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Nebraska replaces a legend | Rocco Spindler update | No spring game for Nebraska football
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Feb 6, 2025
The Nebraska volleyball team had a replace the legendary John Cook and executed the transition perfectly. We also offer up the latest on Nebraska football's recruitment of Notre Dame transfer Rocco Spindler and offer our thoughts on the spring game being eliminated. 1:00 Thoughts on John Cook's retirement 5:33 No Spring game 8:50 Rocco Spindler update 20:00 Nebraska football Senior Bowl updates 24:50 Nebraska basketball preview vs. Illinois #Huskers #GBR
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0:01
hey Husker fans welcome back to the Husker big red YouTube channel I'm Chris Peterson and joining me as always is Danny Gillette and we're back here on
0:08
this Thursday morning for another episode of the podcast and we've got a lot to cover a lot of things happening with uh Nebraska Athletics on Wednesday
0:15
we've got John Cook um stepping down retiring the legendary Nebraska volleyball coach um the Huskers already
0:21
have a new coach hired so we'll discuss that um we'll break down the latest with the transfer Target Rocco Spindler we've
0:27
got some Senior Bowl updates no spring game for Nebraska football so we're going to talk about that and also um a
0:32
chance for Nebraska basketball to get off the mat again tonight so before we get into it please make sure that you
0:37
hit the like button hit the Subscribe button get into the comment section and Danny how are you doing on this Thursday
0:43
morning I'm feeling like Nebraska basketball tired but ready to compete ready to get into it and there's a lot
0:49
of news uh there's a lot of news and um you know we couldn't have picked a better day to do a show it is a lot of
0:57
news uh moving forward and um the first one I guess you know the kind of the bombshell news on Wednesday that I
1:04
didn't think a lot of people really saw coming but John Cook retires um after
1:09
you know a long tenure as Nebraska head coach 25 Seasons won 722 matches four national titles 15 conference
1:16
championships numerous final fours um you know so that was surprising but the way that it was handled I thought was
1:22
incredibly just perfect I mean they they get John Cook retired within basically an hour uh Danny Bush boom Kelly um has
1:30
been hired from Louisville she coached them to the national championship game and two the last three years um you know
1:36
Nebraska native played for the Huskers so you know if you're going to replace a legend if you can replace um him with
1:42
one of the best coaches in the country I don't think that you can do it much better than Nebraska did this transition
1:48
no you're absolutely right and you know it's it's kind of a rare thing in athletics to say that when a legendary
1:56
coach retires you know you you find a pretty good replacement I don't think
2:02
there's going to be that Growing Pains or growing period I anticipate that uh
2:07
things will go off seamlessly under Danny Busom Kelly and I wrote on one of
2:12
my pages the end of an era and it's the end of the John Cook era but I think the era of success and winning will stay the
2:20
same under her leadership yeah I think um you know it just was I appreciated how they had they
2:27
pulled that off with bush boom Kelly and um you know yeah it was it was coming at
2:33
some point right I mean John Cook was 68 years old um so it's not like he was going to be you know around forever and
2:40
maybe you know we should have seen this coming when um you know Jordan Larson announced that she was going back to uh
2:46
to volleyball or to playing more volleyball U maybe you know that had something to do with it but um at any
2:53
rate I just this was a great uh transition and um one thing that we should say you know the next kind of
3:00
you know step in this process is like how is it going to affect the roster and all that um Harper Murray hasn't made an
3:06
official announcement but she did post um something on Instagram and in the comments on that post she said that she
3:11
was going to be back for next season so she said she's not going anywhere so that would be you know a massive um you
3:19
know step forward for uh Bush boom Kelly you know Bergen Riley some of these other kids but I really don't see them leaving Nebraska because Nebraska
3:26
volleyball I mean it it is the Premier program in the sport I know they haven't won the National Championship in a few
3:32
years but you know if there's if there's a blue blood of college volleyball Nebraska is it everybody wants to be
3:37
Nebraska um nobody has the fan support like Nebraska so I really am not that concerned about um you know player
3:44
departures especially because a couple of his assistants John Cook's assistants um are going to remain on staff so I
3:49
think yeah it's going to be a fairly uh smooth transition I think the um the
3:55
recruits have also said that they're coming so yeah I mean in terms of saying goodbye to a legend Nebraska did you
4:01
know have a similar experience with this with Tom Osborne to Frank solich and um frankly I think this will probably this
4:07
transition will probably go off even better than that one did and a six-year contract for bus boom Kelly and a
4:14
Nebraska native she was a labero on the 2006 team so she knows what the
4:20
tradition of Nebraska volleyball is all about and I think the program is in good
4:26
hands like you mentioned John Cook is 68 years old so there there is a point in
4:31
time where you know you kind of realize that you know it's he wants to move on
4:36
to greener pastures and rightly so so you know it's it's incredible what he's
4:42
been able to accomplish over the course of over the course of his coaching career and I'm excited to see this new
4:48
era of Nebraska volleyball and I like I said I anticipate a lot of success uh to
4:54
be had yeah I I anticipate a lot of success too um you know it's to too bad that the
5:01
Huskers weren't able to you know win the National Championship last season um you know with John Cook but uh you know
5:08
unfortunately that's how it works there's no um you know there's no guaranteed fairy tales in sports as we
5:13
