All-Conference
Oct 25, 2009
9,468
2,007
113
Dr, Tom left with a machine oline. Milt / Young = masters
solich, callahan, bo, riley....besides incognito getting a personal foul every 3rd play...and one center snapping the ball like they were clay at a trap range....
nobody ever complained about them alot
what we hear:
"martinez can't complete a pass because the oline"
"we have no run game cause the oline"
"austin don't want to recruit the oline"
"there been argument between frost and austin bout the oline"
"oline will transfer because they love their oline coach"

why has the oline under frost been problematic so much?
is his plays to pass fanciful?
are we asking our oline to do more than iowa.minn,wis,ksu,cu?
is it a nil problem?
Austin was a horrible coach. Hopefully the next guy is better.
 

Husker88

Senior
Dec 9, 2017
2,194
431
83
Let's face it, our Husker OL from the 80's and 90's didn't move onto the NFL and be all that successful outside of Will Shields.

Our "Pipeline" was made up of numerous All-Americans and award winners in Wiegert, Graham, Stai, Treu, Dishman, Zatechka, and Anderson that arguably maxed out in college. Many had good NFL careers, none were ever All Pros or 1st round selections.

Also, the rest of the college football world caught up to our 20 year edge in weight training under Boyd Eppley. Nowadays, everybody does top end weight and speed training in massive facilities along with top end dieticians and training tables designed for better athletic performance per athlete.

As for the 800 pound gorilla in the room with PED's and creatine training?
 

steinek11

All-Conference
Apr 18, 2004
13,486
1,227
113
They are not killers. When neb was good they always had a couple of thugs on the line. Maybe this new coach will put some nasty in these cremepuffs
Definitely want a line full of pricks. Dudes rag dolling the general population at bars on the weekend. That's a telltale sign of a good line.
 

Bigred_b1624

Freshman
Nov 20, 2018
786
63
28
Technique, conditioning in some cases, effort in some cases, mentality, playing at the wrong position...it's definitely been a mess.
 

Headcard

Heisman
Feb 2, 2005
192,508
20,877
113
Let's face it, our Husker OL from the 80's and 90's didn't move onto the NFL and be all that successful outside of Will Shields.

Our "Pipeline" was made up of numerous All-Americans and award winners in Wiegert, Graham, Stai, Treu, Dishman, Zatechka, and Anderson that arguably maxed out in college. Many had good NFL careers, none were ever All Pros or 1st round selections.

Also, the rest of the college football world caught up to our 20 year edge in weight training under Boyd Eppley. Nowadays, everybody does top end weight and speed training in massive facilities along with top end dieticians and training tables designed for better athletic performance per athlete.

As for the 800 pound gorilla in the room with PED's and creatine training?

Who cares if they maxed out on college? Sounds like a good recipe for college success to me. Sure beats having guys play well in the NFL that didn’t do a thing here, like we have now.
 

Husker88

Senior
Dec 9, 2017
2,194
431
83
Who cares if they maxed out on college? Sounds like a good recipe for college success to me. Sure beats having guys play well in the NFL that didn’t do a thing here, like we have now.

Tom Osborne, Milt Tenopir, and Dan Young aren't coaching anymore, nor is Boyd Epley providing cutting edge weight training.

That 'recipe' is long long gone, and isn't ever coming back.

Gotta find a new way because we'll never ever get back to that no matter how hard you wish it to be true.
 

redwine65

All-Conference
Jun 23, 2010
10,846
2,162
113
Tom Osborne, Milt Tenopir, and Dan Young aren't coaching anymore, nor is Boyd Epley providing cutting edge weight training.

That 'recipe' is long long gone, and isn't ever coming back.

Gotta find a new way because we'll never ever get back to that no matter how hard you wish it to be true.
so just give up and quit?
 

