ADVERTISEMENT

Fire Foley.

Nebraska currently ranks 96th in punt returns, 131st in net punting, 109th in punt return defense, 133rd in blocked punts allowed, 73rd in kick-off returns, 92nd in kick-off return defense and 133rd in blocked kicks allowed.

NCAA FBS Stats
^ This is what I was gonna post and thank you for sparing me the research.

I don’t blame coaches for some player (isolated) issues, but when it is unilateral across the board (save a stud punter)—-getting 4 kicks blocked in two weeks!, the repeat snapping issues, bottom barrel coverage, punter making tackles, and the impact of not being able to even attempt FGs—- the ineptitude all combined is very costly. It all points to coaching.

Not to mention we’ve had a pretty soft schedule up until now. Some decent teams, but not facing any juggernauts yet.
100+ teams figured it out better than us.
Demanding better is still a very low and reasonable expectation at this point.
Not sure how Foley is expected to fix something midseason he was incapable of preventing with months of preparation.
 
Nebraska currently ranks 96th in punt returns, 131st in net punting, 109th in punt return defense, 133rd in blocked punts allowed, 73rd in kick-off returns, 92nd in kick-off return defense and 133rd in blocked kicks allowed.

NCAA FBS Stats
I wonder how that compares to the year we didn't even have a special teams coach...
 
Well do something about. March into the athletic departments office and demand change. stand up for what you are so passionate about.
LOL, the difference here is I'm not saying "some college girl should do something about this".
 
LOL, the difference here is I'm not saying "some college girl should do something about this".
Haha come on lil guy you have been passionate about this. Do something about it. Or be you. Attack other posters for supporting what those girls are doing. They have a voice we do not. Just like you have no voice in coaching decisions. Be better lil fella
 
Haha come on lil guy you have been passionate about this. Do something about it. Or be you. Attack other posters for supporting what those girls are doing. They have a voice we do not. Just like you have no voice in coaching decisions. Be better lil fella
One step ahead of ya on this! Read better my guy.
 
2 blocked punts might adversely affect your net punting numbers.
As will the number of punts downed inside the 20. Buschini has 18 punts through 6 games with 8 of those inside the 20. He’s only had 1 touchback which could have been downed inside the 5. He’s 3rd in the B1G in average. The Purdue game dropped him down but he was also punting with a short field that game.

Edit: Raiola’s punts will reduce the net as well. I believe his have all been touchbacks.
 
Last edited:
As will the number of punts downed inside the 20. Buschini has 18 punts through 6 games with 8 of those inside the 20. He’s only had 1 touchback which could have been downed inside the 5. He’s 3rd in the B1G in average. The Purdue game dropped him down but he was also punting with a short field that game.

Edit: Raiola’s punts will reduce the net as well. I believe his have all been touchbacks.
Shame on you. You’re letting facts ruin the narrative.
 
Bills had an extra point blocked and Bills missed 2 short field goals last night…….um yeah. We’re not the only ones
JFC. Have you listened to any morning shows today? They are already calling for Zuerlein to be benched and how big of a clown show their special teams is. To be fair, that whole franchise is a clown show, but at least they can say that they need performance. Are you Ed Foley? Do you just love underachievement?
 
JFC. Have you listened to any morning shows today? They are already calling for Zuerlein to be benched and how big of a clown show their special teams is. To be fair, that whole franchise is a clown show, but at least they can say that they need performance. Are you Ed Foley? Do you just love underachievement?
The Jets kicker didn’t have a bad snap or poor hold but it’s the special teams coordinator’s fault right?
 
The Jets kicker didn’t have a bad snap or poor hold but it’s the special teams coordinator’s fault right?
It doesn't matter. The entire group is a ****in shit show and our seniors who are supposed to be the leaders of the team are some of the ones making the mistakes. Keep defending underachievement. We know Foley isn't going to be canned in the middle of the season, but he should.
 
It doesn't matter. The entire group is a ****in shit show and our seniors who are supposed to be the leaders of the team are some of the ones making the mistakes. Keep defending underachievement. We know Foley isn't going to be canned in the middle of the season, but he should.
Why do you get so emotional about the job status of our special team coordinator? The follow up is why does it bother you so much when someone doesn’t agree that firing him would fix the problems?
 
  • Like
Reactions: OzzyLvr
Why do you get so emotional about the job status of our special team coordinator? The follow up is why does it bother you so much when someone doesn’t agree that firing him would fix the problems?
I'm not emotional whatsoever, just want my team to win and Special Teams is the one area that continues to cost us. I'm tired of being mediocre and not correcting the problems that have hurt us in the last 10 years. We need to stop being Nebraska nice and be more cutthroat. I guarantee if Georgia, Oregon, OSU or any of the big boys were having the same issues we do on special teams they would do what is necessary. If it was just our snaps and holder... fine. I'd probably be less vocal, put its literally everything. Punts blocked, FGs missed, Punts going to the wrong areas, long kick off returns, punt returns, lack of returns on our end. The list can go on.
 
I'm not emotional whatsoever, just want my team to win and Special Teams is the one area that continues to cost us. I'm tired of being mediocre and not correcting the problems that have hurt us in the last 10 years. We need to stop being Nebraska nice and be more cutthroat. I guarantee if Georgia, Oregon, OSU or any of the big boys were having the same issues we do on special teams they would do what is necessary. If it was just our snaps and holder... fine. I'd probably be less vocal, put its literally everything. Punts blocked, FGs missed, Punts going to the wrong areas, long kick off returns, punt returns, lack of returns on our end. The list can go on.
Rhule said “we have the right guy to fix the problems”. I choose to believe him until he says we don’t. We’ve had a losing mentality for almost a decade now. They replaced the snapper after 2 bad snaps in a row. They identified who screwed up on the punts. If you can’t trust a 5th year defensive player to know his assignment changing the coordinator isn’t going to help.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OzzyLvr
The bottom line is that a coach has got to get his unit to perform at a serviceable level, period. No excuses. If they don’t, he should be held accountable. That’s just football.