all know so um but John cook an amazing career he can ride off into the sunset and um yeah thanks for all that you've
5:20
done for Nebraska volleyball coach Cook you you're an incredible leader and uh I thought this past season was one of the
5:25
best coaching jobs that he did even though they didn't win the national championship so um at any rate um
5:31
Nebraska volleyball is still in good hands moving forward um so to move on to something else that came out last night
5:37
um that Troy Dann was um you know doing the radio the Husker radio and kind of talking about um you know this whole
5:44
volleyball transition it did come up that there will not be a spring game this year for Nebraska football which is a little bit different uh Troy Dannon
5:50
did say that they would have some type of uh celebration of athletes that could include volleyball and soccer and some
5:57
of the other fall sports but he did say that there wouldn't be he didn't foresee anything being televised now that could
6:02
change but it is going to be you know a shift for Nebraska football a lot of programs I think you're probably going
6:08
to get away from Spring games but what do you think about this announcement from Troy Dannon that Nebraska football will not have a spring game this year
6:15
I'm kind of torn because on one hand you know it was a chance for the fans to see
6:21
this team and you know kind of scout out the players for next season so you know
6:27
it was more of a fan thing but that's exactly it I feel like it was more of a fan thing I feel like a lot of these
6:33
spring games I don't want to say players go through the motions but um it's basically like a glorified practice and
6:40
so from a from a program standpoint I can kind of see the benefit of not
6:46
having one uh it's just a chance for Unnecessary injuries and things like
6:51
that and you know with all the movement um in in college football now I could
6:56
see you know with roster sizes and things it just you know the the spring
7:02
game itself has kind of phased itself out but I do feel bad for the fans and
7:07
and you know people who wanted to see you know this year's version of this team um but at the same time um you know
7:16
the the opportunity for the summer practice last year that that was a success it was well attended last year
7:23
so that's an so that's an opportunity for fans in the summer to kind of see where this team is at but I can
7:29
understand both sides um you know I feel like the summer practice will be a
7:35
chance where the fans could see the team a littleit more polished so to speak and so that'll be good but um I am kind of
7:43
disappointed that nothing is televised because I I did like watching uh the spring games yeah it was kind of it was
7:50
fun when they had it um you know it was more of a real game but I guess with uh you know roster limits and things like
7:56
that it probably will becoming a thing of the past and um you know it is what it is it's it is fun
8:03
to watch but I mean at the end of the day I think it's really not going to affect you know how spring practice goes overall so um you know just part of the
8:11
new uh wave of college football and um you know not much I guess we can really say on it more than that but um yeah
8:18
we'll be wom the chance to to see some of the younger guys but you know they did have some injuries you know last
8:24
year's spring game with blly Hill and Demetrius Bell so that's probably you know factored into it as well
8:29
um but yeah it was a great chance to showcase the Nebraska fans again so you know that'll be that'll be disappointing
8:35
but I'm sure they'll find some way to uh you know make it interesting um speaking of Spring ball though uh one thing that
8:42
kind of is interesting with Roco Spindler um if you've been following this recruitment is that springball
8:47
could have a big role in it um you it's kind of been going around on social media he's been put into the student
8:54
directory and I think that's something Nebraska did to try to you know get him into spring practice um I would think
9:00
that he needs to commit very soon sooner rather than later because Tuesday was the deadline that's when he visited
9:06
still hasn't uh still hasn't committed yet um I there is a there is a big
9:12
difference though because he can't go through Spring ball at Michigan he would have to skip Spring ball um just due to you know their uh academic calendar so
9:19
that's one advantage that Nebraska has um I think both teams are willing to pay
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you know the nil money needed for it um so really to it feels like it's Nebraska
9:31
or Michigan um but if Rocco makes a visit to Michigan this weekend I would
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feel much more pessimistic like I think this commitment needs to happen for Nebraska very soon or it's probably not
9:42
going to happen at all for what it's worth I was put into my student directory for you know a college that I
9:48
had been accepted to but never went to so there is that but I do think it's still a positive sign um you know he he
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was projected to have a crystal ball from EJ Holland who was a Michigan on
10:01
three Rider so that that's certainly a positive there but I agree if he takes a visit to Michigan this weekend things
10:07
may look a little bit more Bleak for Nebraska nevertheless I I I like where Nebraska sits here and I would love to
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have Spindler on the team yeah he would be a huge addition Spindler um has had his transfer portal
10:20
ranking updated um he's 63rd overall in the 247 Sports um rankings and he's
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sixth among interior offensive linemen so it would be another another top 100 offensive lineman I think that would be
10:32
maybe like the fifth top 100 um transfer portal recruit overall I think the sixth um Blue Chip you know they would add in
10:39
the transfer portal and you know this would be a big a big pickup I know some fans have tried to say oh like look at
10:46
his PFF grades weren't that great or whatever like I don't care about P I don't think that that I don't think that
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those grades aren't that great yeah they're not they don't they don't know blocking they don't know the blocking
