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Recent moves show time is now for Nebraska football | Nebraska basketball trending up
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Feb 6, 2025
Nebraska football is positioned to win next season after landing the No. 1 transfer portal class in the Big Ten according to 247 Sports, a class bolstered by Rocco Spindler. The Huskers also hit a home run with special teams coach Mike Ekeler. Beyond that, Nebraska basketball is projected to make the NCAA tournament again. #huskers #gbr 1:20 Nebraska basketball back on track 8:49 Breaking down Rocco Spindler's commitment 20:19 Will Mike Ekeler fix special teams? 26:09 Addressing James Williams 29:25 Final analysis of transfer portal class
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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 this Janet Gillette and we're back here for
0:07
another episode of the podcast and we've had a lot of uh things happening since our last episode we've got Roco Spindler
0:13
joined the roster after a pretty wild recruitment um Nebraska basketball is back on the bubble and back on track to
0:19
make the NCA tournament um the Huskers finally have a new special teams coach so we're going to discuss all that and kind of take a um a 90 foot view a big
0:27
picture look at the transfer portal so um before we get into that hit like button hit the Subscribe button and
0:32
Danny how are you doing on this uh Wednesday morning I'm doing good and before we get started I would like to
0:39
address something I said that if Nebraska basketball on our last show I said if they beat Illinois I would be
0:45
happy to eat crow and so here I am making good on my promise and eating crow um not only did they beat Illinois
0:52
but they also had another impressive win against Oregon which we'll get into but
0:57
uh I would like to eat crow and say that I was wrong and I'm happy to be wrong and um this team continues to surprise
1:05
me this season good or bad so yeah it um it has been a little bit
1:11
of of a surprise you know they found um they kind of found their identity again you know over these past couple of games
1:17
so um we'll uh I guess we'll just start with that with Nebraska basketball because they do have a game tonight so
1:23
um against Washington and you know that Illinois game that was the start of something but beating Oregon and Oregon
1:29
had lost a couple Gam games in a row but you know getting back-to-back quad one victories um really has improved this
1:34
resume even though Nebraska is what just four and seven in the Big 10 right now they are projected to make the NCA
1:41
tournament according to Joe lardy of espn.com with his latest Bracketology as Nebraska's the last team in the
1:47
tournament so that's kind of where they're at right now um but you look at it they've got some really impressive
1:52
wins they beat organ at Oregon they won at kraton um beat Illinois um Oregon State you know they beat Indiana at home
1:59
so they've got a nice resume and they're going to have a chance to get some more quality wins tonight I don't think it's going to be
2:05
one of those um you know Washington they're I think they're close to being in the top 100 because the Big 10 is so
2:11
loaded but they're 2 and eight in the conference 11 and 10 overall um Nebraska
2:16
is a slight favorite one and a half Point favorite it's not going to be easy it's a late tip off um what is it 9:30
2:22
central time I believe I believe so yeah yeah 9:30 Central Time 7:30 Pacific time
2:28
so I mean it's not crazy late for Washington but that's part of you know playing on these trips they didn't have to really play or deal with that on
2:35
Sunday against Oregon it was you know not a super late game but this definitely is going to be a a challenge
2:42
I think for this coaching staff just to have this team ready for you know a game time that is kind of well outside their
2:47
purview I think they'll be ready I think they'll be ready and uh they showed that they that they can handle adversity and
2:56
you know coming into Thursday's game against Illinois I thought thought they were going to get blown out and I thought they were going to you know fail
3:03
miserably but they showed resolve on Thursday and then Sunday um you know it
3:09
was the uh Bryce Williams Show and he had 28 points 10 of 18 shooting to go
3:15
along with seven rebounds and six assists and he also won the Big 10 player of the week award on Monday
3:22
becoming the second Husker to Win It multiple times uh shaven shields uh did
3:28
it last time in 2013 2014 so you know I think when you look at you know whose
3:34
stock has improved the most this season Bryce Williams coming back turned out to be a great decision for all involved and
3:40
um you know he's really been kind of that offensive stabilizer he's been that veteran presence on a team that's kind
3:46
of jelling together due to being you know um what's the word formed I guess from the transfer portal and um yeah
3:53
know Bryce Williams continues to play at a high level and um we've talked about NBA prospects if he continues to play
4:00
like this then I could see him you know making an impact in the league yeah I mean 27 and a half points
4:07
over the last two games he actually was the AP National player of the week um for college basketball um Jawan Gary I
4:13
thought had a huge game too I think he had 20 some points against Oregon I really thought he was a tone Setter I
4:19
know that um Bryce scored more points but I really thought that you know Jaan Gary with his with how active he was on
4:25
defense um you know just the way that he attacked the basket I mean Nebraska shot like 74% from twoo on two-point attempts
4:32
against a pretty good against an Oregon team that has the leading shot Blocker in the Big 10 and they just neutralized
4:38
him and they just wanted it more I mean they just they outrebounded Oregon I mean they just it seemed like they got
4:44
tough again and I'm not sure what happened during that stretch where they um they just lost their Edge but it it
4:50
really felt like you know not like they've changed a lot with this defensive scheme and they've given up you know over the last two games they've
