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TCU’s Bryan Applewhite to Coach Husker Running Backs

Scott Frost fills final vacancy on Nebraska football staff

Joe Hudson

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Nebraska football coaching staff for 2022 is now complete.

Husker head coach Scott Frost on Thursday announced the hiring of former TCU running backs coach Bryan Applewhite for the same position at Nebraska.

Applewhite brings two decades of coaching experience to Lincoln. Before his two seasons at Texas Christian, he coached at Colorado State, Louisiana-Monroe, Montana State, Wyoming and Northern Colorado, his alma mater. He served as recruiting coordinator at CSU and ULM.

TCU ranked in the nation's top 30 in rushing during both of Applewhite's seasons there: 214.7 yards per game in 2020 and 196.3 ypg in 2021.

Applewhite takes over a position group that has produced just one 1,000-yard rusher in the last seven seasons. No Husker running back got even 500 yards in three of those years, including 2020 and 2021.

This was the final vacancy to be filled after Frost fired four offensive assistants in early November and defensive line coach Tony Tuioti left for Oregon in December. Besides Tuioti, gone are:

  • Mario Verduzco, quarterbacks.
  • Ryan Held, running backs.
  • Greg Austin, offensive line.
  • Matt Lubick, wide receivers/offensive coordinator.

Newly on board in addition to Applewhite are:

Staying put are:

  • Sean Beckton, tight ends.
  • Erik Chinander, defensive coordinator.
  • Mike Dawson, defensive line and edge rushers.
  • Barrett Ruud, inside linebackers
  • Travis Fisher, defensive backs.

At TCU, Applewhite was on the staff of longtime head coach Gary Patterson, who resigned in midseason and was eventually replaced by Sonny Dykes. Applewhite is from the Denver suburb of Brighton and was a fullback on Northern Colorado teams that won Division II national championships in 1996 and 1997. More details from Applewhite's résumé can be found at this link.

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Joe Hudson
JOE HUDSON

Joe Hudson has operated a Husker-related website since 1995 and joined forces with David Max to form HuskerPedia (later renamed HuskerMax) in 1999. It began as a hobby during his 35 years as a newspaper editor and reporter, a career that included stints at the Lincoln Star, Omaha World-Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer and Denver Post. In Denver, Joe was chief of the copy desk during his final 16 years at the Post. He is proud to have been involved in Pulitzer Prize-winning projects in both Philadelphia and Denver. Joe has been a Nebraska football fan since the mid-1960s during his childhood in Omaha. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in journalism and economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1976. He resides a few freeway exits north of Colorado Springs and enjoys bicycling and walking his dogs in his spare time. You can reach him at joeroyhud@outlook.com.

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