10:57
assignments I mean especially with offensive line um it's just I don't trust their grading system that much so I mean I'm not
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saying that you should totally dismiss it but like let's let the coaches evaluate these guys instead of you know
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some dude behind a computer has no idea what he's talking about which is frankly you know PFF I mean they just they don't
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know what they're grading I mean how can you grade an offensive lineman when you don't know his assignments I mean that's
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just like if you've played offensive line you know that's that's you know what your assignment is whether you're like combo blocking or you know all that
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stuff really matters and that's not factored in so anyway for getting that rant um you know Roco Spindler I mean
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last year he replaced the guy who got hurt Billy I think slur was his name I don't remember exactly how you how you
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say his name but anyways once the guy got healthy Roco Spindler was so good he didn't get his job back and they made
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him move to another position so that tells you how good Roco Spindler is once he got that opportunity he started 13
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games he's played a ton of snaps and you look at the guard position right now
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he'd be a major upgrade and then you know Justin Evan Jenkins could move over and place Center and I think it would
12:00
just really solidify you know your starting five and sure maybe you could add another tackle in the spring but I
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feel like if you have Gula Evan Jenkins um leoski Spindler and pritchet you've
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got a pretty solid starting five yeah that's good and I feel like the addition of Spindler would probably be one of the
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last ones out of this you know transfer portal class a very successful very solid transfer portal Class A lot of
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needs are taken care of I know I know running backs but I feel like the staff
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is going to just see what they have on the roster and I do think there is Talent there so you know I feel like you
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know people make a big deal and this is I'm going to go on around here too and you can stop me feel free whenever but I
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I I I feel like people make a big deal like out of oh this guy had only had two
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carries this year and blah blah blah you can either run through the hole or you can't you either have the explosiveness or you don't it's very clear to see and
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I get experience like in terms of carries like okay Two Carries doesn't necessarily mean that he has a lot of
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experience true but I think in terms of a running back you know vision and raw talent over the amount of carries is
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more important than however many carries a running back actually has when talking about
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production yeah I agree I mean I think um you know there is a bit of a you know
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like you said there is a lack of production with Nebraska and you know behind him at Johnson and all that type of stuff but um but yeah just because a
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guy hasn't played doesn't mean that he can't play and and sometimes you know it's like that whole thing like oh you
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know you don't have relevant job experience well how do you get relevant job experience you actually get to do the job and you know um Nelson and um
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Quint IES haven't really gotten that chance I wish that they would give would have given Quint IES more chances in the pin straight bowl and he had that
13:46
touchdown and it was like well why did you not give him more carries but I mean so yeah I do think you know Pete nakos
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reported that Nebraska is going to Target a complimentary running back that's what he said but it's like for one thing okay who who are you going to
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Target I mean you're just assuming that there's going to be somebody that's going to fit I mean to me it would be nice to maybe get like you know a
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Gabbert like a big back type a short yards type but there's no there's nothing to say that Quint knes can't do
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that I I don't know exactly how big he is but um you know I just feel like yeah
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I I definitely agree that there's a chance for Nebraska to evaluate these guys and see what they have on the
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roster and you know if they look at that and they're like hey I think this guy's going to be more productive than the
14:27
portal like I don't think people need to freak out about that if they don't add a running back I think it's reasonable if they do but I it's also I think
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reasonable if they don't because they've also got booth and Parker who gives you four young guys and running back is a
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position where you know young players have been able to produce that's College the NFL yeah like whatever like you said
