Lubick hire computes in different ways:
We already know that Matt Lubick is a man who can discipline himself to a plan.
There's a video out there on the interweb which is all about Nebraska's new offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach eating a hamburger. It was back in 2014 when Scott Frost was the offensive coordinator at Oregon and Lubick was the wide receivers coach for the Ducks. Lubick hadn't eaten a burger since high school, the story goes, but made a deal with his guys that he'd take one down if Oregon rallied from a midseason loss to win the Pac-12 and make the College Football Playoff.
When such a promise is made, you might as well start picking out the burger's toppings, because the commander of fate usually has a sense of humor regarding such dares.
And so the man whose daily diet had long been eggs and oatmeal in the morning, and salads with chicken and hot sauce for lunch and dinner, held true to his word and ate a burger after Oregon whipped Arizona 51-13 in the Pac-12 title game that year.
By the look on his face, Lubick was heading back to his usual eating habits by the next meal. Nothing wrong with that.
Nothing about this is also mentioned to equate that the same coach is going to make guys reliable route-runners, consistent blockers on the edge, or line up right on a fourth-and-1 to avoid a penalty. But a different diet of discipline is in order for Nebraska's wide receivers at this moment. Matt Lubick arrives to meet a position group with everything to prove, but also full on two recent recruiting classes that Husker coaches are banking on having the right ingredients.
With depth as it was last year, with Nebraska searching for anything consistent beyond JD Spielman and Wan'Dale Robinson, it's go time for redshirt freshmen like Darien Chase, Jamie Nance and Demariyon Houston. Throw in true freshman Alante Brownfrom the 2020 class who is already on campus, and then mix in the expected summer arrivals of Omar Manning, Zavier Betts, William Nixon and Marcus Fleming.
Repeat. It's go time.
No time for stoplights or even yield signs that would usually come when a new wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator has to figure out his head coach. That shouldn't be the case here. Not only do Frost and Lubick have that time together at Oregon, Lubick was reportedly doing some behind-the-scenes consultant workfor the Huskers last season, sharing some thoughts to Frost about what he saw.
I'm not about to proclaim better days are automatically coming because of the latest hire. Husker fans have seen new hires come and go too much for that. Everyone wants to see it on the field at this point before an "Old School" sprint down O Street. What I can see is the appeal Frost had in bringing in a fresh voice for players while also not changing the language on everyone. Lubick can already speak what is being spoken over in North Stadium.
Can they recreate the magic shared as coaches in Eugene? If you look at those years, you further understand why Frost might bet on it.
Different deal, I know fully, since the Ducks were established as college football elite by 2013, but that year they averaged 9.4 yards per pass attempt. It was top five in the country. The next year in 2014, the hamburger promise year, they averaged 9.9 yards per pass attempt. That was No. 1 in the country. In 2015, they averaged 9.0 yards per pass attempt. That was 10th in the country. Those were the Frost-Lubick shared years.
In 2014, the Ducks had an explosive wide receivers unit that made it to the national championship game even as Lubick rolled out mostly a new starting crew by the postseason than he had at the year's beginning. Oregon players on that team praised him for his ability to communicate his teachings so clearly, while scraping away their flaws. "He focuses a lot on some of the things we don't do well," then-Oregon wide receiver Devon Allen told GoDucks.com. "Say you're a good route-runner but you can't block, he's going to really focus on blocking. But if you can block and you need to refine your route-running and catching, he'll work on that. So we become all-around receivers. That's why we can play so many people, because there's not a real drop off."
It's what the Huskers have been searching for under Frost: to come at teams in waves. To make defenses get burned by a fourth or fifth or sixth receiver who has defenders slumping over to the sideline saying, "Now, who exactly was THAT guy?"
Lubick's recruiting at some previous stops has also drawn kudos. It was noted he once put together most of a recruiting class at Arizona State, and also won battles for guys like Dexter McClusterwhile at Ole Miss. "He will do a very good job at Nebraska," predicted our Arizona State site's Chris Karpman, who saw Lubick's work as a recruiting coordinator up close.
That's Frost's plan, after an announcement that both the head coach and Walters "mutually agreed" to part ways.
In defense of Walters, he walked into a real building project here. Nebraska was also perhaps limited by some lower scholarship numbers at wide receiver upon this staff's arrival, and haven't yet put enough home-run hitters on the perimeter since. The Huskers averaged 7.3 yards per attempt in 2018 and 7.9 yards this last year. The Nebraska completion percentage, meanwhile, dipped from 63.6 percent in 2018 to 60.1 percent last year.