4:55
given up plenty of three-pointer Point attempts but they've held Oregon and Illinois under 30% so um it'll be
5:02
interesting to see if that carries over tonight because as Fred hyberg said after the win against Oregon you know he he said I told the guys this win you
5:09
know isn't going to matter if we don't get another win on Wednesday night and he's he's totally correct about that Nebraska's got to follow this up and get
5:14
another win especially um you know playing a Washington team that's not great and but you know playing it
5:20
anybody in the Big 10 at home is tough to be like just ask Michigan who lost to Minnesota you know so um and Oregon lost
5:27
to Minnesota too so like looking at this Washington team um you know they've got
5:32
willhelm brighten Bach the former Husker um he should be in the starting lineup um the guy you need to know about his
5:38
name is great A soore um and he played at Montana State he followed Danny sprinkle to Utah State and was the
5:44
Mountain West player of the year last year I think or you know an allconference player um he's their
5:50
leading scorer he's their leading rebounder he's their leading assister um he's their leader in steel so he's the
5:55
guy that kind of makes this train go 68 250 um so we'll see how that you know
6:00
matches up you know how Nebraska's able to match up with him but um you know as long as they win this game looking down
6:06
the stretch there's not there's not a lot of easy games there's a lot of quad one opportunities but there's not I
6:12
don't think um you know you don't have to play I like Purdue you know or I don't believe they play Michigan State I
6:17
could be wrong on that they probably do play Michigan State now that I'm thinking about it but I mean it's it's a manageable schedule and I think there's
6:23
a chance for them to get nine or 10 big 10 wins and if they can do that going into the tournament I think they're going to be you know pretty good spot to
6:30
make the NCA tournament two things I've noticed during the last two games they've helped a little bit less in
6:37
terms of double team defense so that you know they've kind of gone back to manto man and I think that's helped in terms of not getting back um in terms of
6:45
rotations and then also Juan Gary's going to the paint a little bit more and
6:50
creating contact instead of just you know settling for mid-range jumpers and that's when he's at his best he gets to
6:55
the line he shoots those mid-range jumpers he creates Conta and um so you know I do think they
7:02
changed their defensive scheme a little bit in the sense that you know at times I thought they overh helped uh and on
7:09
Thursday against Illinois um and especially I know Sunday against Oregon they kind of focused more on man-to-man
7:16
assignments rather than you know trying to play Help defense and I think that worked just if at the very least to
7:23
affect um the shots that were being taken so I did notice that a little bit in terms of strategy but um whatever
7:29
ever they're doing defensively it's not perfect but it's much better than what it was and I'd say keep it
7:35
rolling yeah for sure it's um I just think it's the intensity you know they're closing out harder they're not
7:40
getting beat to the bucket as more they're just they're just playing harder and so hopefully that can continue
7:46
tonight um again the tip off um 9:30 Central Time Big 10 Network so it's
7:51
going to be a late one Nebraska's a one and a half Point favorite but if they uh can get you know two games from this
7:57
West Coast road trip that would be huge for good thing basketball is now four quarters with a 10:30 tip off because
8:03
man that would uh man that would be late and then uh one one more thing I just wanted to say they always seem to uh
8:10
play their best basketball around this time of year late January early February they've turned it on uh the last two
8:16
years at this time so maybe it's more of that hyberg late season magic if so I'm
8:22
all for it for sure well I also think yeah we should um never like you know
8:28
these these past couple games I think they show again like why Fred hyberg is such a valuable asset to this program
8:33
and but there's going to be times where you know they look not great and there may be down Seasons but Fred hyberg is
8:39
one of the best coaches in the Big 10 and Nebraska's lucky to have him so it almost seems like we should play a rank team every single game because we seem
8:45
to get up for those games so so all right let's flip over to um Morocco Spindler and this was you know happened
8:52
on Sunday um so it's been a couple of days we want to really break it down um it looked like Virginia was going to get
8:57
him and then Nebraska swooped in late um you know Matt rule the 1890 this definitely was they probably had to pay
9:03
over a million dollars to get his commitment but um one of the top offensive guards in the portal um played
9:09
a ton of snaps last year was graded really well in pass blocking and run blocking 23 starts um so Roco Spindler
9:16
what does he bring to the offensive line what does this mean for the Huskers next season he brings experience he brings experience and he brings championship
9:23
and winning pedigree and I think that's important if you want to continue to build that winning culture um he br
9:29
stability he also allows you to kind of you know kind of have that depth on the
9:37
offensive line although let's not make a mistake here he's not a depth piece he is very very much a starter but now he
9:44
gives you that flexibility to kind of you know move a guy around or see who you have on the line and uh he is a
9:51
tremendous get uh for what has been a fantastic transfer portal class and you
9:58
know we we kept saying both uh that we need one more lineman we need one more guy we would love another lineman and we
10:05
got him in rocco Spindler and I like that uh we have two linemen one more
10:12
established in Spindler and then one with a lot of potential and Elijah pritchet so I like kind of that Duality
10:18
there so I love Spindler I love his experience I love what he brings to the table um Notre Dame always seems to turn