I like you, dingle, and I usually like reading your posts, but your defense on this one is a little over the top. By the same logic you’re using, why ever let any coach go for an underperforming unit? If it just comes down to the players missing the assignments, then Bruce Reed should still be here.

As for trusting Rhule, well, yeah: I do, too. But I’ve also seen some very good coaches stubbornly refuse to fire their buddies (Mark Dantonio at Michigan State is one example) and family members (Jeff Bowden) to the detriment of their programs. So I can’t have blind faith in that kind of coach speak when it comes to a head coach and his assistant. I don’t want a reassurance that Ed’s a great guy and great coach—I want to see a special team unit that plays at an average or better level in Division 1 college football. The rankings and repeated mistakes are both objective data that this is not happening.

But at the end of the day, it’s not even about questioning Rhule. The message board wouldn’t exist if we all didn’t come here to discuss and debate this stuff, and I don’t think anyone is delusional enough to believe that anything written here will have any effect on what Nebraska’s head coach decides to do with his staff.
 
College football is too full of analytics and trends and metrics pointing to exactly what costs us games. Root cause tells you its special teams as a whole, its an easy fix. Root cause points you to something like turnover margin, and its a little harder to fix. Rhule isnt dumb, he will see the writing on the wall and fix it. If he chooses to ignore, he will only be digging his own grave.
 
  • Like
Reactions: leodisflowers
College football is too full of analytics and trends and metrics pointing to exactly what costs us games. Root cause tells you its special teams as a whole, its an easy fix. Root cause points you to something like turnover margin, and its a little harder to fix. Rhule isnt dumb, he will see the writing on the wall and fix it. If he chooses to ignore, he will only be digging his own grave.
Agree with this mostly - however I wouldn’t say “special teams as a whole, it’s an easy fix”. If it was truly that easy it would have been fixed by now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OzzyLvr
Rhule said “we have the right guy to fix the problems”. I choose to believe him until he says we don’t. We’ve had a losing mentality for almost a decade now. They replaced the snapper after 2 bad snaps in a row. They identified who screwed up on the punts. If you can’t trust a 5th year defensive player to know his assignment changing the coordinator isn’t going to help.
Rhule says a lot of stuff

it's best to judge him by the product he puts on the field, because his record in front of a microphone isn't great
 
  • Like
Reactions: phoenix4nu
Rhule said “we have the right guy to fix the problems”. I choose to believe him until he says we don’t. We’ve had a losing mentality for almost a decade now. They replaced the snapper after 2 bad snaps in a row. They identified who screwed up on the punts. If you can’t trust a 5th year defensive player to know his assignment changing the coordinator isn’t going to help.
Not necessarily.

The personnel decisions land squarely on the coach. Some starting defensive players are terrible on special teams. Special teams requires a specific skill set depending on what you do and an absolute focus to execute well.

A starting LB might look at special teams as “his time to take a play off” where a special teams focused player will look at it as his Super Bowl.

It’s up to the coach to figure out his best personnel group and that’s been a huge miss for Foley.

Then the overall schemes, etc. clearly aren’t working.

But personnel is an obvious
 
Not necessarily.

The personnel decisions land squarely on the coach. Some starting defensive players are terrible on special teams. Special teams requires a specific skill set depending on what you do and an absolute focus to execute well.

A starting LB might look at special teams as “his time to take a play off” where a special teams focused player will look at it as his Super Bowl.

It’s up to the coach to figure out his best personnel group and that’s been a huge miss for Foley.

Then the overall schemes, etc. clearly aren’t working.

But personnel is an obvious
You can have good/decent schemes, but with under-performing personnel, the schemes don't work. The average fan, especially those on this board, have no idea about schemes for special teams. We hear people spout off about kick offs going to the incorrect zone, punts going to the incorrect zone, etc. The only 'documented' instance that I'm aware of is one of 13's punts going to the wrong side. That's somehow a failure of the special teams coordinator. I tried my "foot" at punting in H.S. and quickly realized there's so much more to it than I was capable of doing. I do know that sometimes, for a number of reasons, a punt just doesn't land right on the foot and doesn't go where it's supposed to. 13 has been very good this year. The punt that went to the wrong side was his fault, not Foley's. Even then, things do happen outside of the punter's control.

Are there any other documented instances I'm not thinking of? Hearsay on this board doesn't count.
 
Foley is ****ing horrendous. He makes $550k a year AND has an assist ST coach. This is on Rhule and if Foley is extended beyond 2024, it's theft.
 
I didn't think we'd get beat 56-7 at the time but when Barney fielded that kick at the 1 and went out of bounds it felt like the Frost era. When we fielded that punt at the 1 against Illinois and tried to lateral it out. Mickey Mouse football.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dinglefritz
Embarrassing each week. Truly the gift that keeps giving.
Typical foley start. Start deep In own territory and then give the other team the ball on our side of field. We have to go 90 yards to score. Other team 45. Not important enough for our head coach to address.
 
Typical foley start. Start deep In own territory and then give the other team the ball on our side of field. We have to go 90 yards to score. Other team 45. Not important enough for our head coach to address.
Throw in a terrible punt, we’re lucky we aren’t down 7
 
Last week, Nebraska would not even attempt a 29 yd FG and a 32 yd FG but this week making 39 yd FG and 56 yd FG. Makes perfect sense.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT