Considering many on this board felt like Banker was dead weight and only around because he was a friend of Riley, I'd like to offer up some major praise to the defensive coaches. This team is clearly short-handed on the D line, but they are getting better and better each week. The blitzes were confusing Indiana, the defensive backfield is maybe as good as I've seen in 10 years and I see a lot of positives.
Banker
- Thread starter chicolby
- Start date
I dig the improvement out of Banker and the defense, but the 10 year time-frame is something you might want to look at. The secondaries in '09 and '10 were NFL legit.
Absolutely correct. Completely different scheme though.
I think we've got a lot of secondary guys who will get drafted.
That 2010 secondary was unreal. 4 NFL CB's out there basically at all times.
I too was critical of bringing Banker along given his past but I have to credit that the defense has really generated turnovers. With the D line being inexperienced (depleted also) he has done a good job this year IMO. Bruce Read on the other hand.........the kool aid drinkers know in their hearts what he's brought to the table.
Banker has been a welcome surprise. Also gotta give tons of credit to Brian Stewart here too. Both took a ton of heat last year and came through by crushing it thus far this year.
Right now we have 3 defensive assistants that are all legit teaching coaches AND good recruiters too. Not seeing a weak link in the group thus far.
Right now we have 3 defensive assistants that are all legit teaching coaches AND good recruiters too. Not seeing a weak link in the group thus far.
Lets not forget Coach Banker took over half the secondary after last year, letting Coach Stewart concentrate on the corners. A nice tie -in to the run support and the other coaching change; bringing in a terrific Coach Parella. GBR
The interesting part is the group that has struggled the most in the LB's, and they were supposed to be the bright spot. They came to play at Indiana though. I think you saw a glimpse of what our D can be when all three units are playing well like this weekend. A little to clean up, but pretty solid D.
Some (good) thoughts I've had while watching over the season:
1.) I agree that our D, particularly our pass D, is starting to look VERY good. It's been a huge surprise, and I too have been somewhat reminded of that season in 2010 where we had Suh and maybe Crick up front and we had CB's (Prince, Dennard, others) that made it virtually impossible to pass on us consistently. I'm not saying we're there yet, but we have some great young talent who truly enjoy what they're doing (the Lockdown U thing).
2.) The D Line: I keep saying this, but the fact that this isn't a huge dumpster fire this year is astounding. We're actually seeing weekly improvement out of these guys. We're not great yet, but I think John Parella has proven that he was the right hire. Give the twins and Stoltenberg another off-season in the weight room, and our DT's are going to be scary next year. DE...wellllll that may be a little less clear, but we seem to be recruiting well.
3.) Mark Philipp: Has anyone else noticed that even against hearty, physical Big 10 teams this year, we're starting to wear people out again? Hell, I'd say we even wore Oregon out by the end of the game. I haven't seen Nebraska do that to teams for years. I think this goes a long way towards explaining why our 4th quarter scoring is so lopsided. We're still playing hard in the 4th and other teams are starting to get a little gassed.
4.) Receivers: Even our walk-on guys who get snaps are going out there and making big plays, and that is with a quarterback who is not known for being incredibly accurate. Great to see this happening, and it makes me even more excited to think about the future with McQuitty, Johnson Jr, and HOPEFULLY Lewis (who just got an "N" crystal ball prediction today on 247 Sports).
1.) I agree that our D, particularly our pass D, is starting to look VERY good. It's been a huge surprise, and I too have been somewhat reminded of that season in 2010 where we had Suh and maybe Crick up front and we had CB's (Prince, Dennard, others) that made it virtually impossible to pass on us consistently. I'm not saying we're there yet, but we have some great young talent who truly enjoy what they're doing (the Lockdown U thing).
2.) The D Line: I keep saying this, but the fact that this isn't a huge dumpster fire this year is astounding. We're actually seeing weekly improvement out of these guys. We're not great yet, but I think John Parella has proven that he was the right hire. Give the twins and Stoltenberg another off-season in the weight room, and our DT's are going to be scary next year. DE...wellllll that may be a little less clear, but we seem to be recruiting well.
