• last year
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to the Carriker Chronicles, ladies and gentlemen.
00:11 This is my gut reaction to Tony White restructuring the contract, coming back to coach at the
00:16 University of Nebraska.
00:18 Welcome to the Carriker Chronicles, the people show.
00:21 Check the pulse of a very happy Husker Nation.
00:24 The happiest we've been in about four weeks.
00:26 Ladies and gentlemen, Christmas came early.
00:29 It's the most wonderful time of the year.
00:35 My dad used to shush me in church, tell me not to sing.
00:37 I mean, am I that bad?
00:38 Now you know why I do these for a living, or at least I used to do football.
00:41 Anyways, I digress.
00:42 Christmas came early, and if you're as happy as I am that Tony White's going to be coming
00:46 back to coach the Blackshirts next season, smash that like button.
00:52 Alright, ladies and gentlemen, so Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator, Tony
00:56 White.
00:57 He's also a nominee, I should mention this, nominee for the Broyles Award, the nation's
01:01 top assistant coach, not just 2023, but in 2022.
01:06 He just led, I wonder why, he just led Nebraska to their best defensive performance of the
01:11 Big Ten era.
01:12 Alright, now he just signed a restructured contract.
01:14 He was making a million dollars a year.
01:17 Now he's going to make 1.6 million per year each year of the two remaining seasons left
01:24 in his contract.
01:25 Now, the Blackshirts defense last year was the third most improved unit against the run
01:31 and ranked as the fourth most improved unit in total defense.
01:34 And if you hadn't heard, eight different Blackshirts earned all Big Ten recognition this past season.
01:41 Now Matt Rule, here's what he had to say, and I quote, "Tony has all the attributes
01:45 you look for in a coordinator or assistant coach."
01:48 Another quote from Coach Rule, and I quote, "He builds great relationships with his players
01:52 and fellow coaches and is an elite teacher and communicator.
01:55 We made great strides on defense this past season and I look forward to continuing to
01:59 work with Tony as we move forward and build this program."
02:04 End quote.
02:05 Now Tony is now the third highest paid coach in the Big Ten.
02:09 I got no problem with that.
02:11 And he is also the highest paid assistant coach in Husker football history.
02:17 Also got no problem with that.
02:19 Now here's why this is uber important.
02:21 Today's December 1st.
02:22 Now if you didn't know, that's the first day of off-campus recruiting in this cycle.
02:28 So imagine Tony White coming to recruit your son.
02:31 You got to, now today, let me see, Tony will be in Omaha Westside.
02:36 That's where he's starting.
02:37 But imagine Tony coming into your living room trying to recruit your son, and your son's
02:40 a, let's say a highly recruited kid that a lot of coaches want.
02:43 Well you don't know if he's going to be there.
02:45 That undermines the entire recruiting cycle.
02:48 Not no more.
02:49 Now he's going to be back, everybody knows.
02:51 I'm excited, Husker Nation should be excited, the defenders should be excited, and recruits
02:54 that he's talking to should be excited as well.
02:57 Now here's a few other stats.
02:59 Now we all know the Blackshirts were significantly better last year, but here's a few more things.
03:02 Now this was actually sent out via Keith Mann.
03:05 I'm technically a member of the media now, still weird for me, but I love the folks that
03:09 I work with, especially at 93.7, the ticket, they do a phenomenal job.
03:12 But I get this little tidbits of information now too.
03:14 So here we go, Nebraska allowed 303.5 yards per game in 2023, the best total defense average
03:20 in Nebraska since 2009.
03:22 Think about that.
03:23 Nebraska ranks 14th nationally in total defense, the program's first top 25 defensive ranking
03:28 since 2010.
03:30 The Blackshirts ranked 8th nationally in rush defense, allowing just 92.9 yards per game,
03:35 which is Nebraska's best run defense since 1999.
03:40 Even better than 2009, I did not know that.
03:42 Alright, Nebraska held 8 of 12 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing in 2023.
03:49 Nebraska opponents were held to 14 or fewer points in 8 games in 2023.
03:52 Nebraska ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense at 18.3 points per game.
03:57 This is the program's best scoring defense average since 2010.
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04:22 Now, here's a couple of my own thoughts.
04:25 Now we'd heard all these rumors, "Tony, is he going to USC?
04:28 Are they going to poach him?
04:29 Are they going to pay him a bunch of money?"
04:30 I'll tell you right now, had he gone somewhere else as a defensive coordinator, I would have
04:35 been pissed because it would have meant we weren't willing to pay him.
