Jeremy Pernell: Three Hires in the Head-Scratcher Category

Yesterday I summarized the job that new Nebraska soccer coach Matt Rhule has finished to date and did an outline of his teaching beliefs. If studying it gave you a Kool-Assist mustache, that is comprehensible. Like I admitted yesterday, I really like the rent for Nebraska.

So all the things should be sunshine and roses, proper? Rhule has a popularity for remaking applications together with his method – and his success speaks for itself. He is afforded the good thing about the doubt, not less than initially. It is my stance to offer any new teaching employees two years. I’d tilt an eyebrow or shake my head right here and there, however I am going to sometimes let a coach have two years on the job earlier than I take purpose with criticism. Heading into 12 months 3, the gloves are off.

With that stated, let’s take a deeper have a look at a few of Rhule’s assistant coaches. I am going to get my considerations out of the best way first.

Okay, let’s deal with the elephant within the room. Retaining Dominic Raiola on employees went over like a lead balloon with the vast majority of followers. Of the ten assistant teaching hires Rhule made, this was one of many two or three I actually questioned.

Raiola’s offensive line was by far the workforce’s worst-performing unit final 12 months. On prime of that, he introduced nothing to the desk as a recruiter. Final season’s portal additions had been the results of Erik Chinander (Hunter Anthony) and Mickey Joseph (Kevin Williams Jr.). Raiola made zero headway with any O-line recruits within the 2023 cycle, exterior of a few month of hype in June surrounding Jr Sia, who ended up signing with – gulp – Utah State. Each big-name nationwide recruit Nebraska flirted with final spring and summer season had been due to different employees members: Cayden Inexperienced (Invoice Busch), Zalance Heard (Bryan Applewhite, Mickey Joseph), Bo Hughley (Sean Beckton).

Let’s be trustworthy; Gunnar Gottula, Sam Sledge, Brock Knutson, Mason Goldman and Jason Maciejczak are signing with Nebraska regardless. None of them are right here explicitly due to Raiola and that is a serious concern I’ve shifting ahead with him on employees. He is answerable for a room that, on common, desires to usher in three or 4 guys each class at a minimal. I feel Rhule will put collectively a heck of a recruiting operation, however I’ve by no means been a fan of getting coaches on employees that do not carry their weight on the path.

Recruiting is new to him. Can he acquire his footing, get right into a groove and alter the narrative? We’ll see. To his credit score, he did safe a dedication a pair weeks in the past from Ben Scott, a 28-game starter at Arizona State who would be the beginning middle for the Huskers subsequent fall. However he nonetheless has a protracted methods to go to ease my thoughts on that entrance.

If Nebraska is ready to shut the deal on his nephew, five-star QB Dylan Raiola, the nation’s top-ranked participant for 2024, him being on employees will definitely be pointed to as an element. If the Huskers finally beat out groups like Georgia, USC, Miami and Oregon, Donovan’s presence can be an enormous motive.

Past that although, let’s attempt to see what Rhule noticed when he determined to maintain him. Rhule informed us Raiola teaches the identical method he believes in. Raiola is a disciple of Harry Hiestand, who is likely one of the most revered academics of the “flat again” fashion Rhule prefers. Hiestand has a reference to Pat Flaherty, whom Rhule labored underneath with the New York Giants because the assistant O-line coach in 2012.

Raiola remains to be fairly inexperienced and Rhule may have the prospect to mildew and groom him. He is been profitable doing that with a number of assistant coaches up to now.

Together with Rhule himself, there are three different coaches on employees with backgrounds teaching the O-line, with Marcus Satterfield and Ed Foley being the others. I feel Rhule will spend time throughout spring and fall camp working with Raiola and the O-line. I additionally anticipate Foley spending numerous time teaching the O-line alongside Raiola as nicely. I anticipate him to be a relative fixture there at practices when he is not dealing with particular groups duties.

I feel it additionally helped having Satterfield go to bat for him. Nebraska’s offensive coordinator, like Rhule, was impressed with Raiola after his preliminary 30-minute interview and inspired Rhule to maintain him on employees.

With that being stated, I used to be underwhelmed by the hiring of Marcus Satterfield to be the offensive coordinator. His two years at South Carolina had been principally disappointing, and there had even been rumblings head coach Shane Beamer was contemplating making a change after the season. If you happen to take away the final two video games of the common season for the Gamecocks, the place they torched Tennessee and beat Clemson, there can be a really totally different narrative.

I am going to give Satterfield a go for 2021 as a result of the quarterback place was ravaged by accidents and poor play. While you’re needing your offensive graduate assistant to make use of his sixth season of eligibility halfway via fall camp as a result of the place is so skinny, you deserve a mulligan.