10:25
out good offensive lineman so I like that as well and this was a fantastic get for Nebraska and you know people are
10:33
always concerned about the money and they say oh it's not your money to be worried about but hey just just throw
10:38
the bag at him and they did and I think um you know again I think this is a case
10:44
of Matt R shifting his strategy from just High School recruiting to focusing a lot on the transfer portal and
10:50
learning that if you don't play the nil game you're going to get left behind and so it was good for Nebraska to be able
10:56
to seal the deal here definitely I didn't this was definitely um a big Recruitment and I
11:02
know I kind of mentioned why but um it just really solidifies the offensive line because you can you know allow
11:09
Justin Evans now to play center which I think has been the plan all along I like him yeah Matt R has said that that's his
11:16
his best position and so I really don't see anybody unseating him I know he mentioned some other guys there but I
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think he's going to win that job um I think Rocco's going to be the Right Guard I think they should put him in a Right Guard you know that's his best
11:28
position he's a big powerful dude and then um I think you let the other guys you know compete at the left guard spot
11:35
whether that's Henry lowski um you know I know you're not going to like this but Turner corkran could be in the mix you
11:40
know if he's healthy because I mean look Henry latas is coming off a season offseason surgery too so I mean he's not
11:47
healthy so I mean whether it's l i mean to be honest I mean if Turner corran's healthy I think he's the best man for
11:53
that job like like no doubt about it um you know he's been he started 34 games
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in his career career lovi started 11 last year but I think if he can find a way to get healthy like I think he could
12:04
win that starting job I have no question about it it's just whether he can you know stay healthy but that's going to be
12:09
a question for lowski too and then um you know maybe grant grant bricks or or Gibson pile can work their way you know
12:15
into the mix but um I think that gives you a lot a lot more depth I'm hoping that maybe Grant bricks can play tackle
12:22
because this team needs another tackle like there's not enough depth on this offensive line right now because it's
12:27
like if okay so we Gula and pritchet but if one of those guys goes down who's playing you know I mean there's there's
12:33
not really a reliable answer there and I'm I don't know if it would if it would
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be Grant bricks or you know somebody else but they still need to to try to find a tackle in the spring portal um
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and I know that's going to be tough and so you might be in a situation where maybe you're you're hoping that uh Teddy broska can be healthy and he can be your
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swing tackle so I mean I think there's a reason those guys are still on the
12:57
roster and if they're healthy they may be on the 1005 man roster for for the 2025 season I don't hate proska but I
13:05
just feel like that whole entire collection of sentences you just said we've said that for what four years now
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so I don't know I mean if he's healthy I want him on the roster but I I just he
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can't be counted on just solely due to his health I think so we'll
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see yeah I mean I mean I I don't get disagree with you at all I just think Nebraska's in that situation where you
13:29
know if those guys are healthy that might be the best option but you know lowski did play quite a bit last year
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and I do think that Gibson pile or um you know Grant bricks could start there but I don't know to see the younger guys
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start there honestly I don't know yeah it just depends if they're you know I
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think you just compete it out and you let the the best guy win if it's one of those guys then great if not you know
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but yeah it would be ideal if like a Gibson pile could win that job or um I'm still interested to see what they're
13:59
going to do with Grant bricks if he's going to be a guard or if he's going to be a tackle because you know Matt rule last year before the season said he was
14:05
a tackle but then when it got to be you know releasing the depth chart they had him at guards so I've said both I think
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it could be a great guard I think I don't I I wonder about him being a tackle I'm just not sure if he's you
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know long enough to do it but I haven't seen him really play a whole lot so I can't say for sure um One Way or Another
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but that's that's one thing that I'm watching because I think that's going to you know really give us a clue of where
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the starting five is going to end up I agree and we're not going to be able to see you know a hypothetical starting
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five because there's no spring game there's going to be no spring game uh this year and I know a lot of fans are
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upset about that and um I know that it's a chance for fans to
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see uh a a Huskers type game atmosphere at at an affordable price so I
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understand why they're upset I mean I was kind of disappointed just because I like to see the team and stuff but m r said Saturday uh he wasn't planning on