04:39 As much money as this program makes, that would not have made me happy.
04:43 But alas, I also didn't think it was very realistic, which is why I didn't say anything.
04:47 It doesn't seem like a move that Tony would make, unless the money is just gargantuanly
04:52 different.
04:53 Also, if you listen to him talk in one of his most recent press conferences, and you
04:58 just chat with him, which I do every once in a while, I'm not a tone, the man's very,
05:01 very busy, I feel like he's got some loyalty to Matt Rule.
05:05 Now we'd be fools to think that he's not going to be on people's radar in the future as a
05:09 potential head coaching candidate.
05:11 But for right here, right now, this upcoming year, Husker fans have to be happy and thrilled.
05:19 To me, this was the most important thing we needed to do this offseason, that or a transfer
05:23 portal quarterback.
05:24 I'm going to do shows on that here in the near future.
05:28 I should mention, I also think, not just getting a transfer portal quarterback, but getting
05:33 Chubba Purdy to come back.
05:35 Even Heinrich Harburg, who Matt Rule talked about in the press conference as a guy he's
05:39 excited about, a guy who wasn't even in the quarterback room a year ago.
05:42 Now I know a lot of people think he should move to tight end, etc. etc.
05:46 But Purdy's got talent, he's got ability.
05:49 Harburg, I love the way that kid plays.
05:52 That kid is Nebraska through and through.
05:53 How do you not root for him?
05:54 Then you bring in a transfer portal quarterback on top of it.
05:57 Here's why we need all three to come back.
05:59 We need a quarterback competition.
06:01 Let the best quarterback win this year, in this offseason.
06:04 You need depth.
06:06 And then what if the transfer portal guy, who we're all going to have high expectations
06:09 for, comes in and struggles?
06:11 I don't want to throw Jeff Simms under the bus, but kind of like a Jeff Simms situation.
06:14 Great kid, nice guy.
06:15 Rule's got nothing but great things to say.
06:17 But you need somebody else there too.
06:20 So for me, this was the most important move that we needed to make this offseason.
06:24 This was 1A.
06:25 1B is the transfer portal quarterback.
06:26 Alright ladies and gentlemen, bottom line, the defense was good this year.
06:30 It's going to be even better next year.
06:32 You've got Hupmaker coming back, you've got Robinson coming back, you've got Tony White
06:35 coming back.
06:36 There's no reason not to be excited.
06:37 Okay, here are my questions for you fine folks at home, as always.
06:39 Hit me up in the comments below.
06:40 Facebook, Twitter, and the Tube.
06:43 YouTube.
06:44 Number one, just simple yes or no to these first couple questions.
06:46 Yes or no, in your opinion, was this the most important offseason move that the Huskers
06:51 could make?
06:52 Just simply say yes or no.
06:53 Number two, yes or no, is the next most important offseason move for the Huskers to make, the
06:59 Husker coaching staff bringing in a transfer portal quarterback?
07:03 And I know that seems like a silly question, but you never know the answer until you ask
07:06 the question.
07:07 Let me know, yes or no.
07:08 And you can always give me more in-depth answers if you'd like.
07:11 Last and final question, another yes or no question, do you agree with me that retaining
07:14 Chubba Purdy, at least Chubba, I'd personally like to bring Heinrich Karberg back, especially
07:20 after what Matt Ruhl had to say at the press conference about him, okay, that that is also
07:23 very important for this offseason, as far as offseason moves as well.
07:28 Now if you missed some of my most recent shows, okay, the most recent one I did, Nick Henrich
07:34 hung up the cleats, announced it on social media, so I interviewed him yesterday, go
07:38 back and check that out if you missed it.
07:40 I got the gut reaction to this today.
07:42 I'm not going to lie to you, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to be in Florida, my son's playing
07:47 his eighth grade tackle football team is playing in Nationals in Florida, and I already told
07:51 my wife, I said keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook and the media news cycle because
07:55 I'm going to be doing stuff with that team, but I'm going to be ready at the drop of a
07:58 hat to do gut reactions to if we get a quarterback, to if somebody leaves, to if another position
08:02 joins, to if Ruhl kind of hinted maybe some coaches on offense might get moved around.
08:08 There's going to be a ton of offseason content coming your way, especially right up until
08:13 about Christmas Eve if I'm being honest with you.
08:16 So if you're interested in any of that stuff, smash the like button and until next time,
08:19 Husker Nation, Go Big Red, and always remember to throw the butt.
08:24 Amen.