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either you can do it or you can't I mean it's really like yeah you know some guys just have it and whether it's recruiting
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ranking or not like some guys like when they have the football and people are chasing them they can get away and like
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it's a natural thing so um yeah Nebraska doesn't go after a running back this spring I think it's because they feel
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confident in who they have and I think that there is some of that right now and that's obvious why they didn't like pursue a running back in this uh in this
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winter transfer window and in today's day and age I almost want to play a freshman running back because if they
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don't get a chance to play they might be gone they might be gone so you know especially a guy like J Parker I know
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teams are kind of you know looking at his skill set and thinking wow like like
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you know this kid is really good and Connor boo is a Gatorade National player of the year so I mean these two are
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talented and um you know I think uh I think this year we'll get a chance to see him I know we talked about it a
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little bit on the last show but I would rather almost start freshman running backs and see what they can do then to
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go out and get a transferp running back just so we could continue to actually have the development process at the
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position on the roster instead of filling in you know the trans you know the position via the transfer portal
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and you know now that I'm even more thinking about it um if Nebraska was to get like a transfer portal running back you know what it might be for is um you
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know a guy like a ramir Johnson and for pass protection you know because that's one thing that younger running backs do
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sometimes struggle with is you know Blitz pickups and pass protection um so I I honestly don't that doesn't mean
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these guys can't do it but maybe that maybe there might be an issue there but yeah maybe somebody like that who could
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who could help in the passing game although EMT Johnson proved to be very effective there too but it's also like
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EMT Johnson can't play all the snaps I mean he just he will break down during the Big 10 season if they try to do that
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so you know um they just they have to have a plan to use him smartly and to make sure that he's he can be effective
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but um EMT Johnson definitely needs to get 15 to 20 touches and I remember when he was a sophomore um back in or no
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maybe was that his freshman year I can't remember but 2020 the 2023 season uh we were being like why isn't em and Johnson
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getting more carries because he was doing well with 15 12 carries you know
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so if he got 15 to 20 touches consistently I think he would be a very productive running back we also just
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wanted to see some sort of Life on offense I remember that season and I was like please we can't we can't throw an
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interception if we hand the ball off to Emma Johnson so let's let's do something here but um you know I I saw a graphic
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the other day that said that we had the number two transfer portal wide receiver class in the country so that's exciting
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too and I think with this offense you're going to see a lot of running the football but I don't think it's going to be as run you know dependent and I know
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we said that last year I I I remember sitting here at 7:35 in the morning my
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time saying this exact same thing but I think you know Dan hogerson has a better
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idea of what he wants to scheme he wants to air the ball out a little bit more and um I think having a competent
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offensive coordinator is going to be you know crucial in making sure this this thing runs correctly
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directly yeah for sure it's it's going to be um a lot I think he's just going to run a lot smoother with Dana hogerson
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and um you know from day one I think and it's get getting this whole offseason to work with riola and to work with these
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receivers um and getting a better offensive line too that's that's going to be a huge Factor um and I know
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Nebraska fans have been all over that you know that's like one thing with this fan base is they do understand what it means to be good in the trenches so and
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you do too as a former offensive lineman yeah I mean just look at the teams that win I mean the teams that win like if
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you want to make the playoff in college football you better have a damn good offensive line and Nebraska's just wasn't good enough last year Roco
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Spindler would help and and I think um you know he would make it so some other guys you know like a grant bricks and