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on um having a spring game so he said to protect the roster so that was
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interesting to me because I think that's a trend we're going to see throughout college football and you know I do
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Wonder does that allow these these players who may not make the roster to get opportunities and one less chance to
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show what they can do but at the same time I kind of do want to protect that roster a little bit because um you know
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I I I do think that the dollar is King and any chance you can to kind of stash
15:35
away players you know it it's tough because it may not be for their benefit but it's for the benefit of the program
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it's a it's a fine line you know yeah I mean I yeah I hear what Matt ruell said I wish he honestly I wish he wouldn't
15:48
have said that I just I didn't like the way that it came off and I mean it's it's the reality of things I mean I I
15:56
agree in the sense but I think that he's I also kind of think he's wrong like I don't think that you know teams know who
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your players are I don't think that like there's going to be a spring game and they're going to suddenly turn this on and be like oh this guy was good we're
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gonna tamper with him now like I think there's already players on Nebraska's roster who they're targeting so I mean I
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get what he's saying but I I just think he's overblowing things which he does tend to do sometimes I mean like he just
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he gets a little dramatic about things and so I mean if you want to say it's because of injury or it's just you don't
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have very many I think it's more due to not having as many players on the roster and maybe some injuries but like I
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really don't think you're protecting the roster not having a spring game that's just my honest opinion I mean I I do
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think you are to some degree just because you know for some of the for some of the guys that maybe get a chance
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like seconde players who don't necessarily have tape that you can see I I do think in you know in that respect
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um you are protecting it a little bit I am like I said I am bom Dev no spring game but at the same time I totally get
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it um you know injur were a big part of the spring game last year blly Hill and
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Demetrius Bell so I get that as well and um well we'll have to see if they have
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if they have some sort of like fan practice or something in August or whatever but um I was looking forward to
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seeing this roster uh roster kind of shake out but we'll just have to wait till till um August yeah and I to be
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honest you know that was a huge recruiting weekend and think the fans and all that was a big selling point so
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to be honest like I I feel like you're losing I think that's I think it's a negative on the recruiting aspect of it
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so on a net scale I think it's a negative for Nebraska I think they're losing something by getting rid of the
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spring game recruiting wise and I don't think they're protecting their roster just to be honest so um you know I think
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it's a mistake but I mean I understand it but I do think that it is going to hurt the program a little
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bit I mean at the end of the day they're going to be able to recruit and
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you know we've we've already managed to get you know talented players coming in I think people and recruits are seeing
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what Nebraska can do on the field um so and I think honestly this might give
18:11
Matt Ru a little bit more time to uh recruit on the road potentially so you
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know I I do understand that aspect of it but I think by and large uh Nebraska will still be strong in recruiting my
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only thing is that a lot of these with the way these recruits work now you know they're not going to games really I mean
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they decisions they're making decisions before games some of these guys you know especially with the way Nebraska's recruited some where they like their
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first time on campus was just this past weekend so like I don't just I think it's I don't think it's that big of a
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deal and maybe they will maybe they'll have fans in the stands which will essentially serve the same thing so you
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know not having it on TV isn't isn't that big of a deal but if they have something in the stadium you know with players and the fan support because I do
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think the fan support is a big set Point um for this program so I think it is a pretty amazing thing to see how many fans come out for like the spring game
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and stuff so they have some type of event you know for fans which I do think they they've
