Husker Dan: Special Teams Might Not Be So Special

Does Nebraska need a dedicated special teams coach?

Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Ask any Husker fan what kind of an assistant Scott Frost needs to hire to fill one of his two remaining coaching vacancies at Nebraska, and most would probably cast their vote for a full-time special teams coach.

And why not?

We know there are three phases in football: Offense, defense and special teams. Special teams is one-third of the game, right?

Yes, and as most Husker fans know, special teams play under Frost's watch has been, well, abysmal. (In 2021, NU's ranking was 128th out of 130 teams). Reduce the special teams meltdowns in Frost's four years as the Husker coach and Nebraska could have won maybe 15 more games, making Nebraska's overall record a respectable 30-14. And had Nebraska won more games, NU probably would have gone to four bowl games during his tenure. And because of those four bowl games, Nebraska would have had another 60 practices (15 x 4=60) to help develop the less experienced players.

I know, if my uncle had breasts, he could be my aunt. The question is, will hiring a full-time special teams assistant magically make Nebraska a national contender again?

Maybe and maybe not. Recently, I did some research on special teams, and what I found might surprise you. First, I'll pose two questions:

1. What do these FBS college football teams that ranked in the top 25 in special teams (according to footballoutsiders.com) have in common? (Ball State, Texas, Virginia Tech, Old Dominion, Arkansas State, Missouri and Colorado)
2. What is surprising about Western Michigan, the team that finished 2021 dead last in special teams (130th out of 130 teams)?

We'll come back to those questions in a minute. Footballoutsiders.com special teams rankings are are based on a formula they created. One thing to note: FCS games are not included. Hence, Nebraska's record is 2-9 because the Huskers' win over FCS Fordham in September is not included. Among other things, their rankings include a team's kickoff and punt return yardage made and allowed, punt efficiency, field goal efficiency etc.

Let's go back to the two questions listed above.

The Answers:

1. All seven of these teams ranked in the top 25 in special teams play had losing records. That's right - losing records. Remember, FCS games are not included. In 2021, Ball State's record was 5-6, Texas (5-7), Virginia Tech (5-6), Old Dominion (5-6), Arkansas State (1-10), Missouri (5-6) and Colorado (3-8). How can this be? Number one ranked Michigan (12-1)) and number two ranked Iowa (10-3) have had really good seasons. So what happened to these other seven teams?
2. Western Michigan - the team that finished dead last in special teams rankings in 2021 - ended the regular season at 6-5. That's right. The worst special teams program according to footballoutsiders.com had a winning season! And what's more, they ended the season with a 50-24 win over Nevada in the Quick Lane Bowl.

Go figure.

So if Scott Frost doesn't hire a full time special teams assistant, don't be too shocked. Nebraska needs to shore up more than just its special teams play.