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Grant bricks could still play his way into the starting lineup it's not like he can't but it could maybe allow him to
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to pull it to focus on tackle a little bit more I've said this a million times but Matt Ru said he was a tackle um so
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he was on the depth tarted guard last year so who knows where he going to end up but um at any rate so another thing
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happening this week obviously Senior Bowl uh we got the shrine bowl with u you know ner is at The Shrine Bowl Nash
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Hut maker is at The Shrine Bowl then Ty Robinson Tommy Hill and Thomas fedoni are at the Senior Bowl and I do have to
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say I think it's pretty cool that Matt rule you know made you know kind of trips down there to support all of his
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guys and man he what this dude seriously never sleeps because he has been on the recruiting Trail like crazy yeah I don't
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know he must be catnaps like 20- minute catnaps and yeah yeah I mean they you know every day you see you see him
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posting a picture somewhere and I get he's like going to these games and stuff but he's also you know making trips to
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see recruits he's been at Buford a bunch and so it's been impressive to see all the work that he's done and uh Nebraska
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is kind of having a big recruiting weekend you know set up this weekend and I I like where um where things are
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trending in the 2026 class so I mean they still have a lot of work to do but um a lot of nice work on the recruiting
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Trail and it is helpful to have some of these guys I think performing well and hopefully getting drafted uh Thomas
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fedon has been making some plays um n so what do you what do you think about do you think all five of these guys are going to get
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picked I don't know um I could see Tommy Hill getting picked because he already had you know he was already highly
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regarded before his injury so if if that can get sorted out I know planter fastis isn't something that heals overnight but
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if he can just stay healthy I think so I think I think um Nash could get picked I know he's
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been impressing Tony Pauline called him out the other day I think Ty could get picked um Thomas fenon I'm not so sure
20:38
because of his explosiveness and that's just due to injuries you know I I
20:44
thought the injury slowed him down but he made a nice catch the other day it was a catch over Hunter Waller of
20:50
formerly of Wisconsin so you never know um you never know I I I feel like some
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of these guys who get drafted and we could uh we could could really see um
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you know kind of this first class of the Matt rule era have success in the NFL
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because teams need defensive tackles you know teams especially now need good tight ends and so um I'm excited to kind
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of see where these guys end up and I especially hope the best for Hill because I feel like before he was
21:19
injured he was the best Prospect out of this group and now you know that kind of slowed him down a bit but uh he was even
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projected as a first round pick at one point um so I'm curious to see how he can kind of bounce back because I felt
21:31
so bad for him last year obviously I don't want injuries for anybody but Hill's stock was so high after the
21:37
Colorado game and the interception return for the touchdown and things were looking really great and then just to have the planer fesi just nagging him
21:44
you know kind of ruin the rest of his season so I'm excited either way though it's good to see a lot of these guys you
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know get get at least recognition on a national level and it's something that
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Nebraska hasn't had for a couple of years now yeah and I think um I do think that Ty
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Robinson um is going to be the first one picked um I think he's going to be a day two pick that's my prediction for Ty
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Robinson um and then I think Tommy's gonna go on day three I think Nash is
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gonna go on day three I don't know about Thomas fedon maybe round seven like you
22:18
know teams teams need tight ends in the NFL you know blocking special teams um
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maybe they'll I think it's really going to depend how he runs you know if he runs well at the combine and if he's
22:31
looking healthier in terms of that knee then I do think there's a chance he could get drafted in like the seventh
22:37
round the six seventh round um but I mean he looked good at the Senior Bowl but also you know those are one-on-one
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situations which can be a little bit different so we'll see what happens but having a good week at the Senior Bowl
22:50
and having a good week at the combine is definitely going to put him in a position to get drafted and that's that's all he can really do so it worked
22:57
for treul and cam Jurgens so uh cam Jurgens stock actually Rose a lot uh
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over the course of the um you know Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl and then
23:08