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said that they will it's just not going to be you know on TV so maybe it won't be that big of a deal but I don't know
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it's just I I don't think it's you know it's whatever whatever they want to do I don't think it's going to be that big of
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a deal either way so well I think it it puts more emphasis on these Junior days like the one we had last weekend um you
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know I do think it gives us a chance to see uh like these Junior days give us a chance to see some of the top you know
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juniors in the country we had a lot of good Junior Day visitors this past weekend so Jordan Campbell is a guy that's stuck out to me the linebacker
19:40
from uh Northwestern so um Nebraska is getting a lot of quality talent and um
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you know they are they they made the top seven I believe it was last night for um
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fourstar tight end Lincoln Watkins so I mean there is movement there we'll see we'll see what happens with Watkins but
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uh big kid big- time playmaker Nebraska had him for an uh
20:08
inhome visit at the end of January so to have to have the Huskers in his top
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seven was certainly encouraging um alrighty let's shift over to the other big news that happened um
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this weekend which was the hiring of Mike Eckler um from Tennessee I guess
20:26
that happened on Monday excuse me and so you know we this was a guy that was mentioned um as soon as you know Ed
20:32
Foley was fired he was mentioned by some pretty prominent Nebraska media members but it was reported that he was going to stay with Tennessee so I'm not sure
20:39
exactly what happened but I mean judging by Matt R's press conference last week you know he did didn't sound like they
20:44
were close to making a hire so I don't know if they you know came back to Eckler and made a late push you know I'm
20:49
not really sure how they got it done but what's the impact of you know hiring Mike Eckler away from uh Tennessee will
20:55
he finally fix the Nebraska special teams well I feel like he will because that's
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that's sort of his calling card right you know his calling card was you know
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returning and um you know Tennessee is ranked either first or second in pun return average in the three seasons that
21:13
he was there um you know you know Nebraska I I counted some numbers yes uh
21:20
the the other day excuse me they had 23 kick return yards on the season and 73 punt return yards so um you know Mike ER
21:29
will have players returning kickoffs and I know that drove a lot of people crazy drove me crazy uh that they couldn't see
21:35
return kickoffs and so you know he um in addition to his previous work with
21:40
Nebraska he's also made stops at Indiana USC Georgia in North Carolina so he has
21:47
a well- versed coaching background I don't think he will be in a in a recruiting role but he'll certainly
21:53
Elevate the Special Teams unit um especially when you look at some of the
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T that we could have a kick or punt returner I think it's a good match for
22:03
program and Coach yeah it's you know he's from Nebraska obviously you know coached you
22:09
know in Nebraska before um it's interesting because Matt Ru said this wasn't going to be a recruiting position
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but Mike Eckler is known as a pretty strong recruiter so we'll see if that if he sticks with that or not it's just I
22:20
think it means that you know it's not going to be a position that's emphasized a lot on the recruiting Trail I mean Ed I took it yeah Ed Foley did recruit I
22:27
mean it's not like he didn't recruit but he wasn't like the primary recruiter for a lot of guys I guess the but at any
22:33
rate I mean one thing that stands out to me with Mike Eckler and Nebraska last year um and I believe this I read this
22:39
number from Steve sipples um and I haven't double checked it and hopefully I'm correct but I think it was Nebraska
22:45
had 10 kicks blocked last year I think you're correct with that number because I double checked on that as well you're
22:50
correct yeah and that's insane and in Mike Eckler's I think Four Seasons with Tennessee um they had one kick blocked
22:57
one and and his team's blocked eight kicks so it would be nice to see that Trend you know be reversed where
23:04
Nebraska's the one blocking like they used to I mean I remember in in the pl year they used to get some blocks and they used to be good on special teams
23:11
and you know like good teams are good on special teams like you look at almost every single every successful team like
23:17
you'll see a team that for the most part can execute in the kicking game and that's just you know they needed to get
23:22
a coach like this and I mean there was we talked about some other guys and threw some names out there but I'm glad
23:28
that they got a proven guy who loves Nebraska who's been with this program and you know you get a coach from who
23:35
also coached outside linebackers on a team that made the college football playoffs so you know that tells you something I think a lot of these you
23:41
know like with Roco Spindler Mike Eckler I think that they see how close Nebraska is and I think that's part of the reason
23:47
why Nebraska has made a push for these guys you know because they're I mean you look at last season and I know that they
23:54
won seven games but they had the national champions on the ropes on in in their Stadium they should have beat Iowa
24:00
you know if we don't piss that game away if Isaiah n and Raya don't drop the ball and uh they should have beat Illinois so
24:06