Even so, Satterfield had an NFL expertise operating his system this previous season and nonetheless sputtered badly for stretches. He ran a a lot totally different system than the one Spencer Rattler was coming from; did it simply take time to click on? Together with the Gator Bowl performed with out Satterfield, the Gamecocks completed the season thirty ninth in scoring (32.2 ppg), forty first in passing (260 ypg), 106th in speeding (118.8 ypg) and 72nd in whole offense (378.8 ypg). Not precisely gaudy numbers for an offense in 12 months 2 of a system.

This can be a state of affairs the place I am going to depend on Rhule and Satterfield’s historical past collectively. It is labored earlier than, albeit in a lesser convention, so it’s important to not less than give it an opportunity to work right here. I belief Rhule to construct an offense with Satterfield that can be recruited to and geared towards profitable within the Massive Ten.

What’s going to that offense appear to be? Satterfield has talked of a pro-style offense with a bodily operating sport. This workforce will huddle between performs, and so they’ll implement tight ends and a fullback in numerous packages.

With Jeff Sims (possible) at quarterback and a backfield that returns Ajay Allen and Anthony Grant, if it had been me, I’d run a ton of RPO and zone-read ideas. Trying on the receivers at the moment on the roster, even with the latest addition of Virginia switch Billy Kemp, I feel a 60-40 run/go ratio is an effective technique.

One other rent that took me again a bit was Garret McGuire teaching the receivers. I do not know if that was a lingering hangover from the frustration of Mickey Joseph ruining his possibilities of being retained. It did not assist realizing Rhule had a historical past with guys like Frisman Jackson, Jeff Nixon and Joe Dailey, and anticipating him reuniting with one in all them at Nebraska.

The 23-year-old McGuire’s résumé is mainly nonexistent; two years as an offensive assistant with Carolina. Frankly, that is the form of expertise you hope is sweet sufficient to get your foot within the door as a graduate assistant or analyst on the Energy 5 stage.

I imply, have a look at senior defensive analyst Kevin McGarry, who’s following Tony White from Syracuse. The 2 have labored collectively for over a decade courting again to their time at San Diego State. McGarry was a place coach for the Aztecs and was the top coach on the College of San Diego for eight seasons. He is an analyst at a program like Nebraska.

However once more, Rhule deserves the good thing about the doubt till confirmed in any other case. Historical past has proven us that his collegiate hires have largely labored out nicely. Rhule has grown a formidable teaching tree making strikes like this. From all the things I’ve heard, McGuire is taken into account a vibrant up-and-coming coach by his friends. I have to admit, although, I actually tilted my head at this rent.

In an ideal world, you want to see extra assistants on employees who’ve recruiting backgrounds and connections in areas like St. Louis, Kansas Metropolis, Chicago and Denver. However I feel Rhule has confirmed he could make fast inroads in very important recruiting areas.

This can be a coach who arrived at Baylor with zero Texas roots. Rhule was a lifelong Northeast coach, and so had been all of the assistants he introduced with him from Temple. Inside a pair years, he ingratiated himself to the purpose the place he was arguably probably the most revered school coach within the state. That is an enormous accomplishment. Whereas it is not precisely attempting to serve an off-brand salsa as an alternative of Tempo Picante sauce to a bunch of cowboys circa the late Eighties, it is nonetheless not simple to get inside that circle.

Rewind the clock again to when some nationwide pundits had been questioning Rhule’s rent at Baylor, regardless of back-to-back 10-win seasons and coming off an AAC championship at Temple. Everybody thought he was an excellent coach, positive, however cultural match can be vital. Some felt he can be in over his head within the Lone Star State. Most followers and native media needed Mike Gundy or Sonny Dykes – coaches with a background within the area.

Rhule’s rent was particularly unpopular among the many state’s highschool coaches. Right here was an outsider changing a Texas highschool legend. They had been vital and hesitant, and he gained them over in a brief period of time.

If Rhule finally ends up teaching the Huskers for the foreseeable future, I do not suppose he’ll have a problem making inroads in vital areas. Like I stated, ideally you would like a greater place to begin, however he’ll get there. He’ll recruit the state of Nebraska tougher than any coach since Frank Solich. I assure that.

He’ll rebuild a pipeline into Texas, which is a extra sustainable recruiting hotbed for Nebraska than locations like Georgia, Florida, California and Louisiana, the place earlier staffs have tried to plant a flag. The Huskers will definitely proceed to recruit these areas, significantly Florida, however Texas would be the major focus for out-of-area expertise.

Nebraska may have a presence in New Jersey and elements of Pennsylvania, specifically Philadelphia and Harrisburg.

I additionally anticipate that, in time, Rhule will additional prioritize states like Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota and the Dakotas. Mike Riley and Scott Frost leaned on acquainted recruiting areas early of their tenures, however they quickly realized how helpful these locations had been. Each finally shifted extra consideration towards these areas. I feel Rhule will do the identical, finally.

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