03.14.2011 / Pelini Talks about Changes to his Coaching Staff. Blog posting by Mike Babcock, Huskers Illustrated Magazine
The time had come. I felt like a change was needed, what is in the best interest of the program, of changing out the system, bringing in some fresh ideas, a whole new system and do it going forward, coach Bo Pelini said during the Nebraska football teams pre-spring news conference.
Specifically, Pelini was talking about the Husker offense, which has a new coordinator in Tim Beck, formerly the running backs coach, and a new, simplified philosophy.
The offense will be “multiple but simple,” said Pelini. “You’ve got to be aggressive. We’re going to be an aggressive, attacking style offense, period, end of story.”
Well, actually, that’s the beginning of the story this spring. The results will be reflected in the Red-White Spring Game on April 16, the first public display of the restructured offense. It won’t be a finished product at that point, however. Revamping the offense is a significant undertaking.
During the spring, “you establish your foundation,” Pelini said. The need for restructuring was apparent in the season’s finish. Nebraska lost three of its final four games, and in each of the losses, the offense struggled. The Huskers scored only one touchdown in their last six quarters and managed just 189 yards of total offense in the Holiday Bowl game.
In fact, they weren’t particularly productive offensively in five of their final six games, the lone exception being a 45-17 victory against Colorado. That quarterback Taylor Martinez was less than full-speed was a factor. But there was more to it than that. “It’s not as much what you do, it’s sometimes how you do it,” said Pelini.
So how will Beck do it? “We tried to reduce some of the verbiage in there, trying to maybe simplify some of the schemes, as well, for the guys and trying to make, maybe, a little more sense,” Beck said. “My philosophy is, I want our players to understand our offense and to run our offense. I don’t want them to run plays, so I think they need to know why I’m doing what I’m doing and what they’re doing and how it fits.”
Pelini shares Beck’s philosophy, which is “very much the same philosophy we have on defense, multiple but simple, let the players develop a true understanding of what we’re doing, not just what you’re doing and memorizing what you’re doing, but why are you doing it?” said Pelini. “So then you can react. You can play fast. You can play confident.”
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