On Tuesday, the Nebraska Cornhuskers finalized the hiring of Pittsburgh Steelers assistant Glenn Thomas to coach the program’s quarterbacks. And he will also provide help to Marcus Satterfield in his other role as co-offensive coordinator. Let’s take a look at what this means for the quarterbacks in the Husker offense right now.
A Veteran Presence
When Thomas arrives in Lincoln, he will be in charge of developing a talented quarterback room. This includes five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola as well as Elite 11 finalist Daniel Kaelin. It will be one of the hardest tasks of the offseason, but he’s done this before with Matt Rhule at the helm. In his first season at Temple as the offensive coordinator, he helped junior PJ Walker throw for 3,925 yards and 22 touchdowns while having a 58% completion percentage. In his senior season, Walker cemented himself as one of the best signal callers in program history. This was shown when he led the team in passing yards, touchdown passes, and total offense. It’s a pretty impressive resume, but he wouldn’t hang up his whistle yet in the college game. Instead, he reunited with Rhule at Baylor in 2018 to mentor Charlie Brewer. And this experience would pay off for the program. In Thomas’s offense, he would pass for 3,019 yards and 19 touchdowns. Here’s hoping that his guidance can produce similar numbers for a struggling Nebraska offense.
Welcome to Lincoln Coach Thomas!
🔗 https://t.co/vHTKNSYtAH#GBR x #WhatsNExt! pic.twitter.com/J2c0RaStAk
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) January 17, 2024
Can Kickstart Nebraska’s Offense
Now that Thomas has Rhule’s blessing to take over NU’s quarterback room, Satterfield will work with the tight ends and manage some of the offensive coordinator’s responsibilities. For the Big Red, this might finally mean that the program’s offense can finally flourish. But will it have the same tendencies as last season? It probably won’t but the passing attack has to be improved quickly. According to HuskerExtra, Nebraska’s 2023 offense only managed to eke out 135.9 yards per game last season. Because of this, NU was only able to score just 18 points per game. It’s a low bar that was lowered even further with the injuries to Chubba Purdy and Jeff Sims last season. But luckily, Thomas and the staff have plenty of experience on how to keep the offense on track. Will this prediction hold true with the freshman on the roster, or will bad play at the position rear its ugly head once again?
Would Attract Other Staffers
Now that Thomas has officially joined Rhule’s staff at Nebraska, the offense looks to be in good shape heading into 2024. And the optimism in Lincoln could grow even higher if they hired former Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen. Since last December, he’s been in talks to join the program in an offensive analyst role. If this rumor ended up coming true for the Cornhusker program, they would have one of the most seasoned coaches in college football According to On3, the Iowa native’s time in the air raid offense under Mike Leach led him to become offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Houston. This would prove to be a massive success, as all three stops would have top-ranked offenses. But he would truly shine as the head coach for the West Virginia Mountaineers. From the years of 2011 to 2018, he would boast a 61-41 record and four bowl game wins. If Nebraska ends up making this move in the offseason, it would certainly add momentum to their quest for a bowl game.
Matt Ryan and Dylan Raiola
For Husker fans, Nebraska’s new quarterbacks coach might as well have been brought here to be Raiola’s mentor. After all, Rhule has plenty of praise for what the five-star prospect showed at Buford High School in Georgia. And in the Polynesian Bowl practice, he was the first quarterback in the competition to throw it 70 yards. For the Husker program, this proves that he is ready for the spotlight. And as a result, he elevates the type of prospects that the Cornhuskers could attract in the 2025 class. With how many transfers NU has landed so far, the incoming freshman is handling his role of peer recruiting well. But that’s not all of his job description. He still has to develop chemistry with his targets. Luckily Thomas has extensive experience with this. After all, he helped lead Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to a Pro Bowl appearance in 2016. But this was due to was due to the threats that Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones were that season. However, history can be made once again if future Husker wideouts Isaiah Neyor and Jahmal Banks step up their game.
Read more about Dylan Raiola’s peer recruiting efforts in Stefon Thompson Commits To Nebraska