I mean if they win those three games they probably make the college football playoff I mean literally three possessions away from being in the
24:13
conversation to make the playoff and that was last season so like Nebraska is very close to making this happen and so
24:19
I applaud these moves I think it's a great time you got the quarterback if you're not going to go all in right now with Dylan Rola when are you going to do
24:26
it according to James Williams I mean Nebraska may be so far away that they'll never be able to do it because they
24:32
don't have enough defensive talent and uh but anyway we can get to that in a second but you know I think you're right with Roco Spindler Mike Eckler I mean
24:39
these are College football guys coach player they know what it takes to win they saw they saw what it takes to win
24:46
and for me you know they're ponying up the money and that was big to me because
24:51
you know I I I think that's a reversal of you know what Matt Ru has done in
24:56
Prior years but he sees what it takes to win and now he's changing his strategy kind of like Fred
25:03
hyber did with the transfer portal in basketball and uh he's he's adapting and
25:09
I think that's important and Mike eair fantastic hire I was very happy with it
25:14
I know fans are getting ansy we were getting ansy too about a special teams coach but alas we have
25:20
one yeah and um it's I don't think it's wrong to say that this is a a home run
25:25
higher I think that this is an absolutely um a home run hire I I said this when I wrote about it like that
25:32
term is overused you know home run hire but this is actually a home run hire like that's not you know hyper Bowl in
25:37
any way like this is a um hyperbole this is a home run higher and um he's gonna
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he's gonna fix special teams like I I have no doubt about it um so yeah let's
25:48
we can we can talk about James Williams comments which were kind of weird um he mentioned basically you know he said
25:54
that Tony white would be able to call different defenses because Florida state has more defensive back Talent or more
26:00
linebacker Talent or whatever which you know is a weird which is a weird thing to say I think for a former walkon who
26:06
was given his opportunity you know by Nebraska but but what do you think about you seem pretty fired up about these James Williams comments so I'll let you
26:13
have yeah because he's oh Tony white has the ability to adapt no he doesn't it's why we lost to Ill Illinois UCLA Iowa
26:22
like he didn't adapt at all he doesn't have multiple schemes and I don't think it was Matt ru's fault you know thatat
26:28
rule brought in Phil snow because Tony white wasn't getting the job done he ran
26:33
the same damn 335 defense the first two seasons and teams figured it out so miss
26:38
me with that adaptive scheme BS I'm sorry it's just crazy like to just to
26:44
say that just to say that Nebraska had Le you know Florida state had more
26:50
Talent on defense and Nebraska had less I mean don't bite the hand that feeds you if Nebraska had more more Talent on
26:57
defense defense you wouldn't be playing so what so what is it James I mean what is it and I mean it's Florida State went
27:04
two and 10 last year they do recruit pretty well I mean I get what I get what he's trying to say I guess but you know
27:10
but not not it just wasn't a good look and I just don't really that ability of Tony white cracked me up I mean yeah
27:17
that stuck out to me the most like he clearly didn't adapt and teams figured it out like on a more serious note like
27:22
Illinois figured it out UCLA figured it out uh I'm trying to think of there other ones uh Iowa figured it out and um
27:31
yeah so Tony white unless he you know unless he kind of shifts what he does
27:37
completely he doesn't adapt bring Phil snow if if you know you
27:42
think your defense is good and it's it's interesting um when rule was talking
27:49
about like you know deson Mulla and some of these guys um you know he talked about them using that they weren't going
27:56
to play the same 335 that they were going to do you know three and fourman looks and I think that that's I think
28:01
we're going to see a lot more fourman fourman fronts this year and that's just you know teams three four that's the
28:08
thing is like you see a lot of three teams that are three four teams but you rarely see any team that's like a three
28:14
four when it becomes nickel or dime situations so you know and Nebraska sometimes was trying to do that and um
28:20
you know which is fine but I think I I really I think that they're going to upgrade with I think they did upgrade
28:26
with John Butler so that's my final point on that part of it and I feel like they're gonna and and I feel like
28:31
they've upgraded with Personnel too I mean I'm excited for Mulla I'm excited for you know the younger guys like
28:37
Shavers and mgee and I'm excited for the secondary um I think we made some big
28:42
upgrades in the secondary and that's how I knock to the previous players that were there because I feel like Tommy
28:47
Hill was a fantastic player the injury bug unfortunately bit him but um I feel like we had a lot of depth in The Corner
28:54
Room a lot of depth in the linebacker room defensive line is a position I excited to see so I mean I don't know
29:01
those comments were just crazy to me I mean maybe he didn't mean for them to come off like that but um again the
29:07
adaptability of Tony white was absolutely crazy to me that was a that was a very bold statement you want to
29:13
talk about hot takes that was a scorching one yeah I wonder if some of that came
29:19
from Tony white himself if he's been uh you know talking down the Huskers a bit it just seems like seems like I'm not
29:25
sure James Williams comes up with that himself you know what I mean but anyway no I mean he and he doesn't strike me as
29:30
a guy that would say something like that so I wonder if yeah if or maybe even T
29:36
night had something to do with that but anyway I mean I don't know um but you know you were I did get you know I want
29:42
to take a final look now at this transfer portal class which there's different rankings but according to 247