GeorgeFlippin

Heisman
May 29, 2001
38,558
35,533
113
How badly you want to win goes hand in hand with how hard you're willing to push yourself. Maybe the O-Linemen back in the 80's and 90's didn't hit the NFL much, but they sure as hell worked extremely hard to be some of the best lines in college football, and that's what we're talking here.

And yes, coaching is a huge part of it.
 

redwine65

All-Conference
Jun 23, 2010
10,846
2,162
113
I heard the new oline coach wants to be more physical and less dancing round..
hopefully he's a good coach/recruiter too....I figure if your a good coach the recruiting can be be alot easier...like milt probably did'nt have a hard time recruiting..plus I think dr. tom did alot of that, I remember his story about driving way out to western Nebraska to recruit dishmen..

if frost starts getting wins, he seems like a good person to have in the recruits home.
 

NikkiSixx_rivals269993

All-Conference
Sep 14, 2013
9,783
2,445
0
The press interviewed him, trying to get some info about his vision for things, asked about his philosophy and what not.. the answers he gave were very basic, like work hard, etc. I'll be honest, it looked to me like he doesn't have a philosophy and is too early in his career to really know what he is doing yet. I think it's a dice roll wether the line gets better or not imo. It will be interesting to see what happens if we can get some portal players, but just coaching up the guys we got, doesn't give me a lot of confidence at this point.
 

thegwer

Sophomore
Aug 4, 2001
411
105
43
It's all about Pancakes! Knock the other guy to the ground and open big holes and protect the QB.
 

Husker88

Senior
Dec 9, 2017
2,194
431
83
How badly you want to win goes hand in hand with how hard you're willing to push yourself. Maybe the O-Linemen back in the 80's and 90's didn't hit the NFL much, but they sure as hell worked extremely hard to be some of the best lines in college football, and that's what we're talking here.

And yes, coaching is a huge part of it.
And like I said, TO, Milt, and Young aren't dropping down from the sky to coach this team, nor is there any magical portal or fairy dust that takes us back to 1982.

Gotta earn and build a new way. We no longer have the largest weight facility on the entire planet. We no longer have the greatest weight training program by a decade gap fueling our team. Walk Ons from Cozad or Gothenburg aren't going to pound weights for 2 to 3 years and be All-Conference studs in the B10.
 

rrthusker

Heisman
Jul 24, 2001
135,460
63,988
113
It's all about Pancakes! Knock the other guy to the ground and open big holes and protect the QB.
We had as many pancakes in two games under Dr. Tom as we have in a year under Frosty. These guys are soft, especially mentally. We have no mean, nasty, kick your *** guys.
 

Husker88

Senior
Dec 9, 2017
2,194
431
83
We had as many pancakes in two games under Dr. Tom as we have in a year under Frosty. These guys are soft, especially mentally. We have no mean, nasty, kick your *** guys.
How many pancakes you think Bama or Ohio State had this year?

They throw the ball in order to run the ball. They zone block all day long, and rarely run power football.

You think Buck fans are dreaming about the years of Woody Hayes or Bama fans thinking about the legendary Bear?

They've all been replaced. Their schools have moved on and upgraded to the new world of college football. Ohio State, Bama, and even Oklahoma aren't running remotely close to the same offenses as their heydeys from years of lore that we sadly try to hang onto.
 

phoenix4nu

All-Conference
May 10, 2009
9,774
2,088
0
We had as many pancakes in two games under Dr. Tom as we have in a year under Frosty. These guys are soft, especially mentally. We have no mean, nasty, kick your *** guys.
Maybe they just need to start taking whatever the Wisconsin linemen are taking.
 

oldjar07

All-Conference
Oct 25, 2009
9,468
2,007
113
We had as many pancakes in two games under Dr. Tom as we have in a year under Frosty. These guys are soft, especially mentally. We have no mean, nasty, kick your *** guys.
Honestly, very few guys are like that unless they have an external influence pointing them in that direction. Especially when going up against guys equal your size or bigger, most guys don't have the mentality that they're just going to line up across from them and dominate them. That needs to be instilled through coaching.
 

