When Mike Riley was hiring his staff to coach at the University of Nebraska, many of his acquisitions were received with tremendous excitement. Danny Langsdorf and Reggie Davis were successful and established coaches that Nebraska had stolen away from the NFL. Trent Bray and Keith Williams were seen as future stars in the coaching ranks. But for all the widely praised hires that Mike Riley made, two of his acquisitions, Mark Banker at defensive coordinator and Hank Hughes as defensive line coach, were not praised and were widely criticized by Husker fans.
Fans were skeptical of Mark Banker due to his less than stellar defensive performances the past two seasons. In 2013, the Beavers finished 101st in total defense and in 2014 they finished 78th. Husker fans were also hoping for a splashier hire such as then Alabama linebacker coach Kevin Steele, who had been a member of Nebraska’s coaching staff during the early 90’s. It was believed by many that Mark Bnker had been hired due to his connection with Mike Riley, they had spent 14 years coaching together, than for his actual coaching ability.
Hank Hughes had the rotten luck of being hired immediately after a rumor started circulating around Lincoln that Ed Orgeron, a fantastic defensive line coach and recruiting dynamo, was interested in the job. Fans hoping for the entertaining and well-known Orgeron were less than thrilled with Hughes, who had little national notoriety despite having a very successful 12 year run at the University of Connecticut. Critics also pointed out Hughes’ less than stellar run as Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator in 2014, a season in which the Bearcats defense ranked 102nd in the nation in total defense. Both hires were seen as attempts to save money instead of breaking the bank to hire the best possible candidate.
Just by looking at the base stats, it appears that Nebraska hasn’t improved much on the defensive side of the ball as the Huskers are currently rated 101st in the nation in total defense. While that may seem terrible, he poor total defense stat is semi-explainable by Nebraska’s horrendous pass defense in non conference play. Nebraska was, at one point, allowing 379.5 passing yards per game, but have lowered that average by almost 40 yards since Big 10 play began. By looking beyond just the base stats however, you get a since of how good a job this pair of coaches is doing for the 2015 Huskers.
The first thing you need to take into account is injuries. Nebraska has lost eight starters for at least one game this season, a staggering amount of injuries that has forced Nebraska use a different starting lineup on defense in EVERY game they have played this season while relying on untested walk-ons to fill out their two-deep. Against Wisconsin, Nebraska started three former walk-ons in their front seven (Ross Dzuris, Jack Gangwish, and Chris Weber). Against Minnesota, the Huskers suited up just 26 players on the defensive side of the ball and only had six defensive linemen and three linebackers available to play. Despite the staggering lack of depth, the Husker defense has improved noticeably in Big 10 play. Since Big 10 play began , Nebraska is allowing
The second thing you need to look at is the style of defense that Nebraska’s defense now plays. During the Pelini regime, Nebraska ran a coverage oriented defense that rarely blitzed or stacked the box, preferring to play with just seven players up by the line of scrimmage. This style of defense had been tremendously successful against the pass happy offenses in the Big 12, but it wasn’t well suited to play against power run teams like Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. Pelini stubbornly stuck to his old scheme, and at least once a year, Nebraska would get beaten due to an inability to stop the run. The final straw came in 2014, when Nebraska allowed 581 rushing yards in one game against Wisconsin. Mark Banker has brought in a much more aggressive defense, known as a spill defense, that routinely stacks the box with eight or even nine players. This has led to great improvement against the run, Nebraska currently ranks 7th in the nation allowing just 91 yards per game, while the Huskers have held all seven of their opponents below their per game rushing average.
Mark Banker hasn’t just changed Nebraska’s scheme, he has also changed Nebraska’s defensive mentality. Nebraska’s defense under Pelini was built around calling the perfect play against the opposing offense; this meant the huskers defense was constantly changing defensive calls and shifting alignments pre-snap. While this worked early in the Pelini regime, defensive breakdowns became more and more frequent as Pelini continued to ask more and more out of his linebackers. Banker has simplified the scheme to the point where current Huskers couldn’t help but marvel at how much faster they could play. Nebraska is noticeably faster on defense this season and plays with a much more aggressive edge than they did in 2014.
Hank Hughes was probably the hire that Husker fans were least excited about heading into this season, so its only natural that he has been arguably the Huskers most successful position coach this season (its between him an Trent Bray). Nebraska entered the season with an established defensive line of Greg McMulen and Jack Gangwsh at defensive end and Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine at defensive tackle. After just two games, both Gangwish and Valentine were on the shelf with injuries. By the end of non conference play backup defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Kevin Maurice had joined them on the injured list, leaving Nebraska with precious little depth entering Big 10. Despite the rash of injuries, Nebraska’s defensive line has thrived, mainly due to the emergence of Maliek Collins as a bonafide super star. Collins was seen by some NFL scouts as a 1st round pick in next years draft but was coming off a up and down 2014 campaign where he looked great for one game but would be a non factor in the next. Hughes tutelage has paid major dividends for Collins, who has improved by leaps and bonds as a run stopper and singlehandedly shut down Illinois’ offense for most of Nebraska’s Big 10 opener. Hughes also deserves credit for the emergence of redshirt freshman Freedom Akinmoladun, who moved over from tight end in the spring and has emerged as Nebraska’s best pass rusher, leading Nebraska with 4.5 sacks despite missing the last two games with injury. Hughes has also helped Gangwish emerge from a high motor backup D-End to a well rounded starter who is a fantastic run stopper. Hughes also deserve credit for helping change Ross Dzuris from an unknown, undersized walk on into a Big 10 caliber defensive end.
Neither of these coaches were given a heroes welcome upon their arrival to Lincoln, but both coaches have been instrumental in keeping the Huskers afloat despite an unprecedented rash of injuries during non conference play while also helping establish the Huskers defensive identity at the same time. Now the Huskers have some positive momentum heading into the final five games of their schedule and are finally getting healthy, as Akinmoladun, Kevin Williams, and Michael Rose-Ivey are expected to return for the Northwestern game. time will tell if Hughes and Banker are the men to help lead the Huskers to the promised land, but the early returns are extremely positive.