29:48
Sports this the number one class in the transfer portal of the Big 10 so I'm just to put that connotation on it but
29:55
looking at it you know some of the guys that they lost I mean on the defense defensive line lost what James Williams
30:00
um you know Jamari Butler obviously Nash and TI to the NFL but you add um Williams Noy who I think is definitely a
30:08
guy that's going to step in start right away Jaylen George a guy that not a lot of people are talking about but I think it's going to be a fine replacement for
30:14
Jamari Butler and then you know like you look talk about losing James Williams well they're gonna play deson McCulla as
30:19
an edge rusher so you know yeah they've they've got multiple pass rushers there Willis mcge is going to come in and be a
30:26
pass rusher this year Dawson Merritt could be a pass rusher um you add Marcus Watson Trent at linebacker um to go
30:32
along with Christian Jones Merritt um gosh will did they get uh was it Javin
30:39
Wright that came back yeah they did yep yes Javin Wright I mean like they are freaking loaded at linebacker like it's
30:45
you know Mah sh I didn't even mention Mah and Shavers like the fact that I'm talking about them being loaded at line
30:50
I totally forgot about right so there you go before getting to before getting to maybe their two most promising
30:56
players so I mean like you add Jones and Dawson Merritt M he Shavers then you got
31:02
Watson Trant and Javin Wright that's a loaded linebacking core Plus Jason McCulla who can play linebacker too just
31:08
sounds like he's going to play more Edge so I'm very excited about you know the front seven Riley man papo's gonna have
31:14
to have a big season like there's no doubt about that he's gonna have to really step up and um I wouldn't mind
31:20
them getting a defensive tackle but just doesn't seem like that's really in the cards and you know I like also what
31:26
they've done in the secondary um I wish that I wish that Groves kibu would have stuck around I'm not sure
31:31
what happened there it sound like he showed up and everybody realized it wasn't a great fit you know so I'm not
31:37
sure what's I don't know what happened there it was really quick too yeah it was like he like he enrolled at the school and was like no dog I'm out of I
31:43
got to get back to Arizona and they were like well we don't have anybody to replace you so come on back at any rate
31:49
I do think Andrew Marshall is going to be a stud who is going to help on special teams and then jir Khan is
31:54
another veteran type guy um you know they got ble Hill back um he'll be you
32:00
know healthy um say w yeah I think I think Wright and Marshall are going to be your starters and then I like these
32:07
young guys too I mean Donovan Jones played pretty well in that Boston College game and I think Amari Sanders
32:12
Larry Tarver they just they have a lot of depth there and I think it's you know you've got harzog Buford at safety um
32:19
deshun Singleton back so I mean really there's not like yes they could use a
32:24
Nash Hut maker 330lb defensive tackle type but outside of that they really
32:30
don't have a glaring need on this defense and if they play more fourman fronts they're not going to need that player as much anyway right and you know
32:36
I also like you know some of the less Todd do players I'll just say for
32:41
example Mississippi State transf for Gabe Moore I know he doesn't have a lot of St stats and uh I know he red shirted
32:50
um you know during his time with the Bulldogs but you know he does have
32:55
potential 6'4 250 pounds defensive lineman so I'm curious to see what they
33:00
can get out of him I really am because I think he could be a special player it's all about opportunities and um you know
33:07
I think Moore is a guy that I'm definitely kind of he's he's not one of my exactor transferp porter players but
33:15
I think you know if Nebraska can develop him correctly under uh Terry Braden who
33:20
is currently at the Super Bowl I think uh that could be that could be something
33:25
special yeah I mean and Mor's uh former Edge rusher I think he's now like 64 like 290 or something so I mean this is
33:33
a guy who's going to be able to give you some snaps inside and um he last year was expected to be you know factoring on
33:40
the two deep you know Mississippi State and I think he got an injury early in the season and then I'm not sure exactly
33:45
why he didn't play or whatever he sh he shut himself down early in the year and then ended up transferring so um you
33:51
know he does have I think a lot of upside and um you know just this was a really I said it before but this is is a
33:58
really solid class I mean pritchet you know to add two offensive t two offensive linemen that started you know
34:04
double digit games for Notre Dame and Alabama and like I get that pritchet didn't grade out as well as spinler and
34:11
he's got some work to do but I mean Donovan rayola did pretty well I think in the development of Bryce benhardt and
34:18
there's a lot more to work with in h Elijah pritchet I mean the dude was a festar for a reason he's got everything
34:23
that you could possibly want you know in that roll in that clay to mold and so it'll be interesting to see what
34:28
Nebraska can can get out of him but I feel like they've got at least I mean if
34:33
you go start you know say lovsky ends up being your starter or corkran which whichever one of those guys like you're
34:38
starting somebody like your bare minimum starter your worst starter is an 11 game career starter for Nebraska like that's
34:44
your worst offensive lineman and if he's not starting then you've got like a 34 game starter in Turner corkran and you
34:50
know and then if not and if those guys don't start it's because some young talented guys beat them out and if you beat out guys that have started to
34:57
combin 45 career games then you know what you probably deserve that job so I feel like Nebraska's offensive line
35:02
compared to last year's in a way better spot I agree and you take a look at some of the younger Talent um at the wide
35:09