inthedeed

Junior
Mar 28, 2009
6,923
315
83
really not any kind of expert on oline. having said that, we cant be taking half a season to figure out who our best players are. we also cant survive with tackles that cant move their feet. and i dont care how athletic a guy is, our center has to be able to hike the ball accurately every frinkin time. being able to figger out basic d-line stunts and who to block might also be a prerequicent
 

NYC-Husker

Junior
Mar 8, 2007
566
396
63
We had as many pancakes in two games under Dr. Tom as we have in a year under Frosty. These guys are soft, especially mentally. We have no mean, nasty, kick your *** guys.

Agreed on this but not just OL. The whole team just seems so mentally weak. They constantly fold late in games, makes me wonder if it's a reflection of the coaching staff, or what the issue is.
 

Husker88

Senior
Dec 9, 2017
2,194
431
83
Honestly, very few guys are like that unless they have an external influence pointing them in that direction. Especially when going up against guys equal your size or bigger, most guys don't have the mentality that they're just going to line up across from them and dominate them. That needs to be instilled through coaching.

Pure BS.

Thousands of guys have or are currently playing in the NFL with little to no coaching. You play at the highest levels because you have a talent or want to nobody else has.

There may be coaches and schemes that can draw that out of people, but want to and greatness are already mostly there.

Bo Pelini did a great job with Suh and David but those guys are in the NFL and have stayed in the NFL because of pure assed talent and want to.
 

rrthusker

Heisman
Jul 24, 2001
135,460
63,988
113
Agreed on this but not just OL. The whole team just seems so mentally weak. They constantly fold late in games, makes me wonder if it's a reflection of the coaching staff, or what the issue is.
Many have told me over and over how tough Frosty is. I don’t see it at all.
 

redwine65

All-Conference
Jun 23, 2010
10,846
2,162
113
We had as many pancakes in two games under Dr. Tom as we have in a year under Frosty. These guys are soft, especially mentally. We have no mean, nasty, kick your *** guys.
it seem like a lot of the oline and coaching has been affected by new age progressive gender obscurity.
the husker oline I watched growing up into and into my 30's seemed like 5 businessmen 3 or 4 deep.
who just understood things like husker power, and schoolwork...and taking care of business.
 
Dec 30, 2003
4,034
876
0
Let's face it, our Husker OL from the 80's and 90's didn't move onto the NFL and be all that successful outside of Will Shields.

Our "Pipeline" was made up of numerous All-Americans and award winners in Wiegert, Graham, Stai, Treu, Dishman, Zatechka, and Anderson that arguably maxed out in college. Many had good NFL careers, none were ever All Pros or 1st round selections.

Also, the rest of the college football world caught up to our 20 year edge in weight training under Boyd Eppley. Nowadays, everybody does top end weight and speed training in massive facilities along with top end dieticians and training tables designed for better athletic performance per athlete.

As for the 800 pound gorilla in the room with PED's and creatine training?
Give me a line mostly full of guys like Tony Fonoti and a scrub or two and we would own the Big. Fonoti was a straight serial killer on the line, but later had a problem keeping his weight in check. He failed miserable in the NFL because of that, but he was unstoppable in college.
 

TruHusker

All-Conference
Sep 21, 2001
12,115
2,397
98
I intentionally watch our O line, each player on the rewind of most games over the last three years. I pretty much gave up on it this year, it was so depressing.

Overall the technique needs to improve drastically. Footwork is atrocious. Tackles get beat off the edge too easily and when we have an opportunity to seal a block by just stepping to the run side, we don't do and allow the D player to slip off and make a play.

Austin seemed to be about strike hard and then read. There wasn't much stake and drive, keep the arms locked and stay engaged. We let opposing DEs and edge rushers get almost to the QB before we make contact, by that time the tackle is backed way up and has given too much ground.