There were a lot of reasons for it, but this past season Nebraska couldn't generate the buzz plays even close to how Frost wants it. The Huskers had 174 plays of 10 yards or more. They played in only 12 games while some teams played in more, but it rated 78th nationally. Even with a bowl game, if Nebraska kept to its average of explosive plays per game, it barely would have finished in the top 50 in that category. Hardly the most damning Husker stat of last year, but this is an offensive staff with big expectations.
That 2019 struggle is definitely not one person's fault, but Husker receivers as a whole seemed to regress. Spielman had some big games and another 800-plus-yard season. Wan'Dale was what was hoped. The rest ended up being just ... blah. I remember thinking in the final minute of the Northwestern game, with Spielman injured: 'If Wan'Dale doesn't make a play, then who the heck does?'
And it wasn't thought back during optimistic August that wide receiver was necessarily going to be a weak spot even without Stanley Morgan. Frost said during fall camp, "Receiver is another place where I feel like we're night and day better than last year."
I think Troy Walters is a solid coach, and good man who made the kind of graceful exit to be admired yesterday. I also have no question a guy who was a Broyles Award finalist as recently as 2017 will have more significant opportunities in front of him. Sometimes in this game, seasons get sideways and a position group doesn't take off for even strong coaches. It's true Lubick had his own naysayers at the end of his time at Washington in 2018. He'd spend last season mostly away from the boiling pot of football as a businessman in Fort Collins, Colorado.
That last part strikes me as neither good nor bad, especially since he was still somewhat viewing the game through the lens of an offensive coordinator with his consulting duties. He also should be recharged. That's no small detail, because you need to arrive with full battery life here. Because this Nebraska fish bowl is not easy to swim in for every coach. Put coordinator in your title and the people's verdicts can get even tougher. Even Charlie McBride was not always popular Charlie McBride.
When Lubick's hire for Nebraska was announced over the dinner hour on Friday, it was easy to highlight the offensive coordinator portion of his new job title, given its elevated stature.
But it's what he does in those months before the first game with those wide receivers that looms just as large. Of those not named Spielman and Wan'Dale, not one returning receiver had more than 109 yards last year. And still, it should also be an exciting room to take over for a coach because there is a Spielman and a Wan'Dale, and all those names from the 2019 and 2020 classes who want to change the story.
I might guess that was one of the appealing parts to Lubick. There is some silverware already in that drawer. Needs the polish though. And that's of priority, whether it's salad or hamburger for lunch.
https://247sports.com/college/nebra...oordinator-Matt-Lubick-Scott-Frost-142390137/
We already know that Matt Lubick is a man who can discipline himself to a plan.
There's a video out there on the interweb which is all about Nebraska's new offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach eating a hamburger. It was back in 2014 when Scott Frost was the offensive coordinator at Oregon and Lubick was the wide receivers coach for the Ducks. Lubick hadn't eaten a burger since high school, the story goes, but made a deal with his guys that he'd take one down if Oregon rallied from a midseason loss to win the Pac-12 and make the College Football Playoff.
When such a promise is made, you might as well start picking out the burger's toppings, because the commander of fate usually has a sense of humor regarding such dares.
And so the man whose daily diet had long been eggs and oatmeal in the morning, and salads with chicken and hot sauce for lunch and dinner, held true to his word and ate a burger after Oregon whipped Arizona 51-13 in the Pac-12 title game that year.
By the look on his face, Lubick was heading back to his usual eating habits by the next meal. Nothing wrong with that.
Nothing about this is also mentioned to equate that the same coach is going to make guys reliable route-runners, consistent blockers on the edge, or line up right on a fourth-and-1 to avoid a penalty. But a different diet of discipline is in order for Nebraska's wide receivers at this moment. Matt Lubick arrives to meet a position group with everything to prove, but also full on two recent recruiting classes that Husker coaches are banking on having the right ingredients.
With depth as it was last year, with Nebraska searching for anything consistent beyond JD Spielman and Wan'Dale Robinson, it's go time for redshirt freshmen like Darien Chase, Jamie Nance and Demariyon Houston. Throw in true freshman Alante Brownfrom the 2020 class who is already on campus, and then mix in the expected summer arrivals of Omar Manning, Zavier Betts, William Nixon and Marcus Fleming.
Repeat. It's go time.
No time for stoplights or even yield signs that would usually come when a new wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator has to figure out his head coach. That shouldn't be the case here. Not only do Frost and Lubick have that time together at Oregon, Lubick was reportedly doing some behind-the-scenes consultant workfor the Huskers last season, sharing some thoughts to Frost about what he saw.
I'm not about to proclaim better days are automatically coming because of the latest hire. Husker fans have seen new hires come and go too much for that. Everyone wants to see it on the field at this point before an "Old School" sprint down O Street. What I can see is the appeal Frost had in bringing in a fresh voice for players while also not changing the language on everyone. Lubick can already speak what is being spoken over in North Stadium.
