Dawson takes the reins of NU’s special teams

One of the most asked questions of the offseason was about Nebraska’s plan to address its glaring need for improvement on special teams in 2021.

Head coach Scott Frost finally provided an answer for his plan on Monday, announcing that outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson would also have the title of special teams coordinator.

Dawson has experience with the game’s third element, as he served as special teams coach at Boston College from 2009-11. During that time, the Eagles produced consecutive school-record kickers (Steve Aponavicius and Nate Freese) and an NFL punter (Ryan Quigley).

“He’s been a special teams coach at a lot of different places at the 1A level, so he’s going to be the lead for us on all the special teams,” Frost said of Dawson. “He’ll certainly get a lot of help from all the other assistants like we did last year, but Mike’s going to take the lead on it…

“I’m excited for much-needed progress there.”

While Dawson gets the special teams coordinator title, Frost made it clear it would not be a one-man job.

Frost said offensive line coach Greg Austin and defensive line coach Tony Tuioti would handle most of the work on the field goals and field goal block teams. Dawson will be primarily in charge of the punt, kickoff, punt return, and kickoff return units.

The Huskers will also get some help from newly hired defensive analyst Bill Busch.

A coach with more than 30 years of experience, Busch served as NU’s special teams coach under Bill Callahan from 2004-07. He also coached special teams at Utah State from 2011-12 and then at Wisconsin from 2013-14.

During his four seasons in Lincoln, the Huskers blocked 16 kicks (seven in 2005), ranked 24th nationally in net punting in 2006),17th in punt returns in ’05, and 15th kickoff coverage in 2006.

Frost said Busch would spend the majority of his time assisting Nebraska’s defensive staff, but he would undoubtedly have a voice on special teams as well.

“Bill’s going to help primarily with the defense just off the field, schematics and helping our coaches, and I’m sure he’ll give a hand to Coach Dawson on special teams too,” Frost said. “He brings a lot of expertise to the table that I think our coaches will be able to utilize.”

Dawson takes over for former special teams analyst Jonathan Rutledge, who was let go after one season in 2020.

The Huskers ranked second in the Big Ten in punt return average (13.3) and field goal percentage (.867) last season.

But they were dead last in kickoff coverage (36.0 net average on 40 kicks) and allowed the second-most kick return yards (498). Nebraska also ranked 13th in the league with a net punting average of 34.7.

Nebraska is hoping its new approach on special teams leads to substantially better results. Tight end Austin Allen said he’d already seen a noticeable difference in how the staff has prioritized the kicking and return games.

“What I’ve noticed different about this spring is it’s more business-like,” Allen said. “Special teams is one of Frost’s three keys to victory. You win on special teams, you put yourself in a great chance to win the football game.

“The emphasis so far on special teams has been very promising in my eyes and an improvement from what we saw last year. Like I said, it’s a very business-like deal for what we want to get accomplished.”