receiver position just from the transfer Port Harley Gilmore Isaiah Hunter I mean hunter you know was impactful for
35:17
California last year Gilmore you know he he is explosive and he can show flashes
35:23
of being a playmaker and when you combine that with the young talent and M
35:28
and Mills and then the talent already here and Barney you know that's a really really solid wide receiver group too
35:35
yeah and we've talked about it I mean how many times have we talked about you know have you said that gota got to help your quarterback you have to help your
35:41
quarterback well you get him some wide receivers you get them some offensive line help that's how you help your quarterback you get a dude like Roco
35:48
Spindler who didn't allow I don't think a sack last year that's how you help your quarterback you know what I mean and and so I feel like they did that so
35:56
I do think that they're probably going to try had to looked maybe at a running back or maybe a tackle a defensive
36:01
tackle or offensive tackle in the spring portal but for the most part this roster is set I mean not set because they're 22
36:08
guys over the limit so some guys are going to have to get off this team before the season starts but I like
36:14
where they're at man I really like where this team is at and uh I know everybody's sick of you know Nebraska
36:19
offseason Champs and all that stuff and it feels like that again but I really think that this time is different it
36:26
does feel like that again but at the the same time we're coming off a bull victory yeah and forward progress not
36:32
like a 4 and8 five- seven season again so it does feel quarterback around yeah
36:37
and a quarterback who you know I think I was looking at pictures of him the other day because uh uh he was with Phil
36:43
Simpson down in Florida and he's he's lost a little bit of weight so I think some of that baby fat that so many
36:49
Huskers fans grilled him for I think a lot of that is going to be gone as well yeah and that's who cares man he can
36:56
throw the ball I mean let's not let's not Luca dones the situation oh what a bad trade that was I don't know uh I
37:03
mean I don't think Dallas won that one at all but that's just me yeah I don't know we'll see it's it's really it's a
37:09
big bet though because like it is I mean I don't know they it's really interesting because if you listen to
37:15
Brian wior talk about it you know and he talks about how they didn't want to pay him the 330 million it makes it I can
37:20
understand it a little bit more but to me yeah you don't ever if you're giving up the best player in a trade then I
37:27
think he lost the trade so that's but Luca's gota Luca's gota you know deliver
37:32
on that but the the Mavericks also gave him a pretty big motivational tool of like we we think you're literally not
37:38
good enough and we we didn't even get that much for you so I don't know weird trade Mavericks are starting to refund
37:43
season tickets I just saw this the other day from a from a yeah reliable reporter tickets yeah did you see they
37:50
had like a mock baral like a like yeah anyway they know they messed up the Mavericks know that that was a bad trade
37:58
yeah but that's the thing the owners don't they is Mark cin doesn't own the I mean he's a minority owner anymore but he doesn't have a majority share and the
38:04
new the new owners just want to build a casino and Tech they I don't think they care if the team is good or bad they just want to build a casino and that's
38:11
so that's why ownership and professional sports like really does matter you know because some owners want to win and like
38:18
some owners want to win and make money like nobody doesn't want to make money but there's some owners that actually prioritize winning and they have theyve
38:25
like realized if you win you're going to make money anyways and then some owners just look at it as like a tax write off and they they don't care and those are
38:31
the franches the Boston Red Sox yeah yeah I mean for real like if the Patriots if Bob Craft had never bought
38:38
the Patriots like they probably wouldn't have ever won a Super Bowl like that's just 100% fact in my opinion well we'll
38:44
see what this new era of Bob Craft brings because I don't like it so far but the Super Bowl winning Bob Craft who
38:49
uh you know kept things together was good but uh we'll see we'll see uh sorry we've gone on a tangent
38:56
guys we're at the end of the episode so but uh I had I was watching the the two bills the 30 for30 that one's really
39:01
good so anyway but yeah it's just in terms of Nebraska I just I get this feeling that they are close and I know
39:08
I've said that a million times and I probably sound like I'm crazy but like this team is so close to to pushing into
39:16
playoff contention and you know I mean the schedule's there for the taking this year and you know with rola's got to
39:23
take a big leap but with all these receivers and offensive line like everything is in place for this team to
39:28
you know win eight to 10 games new faces you know a lot of the fifth year guys
39:34
have left the program and I think that's just helpful in terms of building a culture not to say that those guys were
39:39
bad by any stretch of the imagination but just getting some new guys in you know starting New Traditions new winning
39:45
habits and you know for this group a bowl game was their first big step and a bowl game win at that so you know I
39:51
think they have something to build off of and they know what it takes to at least get to a bowl game and honestly
39:57
the 2025 schedule is pretty favorable so this could be a big step for them to take uh over this next next
40:05
year it could be and yeah it's you know this is uh this is Dylan rola's team now
40:10
I mean from a player perspective this is his team he's leading off season workouts and um we'll see where this
40:15
team goes so we'll wrap it up there you guys uh thanks for joining us for another episode please make sure that you hit the like button hit the
40:21
Subscribe button get into the comments section and as always go Big Red go Big Red
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