the combine so you know it can happen and um while we're on the subject of
23:13
bowl games this just popped into my head shout out to Dayton rayola for being invited to the 2026 Polynesian Bowl I
23:20
thought that was pretty exciting we're getting a lot of Representatives in these games now so it'll be exciting to watch him after a pretty solid season
23:27
last year for it's been fun to see um you know Nebraska kind of made that investment in
23:34
him and that commitment in him and you know it's paid off because you know he's maturing physically he's M I'm you know
23:41
I'm sure he's mentally maturing but he's I mean every time I see a picture of this dude he's bigger he's taller he
23:46
looks more like his brother and um you know he definitely is looking like a division you know like when when they
23:52
first offered him he still you know kind of had the baby fat look going on you know and now I mean every time I see him
23:57
he looks taller than that like more tall than that rule so um I'm excited for him
24:02
yeah this is that was an exciting um thing I think and I really like that Nebraska's got him in the fold in the
24:09
2026 class so he's going to be visiting this weekend along with some other guys and I think that that's a a big positive
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in playing for one of the best programs in the country so he's facing high level competition and you know with him and
24:21
Latif I feel pretty good about that quarterback position moving forward and I feel like it's been a
24:29
really good thing to see Nebraska representatives in the All-American Bowl the Polynesian Bowl even something you
24:36
know even though it's a little bit different to Shrine ball just seeing the Nebraska name get out there more nationally um you know thanks in large
24:43
part to Matt Rule and and his coaching staff is really good to see all right so now reluctantly let's
24:50
talk some Nebraska basketball to close out
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show can we not I mean yeah it's been tough um the last
25:01
game was really tough and so this is to me like tonight's game for this team against Illinois like this is the last
25:07
stand like this is this is kuster's last stand for Nebraska basketball so to speak because they still like if you
25:14
look at the ESPN projections and they're not the end all Beall but you know Joey brackets is usually pretty accurate
25:19
Nebraska's still um among the last eight teams out so they're still within
25:24
Striking Distance believe it or not even though they're two and seven as they do have some quality wins Illinois is uh
25:31
ranked high enough that I believe this would be a quad one win I'd have to double check the N rankings but they're ranked 18th in the AP poll um and you
25:41
know this yeah so they're ranked 10th in the net rankings so it would be a quad one Victory um and if they get this win
25:48
you know which obviously is like feels improbable but if they could find a way
25:53
it could still turn around the season and I know that seems crazy to say that like there's still a chance to save this thing but that's just the reality of um
26:01
college basketball and Nebraska being in the Big 10 like the schedule is so difficult if they could get on a run and
26:06
get somewhere close to 500 they might still be able to sneak in but they have to win today if they don't win today I
26:12
think they're done I think the season in terms of making the NCA tournament is over I love your optimism Chris I mean
26:18
that's why you're on the show so you can provide the optimism and I can just be the big raincloud on your parade here
26:24
but to borrow a phrase that the kids say this team is cooked I I would not be shocked at all if they lost Illinois and
26:31
you heard Fred hyberg I'm sure press conference the other day saying you know he tried to R the team and tell them
26:37
that they haven't fallen that the you know the sky hasn't fallen and they're not done yet but
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um nothing over this the course of this losing streak has led me to believe that
26:49
they can pull off tonight's win against Illinois now I'll be happy to Crow you know I I'm I'll I'll be happy to be
26:56
wrong but for me and you mentioned this a lot too is just their their defensive
27:02
rotations and how late they are and you know they they've really really struggled I I you know against the
27:08
three-point shot I saw a graphic and you know they they're giving up so many three-point attempts per game that any
27:15
competent team that sinks any of these shots you know is a loss for Nebraska
27:21
and I just don't feel hopeful about tonight's game I hope I'm wrong but it
27:27
feels like this team and you mentioned this too on the last show is running out of gas you look at guys like Gary and
27:33
Williams and they really look tired like they look tired and it's not where you
27:39
want to be at this point in the season and um yeah I just it's hard for me to
27:44
get excited about Nebraska basketball I'm looking forward to baseball which is happening in a couple weeks but but um
27:51
yeah I really do hope they win but it's going to be a challenge it really is
27:57
yeah I mean Illinois is a four-point favorite I mean at Nebraska's building so that isn't great I mean that tells
28:02
you something right there and then um they've got I don't know how to casparis jaus I'm not that's not how
28:10
you pronounce his name probably but he's a foreign player but he's been Dynamic
28:16
um averaging almost 16 points a game and that's the thing these guys you know they shoot a lot of Threes they shoot a
28:23
pretty good percentage um in conference play they have attempted more three-pointers than anybody um they
28:30
they're only making um 29% though so I mean they're actually so even even though they're first in the Big 10 in
28:35
attempts they're actually 17th um in percentage but they're
28:41
they're fourth in um three-point field goals per game which is a part of that has to do just with volume so it's
28:47
really interesting in that uh they're going to get a lot of shots and that's the thing with Nebraska they give up more catch and shoot three-pointers than
28:54
probably any team in the country it seems like and they did that last year sometimes that is part of your like philosophy like that partially like Penn
