In case you haven’t heard, Nebraska hired a new defensive coordinator. They tell me he’s extremely handsome and some sort of football genius. What he isn’t, apparently, is Kevin Steele, though I fail to see any relevance in that observation unless you’re a hopefully soon-to-be-retired local media scribe needing to drum up some material because you don’t have anything relevant to say once Tim Miles’s season is over.
Woooooosah. In any event, Bob Diaco steps into an interesting position as the new coordinator of the Blackshirts. On one hand, the Blackshirts were statistically a top 30 defense last year, so it’s apparent he’s got some toys to work with in the starting lineup. On the other hand, Nebraska’s defense faltered down the stretch and at times looked completely overmatched, giving up 500+ yards twice in the last six games and allowing 6.86 yards per play in December and January.
As always, expectations are high for the Huskers’ defensive coordinator, and he’ll try to meet them with his hybrid system blending 3-4 and 4-2-5 principles to create a variety of looks throughout the game. Let’s take a look some things I’ll be focusing on against Arkansas State and Oregon.