Can they recreate the magic shared as coaches in Eugene? If you look at those years, you further understand why Frost might bet on it.
Different deal, I know fully, since the Ducks were established as college football elite by 2013, but that year they averaged 9.4 yards per pass attempt. It was top five in the country. The next year in 2014, the hamburger promise year, they averaged 9.9 yards per pass attempt. That was No. 1 in the country. In 2015, they averaged 9.0 yards per pass attempt. That was 10th in the country. Those were the Frost-Lubick shared years.
In 2014, the Ducks had an explosive wide receivers unit that made it to the national championship game even as Lubick rolled out mostly a new starting crew by the postseason than he had at the year's beginning. Oregon players on that team praised him for his ability to communicate his teachings so clearly, while scraping away their flaws. "He focuses a lot on some of the things we don't do well," then-Oregon wide receiver Devon Allen told GoDucks.com. "Say you're a good route-runner but you can't block, he's going to really focus on blocking. But if you can block and you need to refine your route-running and catching, he'll work on that. So we become all-around receivers. That's why we can play so many people, because there's not a real drop off."
It's what the Huskers have been searching for under Frost: to come at teams in waves. To make defenses get burned by a fourth or fifth or sixth receiver who has defenders slumping over to the sideline saying, "Now, who exactly was THAT guy?"
Lubick's recruiting at some previous stops has also drawn kudos. It was noted he once put together most of a recruiting class at Arizona State, and also won battles for guys like Dexter McClusterwhile at Ole Miss. "He will do a very good job at Nebraska," predicted our Arizona State site's Chris Karpman, who saw Lubick's work as a recruiting coordinator up close.
That's Frost's plan, after an announcement that both the head coach and Walters "mutually agreed" to part ways.
In defense of Walters, he walked into a real building project here. Nebraska was also perhaps limited by some lower scholarship numbers at wide receiver upon this staff's arrival, and haven't yet put enough home-run hitters on the perimeter since. The Huskers averaged 7.3 yards per attempt in 2018 and 7.9 yards this last year. The Nebraska completion percentage, meanwhile, dipped from 63.6 percent in 2018 to 60.1 percent last year.
There were a lot of reasons for it, but this past season Nebraska couldn't generate the buzz plays even close to how Frost wants it. The Huskers had 174 plays of 10 yards or more. They played in only 12 games while some teams played in more, but it rated 78th nationally. Even with a bowl game, if Nebraska kept to its average of explosive plays per game, it barely would have finished in the top 50 in that category. Hardly the most damning Husker stat of last year, but this is an offensive staff with big expectations.
That 2019 struggle is definitely not one person's fault, but Husker receivers as a whole seemed to regress. Spielman had some big games and another 800-plus-yard season. Wan'Dale was what was hoped. The rest ended up being just ... blah. I remember thinking in the final minute of the Northwestern game, with Spielman injured: 'If Wan'Dale doesn't make a play, then who the heck does?'
And it wasn't thought back during optimistic August that wide receiver was necessarily going to be a weak spot even without Stanley Morgan. Frost said during fall camp, "Receiver is another place where I feel like we're night and day better than last year."
I think Troy Walters is a solid coach, and good man who made the kind of graceful exit to be admired yesterday. I also have no question a guy who was a Broyles Award finalist as recently as 2017 will have more significant opportunities in front of him. Sometimes in this game, seasons get sideways and a position group doesn't take off for even strong coaches. It's true Lubick had his own naysayers at the end of his time at Washington in 2018. He'd spend last season mostly away from the boiling pot of football as a businessman in Fort Collins, Colorado.
That last part strikes me as neither good nor bad, especially since he was still somewhat viewing the game through the lens of an offensive coordinator with his consulting duties. He also should be recharged. That's no small detail, because you need to arrive with full battery life here. Because this Nebraska fish bowl is not easy to swim in for every coach. Put coordinator in your title and the people's verdicts can get even tougher. Even Charlie McBride was not always popular Charlie McBride.
When Lubick's hire for Nebraska was announced over the dinner hour on Friday, it was easy to highlight the offensive coordinator portion of his new job title, given its elevated stature.
But it's what he does in those months before the first game with those wide receivers that looms just as large. Of those not named Spielman and Wan'Dale, not one returning receiver had more than 109 yards last year. And still, it should also be an exciting room to take over for a coach because there is a Spielman and a Wan'Dale, and all those names from the 2019 and 2020 classes who want to change the story.
I might guess that was one of the appealing parts to Lubick. There is some silverware already in that drawer. Needs the polish though. And that's of priority, whether it's salad or hamburger for lunch.
https://247sports.com/college/nebra...oordinator-Matt-Lubick-Scott-Frost-142390137/