29:02
State does that but Penn State also forces more turnovers than you know anybody but Purdue so it's like I
29:08
understand you giving up some some uh you know catch and shoot threes and some open looks like if you're successful
29:14
with you know your pressure and you're forcing turnovers but Nebraska's not doing that they're not like they're not
29:20
pressing people they're just playing defense and doing it so badly that guys are just wide open so I don't know yeah
29:27
again I don't if they're going to fix that but it was like I mean at the start of the season that's what's so baffling
29:32
to me is that you know it seemed like defense was the identity of this team I mean going back to that UCLA game and
29:38
some of those games like defense was tournament over over the holidays uh I thought they played well too on
29:45
offensively so yeah and it's just you know falling apart so you look at I mean
29:50
they forced 10.8 turnovers per game which isn't horrible I mean it's middle of the pack but you know they're six
29:56
they're 16th in the Big 10 in blocks so you know all that talk about how they got this Rim protection and all that no
30:03
they're 12th and the Big 10 in steals like it's just they don't do anything well defensively they right I mean the
30:11
two-point percentage defense in big this is just in Big 10 games I'm not counting all their crap opponents from the
30:17
non-conference their two-point defense 55% field goal percentage that's 14th in the Big 10 like their overall field goal
30:24
percentage defense is 13th their three-point percentage defense is 18 they give up 38% I mean it's just
30:31
terrible they are the only thing that they're doing successfully is keeping teams off the free throw line but
30:37
they're getting wide open three-pointers so wi I'll just take this wide open three I
30:43
don't need to attack the basket you know it's so weird too because coming into the season we talked about the depth
30:49
that this team had now the depth seems razor thin and uh it's kind of alarming
30:56
it yeah I mean you know May didn't even Braxton May didn't even play and now neither point guard is starting it's
31:03
just like I who what lineup is Fred hyber gonna even use tonight that's my first thought is like he's changed it up
31:10
so much I thought I thought starting Sam hyberg was just weird I mean I understand like I get it being weird you
31:16
gotta do something I get I get Andrew Morgan but like I just felt like that Sam was that guy who comes off the I
31:23
don't know I mean I get start Sam hyberg you know you might be trouble I mean I
31:29
know he is a he that's the one thing is he is a more aggressive Defender I'll say you know I feel like that probably
31:36
had something to do with it but you know I don't know we we'll see it's but you
31:41
know it's like Fred hyberg said nobody's gonna feel sorry for this team you know they don't nobody in the big 10's gonna feel they'll beat your asses until
31:48
you're 2 and 18 so you guys need to wake up because like that's where I think I I
31:53
think Fred is relatively safe but if this team goes like three and 17 or 4 and 16 or something then I think you at
31:59
least have to consider it I mean you at least have to look at it at that point and I don't get like I I do not
32:06
understand how this team could go down this road like I understand lack of cohesiveness because of you know this being a transported team but this isn't
32:13
like you know a 2019 team where they were building and they were just trying to get their feet under them this is a
32:18
team with experience and yet they are struggling so badly it's like I used the
32:24
analogy the other day it's like when the monstar stole Sean Bradley and Michael Jordan's powers and now uh now they
32:31
can't play and now they forgot how to play basketball it's like that I mean I really don't get like how this could
32:36
happen I get like obviously poor rotations and things like that but on paper it just doesn't make a ton of
32:42
sense I think um like part of it is just the Big 10 is so freaking hard like
32:48
Minnesota is the worst team in the Big 10 and they're ranked 94th in the kenpom rankings so I mean it's just the thing
32:54
about it is there's just very little margin for errror you know know and so if you're if you have like if you have a
33:00
bad night against any team in the big I mean Minnesota's the worst team in the Big 10 and they beat Michigan who was undefeated at the time and that so that
33:06
right there shows you like even the worst even Minnesota which looks like absolute hot garbage you know they still
33:13
have Dawson Garcia they've got guys who can play so I feel like it's this league
33:18
is so competitive that there just are no gimmies and if you're not ready like you
33:23
know I mean Penn State who's like competing with us for one of the wor for like that 15th spot like they might have
33:30
you know if if it wasn't for uh Braden Smith to Purdue they might have the best point guard in the country right now in Ace Baldwin and they can barely like
33:36
they're they're you know is good yeah yeah and they're and they're almost in you know he's better than anybody
33:41
Nebraska has and they're still almost in the same boat so I feel like some of it does have to do with just they've made this Big 10 conference so difficult that
33:49
you know if you get I mean look at UCLA like if you get in a slump like even if you're a good team like you can take
33:54
some lumps and um I hope these guys can get off the mat because there's a good
34:00
enough players on this team to to beat people especially at home like so I don't know I I feel like they need
34:07
to find a way to win one road game at some point this season and uh you know win some home games as long as they do
34:13
that I think Fred's going to be fine if they get up to you know like six seven wins but if they're like they're like
34:18
three and 17 and they miss the Big 10 tournament I don't know I don't think he's going to get fired but I think Troy
34:23
Dann has to like at least consider it winning on the road has been a challenge even last year too you know like last
34:30
year it seemed like they had Road issues too so you know I don't know I mean I really thought this team was better than