We have bee horrible defending the blitz. We have 5 blockers and it seems no matter how many they send, we leave someone free.

The entire O line doesn't seem to work together. We will likely go to more zone blocking which will be a change and for crying out loud can we get someone to the second level? How many times were our backs hit at the LOS. We need to get more push in the short yardage situations.

Lastly, it seems like we went overboard thinking we had to have Jolly green giant for tackles and even inside linemen. If you aren't 6'8" or 9, you are too short. I have heard over and over how we look for the length. Well, just look at the linemen who were drafted last year, you won't find guys like that.

Really lastly, the communication needs to improve as well. It starts with the center making line calls. I just think Jurgens will struggle with that in the pro game.
 

redwine65

All-Conference
Jun 23, 2010
10,846
2,162
113
Many have told me over and over how tough Frosty is. I don’t see it at all.
on the d it seems they got tougher, not the offense...I guess if we could of punched it in from the red zone a few more times, perception might be a bit different.
 
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redwine65

All-Conference
Jun 23, 2010
10,846
2,162
113
Maybe they just need to start taking whatever the Wisconsin linemen are taking.
wisconsin seems to have retained something we have lost when the topic is oline.
could well be the reason we see the backs of their running backs so much..

the counterargument is then when you play the ohio states or bama's you stall because of talent/speed.
so then the question is, do you want certain wins playing less talented teams...or go full airborne in the hopes you can out pass an ohio state. and roll the dice on any wins if you can't recruit like ohio states and bamas
 
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Dean Pope

All-Conference
Oct 11, 2001
13,288
1,055
0
The press interviewed him, trying to get some info about his vision for things, asked about his philosophy and what not.. the answers he gave were very basic, like work hard, etc. I'll be honest, it looked to me like he doesn't have a philosophy and is too early in his career to really know what he is doing yet. I think it's a dice roll wether the line gets better or not imo. It will be interesting to see what happens if we can get some portal players, but just coaching up the guys we got, doesn't give me a lot of confidence at this point.
First impression is that in the short term Raola will improve technique and expect a more physical style of play. I'm not sure that he'll back his rhetoric by benching players who don't do the job and instead (like Frost and many other recent coaches) overlook the mistakes and let them play anyway.

Long term, my question is can Raola recruit? Does he want to recruit? That much remains to be seen. And that brings up the bigger question which is why are we wasting time recruiting linemen from far away places when recent history has shown that better guys are available in the Midwest?
 

Redscarlet

Heisman
Jun 17, 2001
32,999
11,003
113
First impression is that in the short term Raola will improve technique and expect a more physical style of play. I'm not sure that he'll back his rhetoric by benching players who don't do the job and instead (like Frost and many other recent coaches) overlook the mistakes and let them play anyway.

Long term, my question is can Raola recruit? Does he want to recruit? That much remains to be seen. And that brings up the bigger question which is why are we wasting time recruiting linemen from far away places when recent history has shown that better guys are available in the Midwest?
We do have 6 Sophomores so there wasn’t a lot of room to recruit Offensive lineman considering Raola was hired in the recruiting process..

We’ll find out more now that he is here and recruiting for the future..

I’ll admit this is the one hire I’m not so sure about..
 

10Trvln

All-Conference
Feb 5, 2011
5,581
3,341
0
Dr, Tom left with a machine oline. Milt / Young = masters
solich, callahan, bo, riley....besides incognito getting a personal foul every 3rd play...and one center snapping the ball like they were clay at a trap range....
nobody ever complained about them alot
what we hear:
"martinez can't complete a pass because the oline"
"we have no run game cause the oline"
"austin don't want to recruit the oline"
"there been argument between frost and austin bout the oline"
"oline will transfer because they love their oline coach"

why has the oline under frost been problematic so much?
is his plays to pass fanciful?
are we asking our oline to do more than iowa.minn,wis,ksu,cu?
is it a nil problem?
For the most part it’s been lack of coaching and talent evaluation. Austin wasn’t a good coach, but we’ve had a bad run of bad coaches. Or at least their style didn’t mesh well with the offensive philosophy, if we even had one, in some circumstances. Remember all the Centers we’ve had that lacked size and athleticism? That’s a horrible start for your Oline. How many years did we hear, “they’re young, or they’re injured,” only to see the same guys trotted out there. Sickening!
I left out some names, but how many of these guys would’ve played for elite college teams?
John Raridon, Boe Wilson, Cole Conrad, Hunter Miller, Matt and Will Farniok, Matt Sichterman, Jake Cotton
Broc Bando, Brian Thorson, Mike Huff, Andy Christensen, Mike Smith, Cruz Barrett, Keith Williams
Mark Pelini, Mike Moudy, Mike Caputo, Cole Pensick, Andrew Rodriguez, Mike Smith, DJ Jones, Brandon Chapek, Robby Painter, Paul Thurston, Ryan Reeves, Ryan Freudenburg, Mike Moudy, David Knevel, Sam Gahn, Gerald Foster, Dylan Utter, Jalin Barnett, Zach Hannon,
 

HUSKERFAN66

All-Conference
Dec 8, 2004
21,224
3,567
113
Let's face it, our Husker OL from the 80's and 90's didn't move onto the NFL and be all that successful outside of Will Shields.

Our "Pipeline" was made up of numerous All-Americans and award winners in Wiegert, Graham, Stai, Treu, Dishman, Zatechka, and Anderson that arguably maxed out in college. Many had good NFL careers, none were ever All Pros or 1st round selections.

Also, the rest of the college football world caught up to our 20 year edge in weight training under Boyd Eppley. Nowadays, everybody does top end weight and speed training in massive facilities along with top end dieticians and training tables designed for better athletic performance per athlete.

As for the 800 pound gorilla in the room with PED's and creatine training?
BUT we also had 5 of them at one time with backups that were still better than what most opponent had
 

king_kong_

Redshirt
Nov 3, 2021
24,413
4
0
This will make 3 straight years we have an offensive lineman drafted.

Every problem we have on offense is directly attributable to our terrible former (thank God) quarterback and our egomaniacal head coach. Adrian made every player around him look much worse, and Frost is too much of a coward to stick with alternatives.

I’m glad Whipple and Trev are here to sort out both positions in a hurry, and that we’ve finally decided to hoist our anchor (good riddance).
 

19Football19

All-Conference
Dec 2, 2015
2,490
1,030
65
They are not killers. When neb was good they always had a couple of thugs on the line. Maybe this new coach will put some nasty in these cremepuffs
Might have had a little liquid courage if you know what I mean. Everyone did it, we just took it to a new level in order to finally get over the hump. And of course when Barry was forced out or DR TO wouldn’t be talked about.
 

trooper141

Redshirt
Feb 3, 2017
2,123
7
0
We do have 6 Sophomores so there wasn’t a lot of room to recruit Offensive lineman considering Raola was hired in the recruiting process..

We’ll find out more now that he is here and recruiting for the future..

I’ll admit this is the one hire I’m not so sure about..
I’m actuallly thrilled with this hire.
 

TruHusker

All-Conference
Sep 21, 2001
12,115
2,397
98
I’m actuallly thrilled with this hire.
Tell us why you are thrilled please.

I am in the wait and see camp. No recruiting experience. Minimal axtual coaching experience especially at the college level. What am I missing?
 

TFrazier_rivals269992

All-Conference
Jun 8, 2001
7,429
3,298
0
 

trooper141

Redshirt
Feb 3, 2017
2,123
7
0
Tell us why you are thrilled please.

I am in the wait and see camp. No recruiting experience. Minimal axtual coaching experience especially at the college level. What am I missing?

I am an eternal optimist. Don’t really need more than that.