Nebraska Football: Making Them Taller

[hedonistimpulse]

"We can get a lot of things done, but we can't make guys taller." - Scott Frost, 11-25-2019

What constitutes a tall football player considering they're all pretty large human beings? I settled on 6'3" and decided to look at a few teams' listed roster heights. Forgive me if my numbers are off by a player or two and I didn't break it down by position (just so everyone knows, Nebraska does have some very tall punters and long snappers). Take these listed heights with a grain of salt because I'm sure there's a certain degree of embellishment by all and these numbers are pulled from each teams' self-regulated websites.

The first Nebraska team I looked at was the 2012 squad because that team won its division. The Huskers only had 47 players listed at 6'3" or taller that season, which is interesting given the premium placed on longer players in Frost's system and the relative success seen by a smaller Pelini-built roster. However, I feel that the height or lack thereof on the 2012 Nebraska team is in large part due to the makeup of Big XII teams in general and the fact that this was in the early stages of a transition period from the Big XII to the B1G.

As the transition continued, more height was seen relatively quickly. The number increased to 53 in 2014 and then 63 by 2018.

In 2019, it jumped to 73. Right now, it's at 75.

Nebraska has 10 seniors that may or may not be back after this season and they currently have 12 players (one of them is a flip risk in Pat Payton) committed in the 2021 class that are 6'3" or taller meaning that number should hypothetically increase to 77+ in 2021.

The hypothetical 2021 number of 77+ aside, Nebraska has one of the tallest rosters in the country right now. Below is a rough list of the number of players 6'3" or taller on a few 2020 rosters (divided by total listed roster size for roster percentage):

Georgia: 66 (128)=51.6%
Alabama: 62 (126)=49.2%
Minnesota: 48 (98)=49%
Indiana: 59 (121)=48.8%
Nebraska: 75 (154)=48.7%
Purdue: 56 (118)=47.5%
Iowa: 60 (127)=47.2%
Penn State: 55 (121)=45.5%
Ohio State: 53 (119)=44.5%
LSU: 45 (102)=44.1%
Oregon: 40 (91)=44%
Florida: 52 (121)=43%
Auburn: 49 (118)=41.5%
Michigan: 55 (134)=41%
Wisconsin: 46 (113)=40.7%
Oklahoma: 45 (114)=39.5%
Texas: 46 (119)=38.7%
Miami: 41 (106)=38.7%
Clemson: 42 (120)=35%
Notre Dame: 39 (114)=34.2%

Logically, but still somewhat surprisingly, Nebraska has both the most players listed at 6'3" or taller and the most players listed on its roster from the teams above.

Since it's evident that the Huskers intend to continue to carry a larger roster than most teams, a number for number comparison probably isn't fair or accurate. If you're looking at roster percentages, only Georgia, Alabama, Minnesota, and Indiana have higher percentages of players 6'3" or taller than Nebraska does. As a caveat, note that the Huskers have more players 6'3" or taller committed to their 2021 class than three of those four schools - trailing only Alabama's 13 with their 12.

What does this all mean? I don't know, but, like the rest of you, I hope it means more success on the field in the not so distant future. Regardless, it's interesting data given Frost's quote just last year, the reality of the development aspect behind finding a frame and building upon it, and the blatant indications that Nebraska is placing as much importance on this piece of roster development as any team in the country right now.

 

[Reditus]

I think you can widen your splits if you have taller OL and wider splits help spread teams. Isn't that how Leach does his splits? Washington State has a tall OL!

 

[scarletred]

I think you can widen your splits if you have taller OL and wider splits help spread teams. Isn't that how Leach does his splits? Washington State has a tall OL!

Leach coach’s Mississippi State now..

 

[Suhrreal]

It's tough because a lot of these coaches will lie about their players' heights and weights. Been happening since time immemorial. Would also like to take this moment to thank my high school coach for turning me into a viking in the game program.

 

[Jhollenbeck41]

The pipeline was really big, tall, wide dudes. Probably a correlation there.

 

[Reditus]

Leach coach’s Mississippi State now..

I know but he was at WSU previously and built that roster. He hasn't turned over the MSU roster yet.

 

[hedonistimpulse]

For those of you who don't know the quote or know it but can't place the context - Frost said that during his Monday press conference prior to Nebraska's last game in 2019. Frost mentioned something similar after the Huskers' last game in 2018. Both comments were based simply on his belief that Nebraska should be bigger than teams in their region.

2020 will be the first season Nebraska's roster is taller by percentage than every border state school since he's been here. For example, below is the percentage of players 6'3" or taller for Iowa when compared to Nebraska since Frost's arrival:

2018: 46.6% (Iowa) to 45% (Nebraska)
2019: 48% (Iowa) to 47.7% (Nebraska)
2020: 48.7% (Nebraska) to 47.2% (Iowa)

Like I said, what does it mean in terms of the scoreboard? Anyone can say because of the wide variance among several very good teams in their rosters' makeups, but it won't be a press conference talking point going forward unless Nebraska is playing Minnesota or Indiana this year and it likely won't be a talking point past 2020 unless Nebraska is playing Bama or UGA because Nebraska's on the verge of being the longest team in the conference.

For further reference, 49.1% of the Kansas City Chiefs' (arguably the best NFL team) roster is 6'3" or taller while 54.7% of the New York Jets' (arguably the worst NFL team) roster is. So, maybe there's a sweet spot to be found in terms of roster makeup. It's clearly a focal point for Nebraska, however, and should contribute to the Huskers being a more physical team and putting more Huskers in the NFL on top of giving them an advantage against college teams that, unlike the NFL where every team is huge, are a little bit limited in terms of size.

That said, the thing that I'm most impressed with is that Scott Frost pointed out a problem, said he wanted to fix it, and fixed it. It's not the win nearly every game fix we're hoping for, but it certainly seems like a part of the process given that it's been talked about multiple times.