34:36
they were and I thought again after the Diamond Head classic that this team had turned the corner and even like you said
34:42
after the win against UCA I thought this team had turned the corner but um you
34:47
know I just don't know where this team and this program is
34:53
headed because like you said if Fred loses out then he might have a tough decision to make and I and I and and I
34:59
understand people thinking that we're crazy and whatever and oh don't fire coaches blah blah
35:05
blah but the body of work outside of the last let's see say two seasons hasn't
35:11
been there and you know even last season was a trip to the NCA tournament that
35:17
resulted in a loss and you know had we not had Casey tominaga last season it
35:25
would have been a whole lot different and now without Casey um you're seeing kind of the effects of
35:30
that as well as the kind of transfer portal put together roster so I don't
35:35
know I mean I'm not like fire fire Fred hyberg right now but I'm I'm just seeing a lot
35:43
of the same trends that we saw last year I mean uh three years ago and less of
35:48
what we saw last year yeah I mean there at the end of the day what what killed this team was you
35:55
know those two home games they lost lost to uh to ruter and USC you just in this
36:02
in this league you know you can't win you can't lose home games like that I mean when you're they were I think a
36:07
nine-point favorite against ruter and you know like a five or six point favorite against USC like maybe you can
36:13
lose one of those games over the course of the season but you know it's just this league is so tough I mean it's hard
36:19
for anybody to win them I think Michigan has one road win in the Big 10 like it is tough you know because like I said
36:24
every like literally every road game outside of Minnesota in this conference is a quad one game like that's just
36:30
where it is you know because every Minnesota stuff like you said so yeah and they're not that they're like in the
36:36
they're 93rd so they're not that and that's just that's the Ken pal I'm not even they could be higher in the N
36:41
rankings so you know like that's the thing is like every road game you play as a quad one then when you get those
36:47
chances at home like you have to take advantage if Nebraska had beaten ruers in USC they'd be four and five in the Big 10 right now and they would be they
36:53
would be projected to make the NCA tournament so like for all the things that they not done like those were the
36:59
those were the two games that they really needed to win and they just didn't do it and so looking back at it
37:04
those are the ones that frustrated me the most and it was you know just bad and and that was bad defense like the
37:11
thing with ruter is it was just bad individual defense because that's what ruter does they they they have NBA level
37:18
players and they're just going to sit there and play one-on-one against you and Nebraska couldn't handle it and you know so I feel like that game the Iowa
37:25
game and that ruter game I feel like were the turning points of Thea game really frustrates me looking back on it now because I feel like that's when
37:32
things started to fall apart a little bit Yeah uhuh they had they haven't they haven't won since then and you know if
37:39
yeah if they win that game they probably find a way in some of those other games but yeah it's just it feels like now the
37:45
chemistry is gone um I don't know it's not I'm not saying that the guys are like fighting each other but just doesn't seem like they're yeah yeah they
37:52
don't seem like they're having fun playing basketball right now like you know Bryce William and like they they
37:58
don't look like they want to be out there and I'm not saying that they're not trying hard or whatever but like last year you know they looked like they
38:04
were having fun I mean even though like there's high pressure moments and stuff but they still like they they over these
38:09
last few games it seems like when I watch their body language you know it looks like somebody who's like clocking
38:15
in for their day at Walmart you know like they're they're going there they're trying to put in their best effort but they just they their hearts not in it
38:22
right now and I don't know if that's just like a defeated mentality or whatever but they need to get over it
38:27
and you know the only way out is through so they're either going to make it or they're not yeah and you know you look
38:34
at guys like Bryce Williams and Jan Gary I mean they do look tired because if you really think about it they've been not
38:41
carrying this team for the last two seasons but you know putting the team you know kind of on their back in those
38:47
key moments and then when you talk about maybe Gary taking on a bigger role offensively this season and Williams
38:54
kind of leading the charge in that way um you know it does add up it's but it's just they they look like a scared and
39:02
defeated team right now and that's not to say that they're not trying or that they're weak or whatever but you can tell that this is starting to all add up
39:08
for them it's like it's like watching you know the football team uh two or three years ago you could tell that you
39:14
know they're just not they're just kind of defeated they they know what's coming
39:20
and unfortunately it's uh a bad product on the court yep it is hopefully you know they
39:27
will turn it around tonight the women's team also plays at Purdue so you know they kind of have a chance to bounce
39:32
back after losing to Ohio State tonight and um the women are in a good spot to
39:37
make the really good yeah so um so there's still that and uh hopefully we
39:43
will get some positive news from Morocco Spindler uh soon I feel very confident that um he's going to be a Nebraska
39:50
commitment still at this probably about 10 minutes after we post this get the the get get the old Haze f uh update you
39:58
know with the with the graphic release but uh anyway that's how it works so um at any rate guys thanks for uh coming
40:05
along on this show um please hit the like button hit the Subscribe button um go into the comment section and as
40:10
always go Big Red go Big Red
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