3.) Mark Philipp: Has anyone else noticed that even against hearty, physical Big 10 teams this year, we're starting to wear people out again? Hell, I'd say we even wore Oregon out by the end of the game. I haven't seen Nebraska do that to teams for years. I think this goes a long way towards explaining why our 4th quarter scoring is so lopsided. We're still playing hard in the 4th and other teams are starting to get a little gassed.
4.) Receivers: Even our walk-on guys who get snaps are going out there and making big plays, and that is with a quarterback who is not known for being incredibly accurate. Great to see this happening, and it makes me even more excited to think about the future with McQuitty, Johnson Jr, and HOPEFULLY Lewis (who just got an "N" crystal ball prediction today on 247 Sports).
Great points,,, and add to this the creativity of the staff with adjustments, blitz packages, signal communications and personel packages. Very good stuff.
Not to do what we all do a little bit too much of (bad-mouth the Pelini staff's shortcomings), but the fact that you can watch our units actually DO adjustments now instead of stubbornly forcing the same thing even when it isn't working is proof enough that this is a competent coaching staff.
There are no two ways about it that Banker is here because it is one of Riley's friends and he trusts him, and I am fine with that. I think most coaches are like that and that is there choice. Banker is fun to listen to talk in pressers and post practice interviews, dude says some weird sh*t, but I think that is what makes him kind of likable.
Right now Nebraska is at #29 in total defense and #17 in scoring defense, both really good numbers and he and staff should be commended for that. I would agree with one of the previous posters who said that Banker's total body of work is not all that impressive. I know he was undermanned to an extent at OSU, but number don't lie. Let's just be happy with what we have right now and ride this out an see how they end up.
One gripe I still have is having a special teams coordinator on staff with the kind of salary Reed is making. That block punt was terrible and I really would like to see some serious evaluation of that position if this type of special teams play continues.
I have been very critical of Banker and yes his body of work is not very good and yes I believe that Bankers position as a DC was saved by NU hiring Riley. That said I was hopeful that his style of defense would play well in the BIg10 vs the Pac12, last year it did not and this year before the Indiana game we struggled stopping the run.
However the defense played very well against a good Indiana offense. Indiana will score a lot of points the rest of the year and could win a lot of games. Outside of one run we shut their running game down, the defense did well on sudden change also and the secondary played well out side of one drive.
All these things are very encouraging to me we have along way to go but if this defense can continue as they did this game I can come around on Banker
All the hand wringing over the special teams coordinator is all premature if you were to ask me. Sure, there may be a need to make a change there, but given that Mike Riley has proven his willingness to make staff changes as he sees fit, it is only a matter of time before a re-assignment/change is made. Of course, you have to keep in mind that a coach or two may have different responsibilities that they are needed for besides their direct title.
I've tried to defend our special teams coach in the past, but when the opposing team says after a block "yep, we knew they'd do that and we exploited it" is not really on the kids, that's purely on the coaching staff. Of course, the death of Foltz was going to lead to reduced statistics in the punting game, but two blocked punts where the scheme seemed to be the culprit on both occasions is really tough to stomach.
On the bright side, Drew Brown is having a really nice year and I believe El will have one or two electrifying punt returns before this season is over (here's hoping it's against Wiscy or Ohio State.)
Agree. When I saw how the kicking team was lined up on that block, I said, who lines up like that anyway? The only way you would line up like that was if you actually wanted the punt to be blocked.
Read is a disaster at special teams and in fact is a liability - we are lucky they have not cost us a game as of yet and given the level of play certainly will before the season is over. I think some adjustments need to be made now - I would hate to lose against Wisconson or Iowa due poor special teams play
Everyone wanted Charlie McBride fired until Tom gave hime the athletes to run a 4 3 defence.
Banker is now working with a different class of athlete, hence better results
Banker is now working with a different class of athlete, hence better results
Right, been thinking about this alot. Nobody ever called Charlie a defensive genious until he was coaching the likes of Wistrom, Rucker, MInter, Farley, Brown, and Peter.
Let's jump in the Hot Tub Time machine and go back to the year 2006. Nebraska's current defensive number are currently very similar to what they ended up that year.
2006 2016
18.3 PPG 18.3
117 RYPG 141
215 PYPG 206
332 TYPG 347
Just for fun, not saying anything!
2006 2016
18.3 PPG 18.3
117 RYPG 141
215 PYPG 206
332 TYPG 347
Just for fun, not saying anything!
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