Driving for 6: The Big Ten’s big coordinator shakeup; Huskers’ returning production; talkin’ TEs | Football

The offseason continues, so let’s take a drive and get into, well, matters of continuity.

1. Nebraska has been in the midst of a three-month stretch of virtually constant change, from the offensive staff to the way Scott Frost envisions his role as the Husker head coach to the quarterback position and beyond. NU will see as much or more change this offseason as most schools in the Big Ten — more on that below — but it’s hardly alone, and all it takes is a look through the 2022 schedule to see why.

The Huskers have 11 FBS teams on the docket this fall in addition to FCS North Dakota. They open with Northwestern and close with Iowa, both of whom are currently slated to head into 2022 with the same head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator as last year.

In between, all nine of the others have at least one new coordinator.

Let’s rip through them: Georgia Southern has a new head coach (former USC head man Clay Helton) and a pair of new coordinators in OC Bryan Ellis and DC Will Harris.

Ditto for Oklahoma, which has new head coach Brent Venables, OC Jeff Lebby and co-DCs Ted Roof and Todd Bates.

Indiana? Replacing both coordinators as well, with OC Walt Bell and DC Chad Wilt now on Tom Allen’s staff.

Wilt came from Minnesota, as did Rutgers’ new defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak.

Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm had to rework his staff again, including losing co-DC and play-caller Brad Lambert to Wake Forest.

Bret Bielema at Illinois fired his offensive coordinator after Year 1 and hired Barry Lunney Jr. to the position.

Minnesota has a new offensive coordinator but a familiar face in Kirk Ciarrocca. That almost counts as continuity given his long history with P.J. Fleck, but Ciarrocca is technically a new hire after one year as Penn State’s offensive coordinator and one year as an analyst at West Virginia.

Michigan? Yeah, Jim Harbaugh is back after his rather pronounced public flirtation with the Minnesota Vikings, but he’s replacing both coordinators after Mike McDonald returned to Harbaugh’s brother as the Baltimore Ravens’ DC and Josh Gattis left to be the OC at Miami.

Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst has been able to hang on to star defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, but he’s got a new offensive coordinator in former Baltimore Ravens tight ends coach Bobby Engram.

Grand totals: Two new head coaches, four schools with entirely new sets of coordinators and 13 new coordinators, some of which have not yet been hired, among Nebraska’s 11 FBS opponents.

No changes for Iowa, the continuity kings, despite the Hawkeyes’ offense finishing No. 99 nationally in scoring (23.4 points per game), No. 109 in passing yards per game (180.1), No. 108 in yards per carry (3.41) and No. 121 in total offense (303.7 per game). Brian Ferentz is back for a sixth year as offensive coordinator and his dad, Kirk Ferentz, has a new contract extension that pays $7 million per year through 2029. Life is stable in Iowa City.

Overall, 11 of 14 Big Ten schools are replacing at least one coordinator. Among the four Nebraska doesn’t face in 2022, only Michigan State currently has both of its coordinators back for the upcoming season.

2. That got long, let’s burn through some more.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly put out a big batch of preliminary 2022 analytics including estimated returning production on both sides of the ball.

NU, not surprisingly, must replace quite a bit. The Huskers have 57% of their production returning on each side of the ball, according to Connelly’s data, which checks in at No. 104 nationally. Offensively, the lion’s share of that departed production is quarterback Adrian Martinez and his top two receivers in 2021, wideout Samori Toure and tight end Austin Allen.

Defensively, the numbers are a bit more evenly dispersed, but clearly replacing linebacker JoJo Domann, cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and four defensive linemen will represent a challenge.

Only Illinois (51% returning production) has to replace more on the field than Nebraska does.

3. In the early rendition of ESPN’s SP+ ranking, Nebraska checks in No. 34 nationally overall.

That number includes balance between offense (No. 36) and defense (No. 37). In the West, it puts the Huskers fifth behind Wisconsin (No. 10), Minnesota (No. 19), Iowa (No. 26) and Purdue (No. 27).

Of course, numbers in February are just that. They won’t determine what happens in the fall, but they are interesting. Just as a point of interest: NU finished 2021 ranked No. 37 by the SP+, but that was little consolation in a bizarre, hard-to-comprehend 3-9 season. So, an offseason of change and more production to replace than almost everybody in the Big Ten, but the numbers put NU in about the same place in the hierarchy now as where they finished 2021. The only thing that will matter is how much different the win-loss columns look.

4. NU has to replace Allen, the Big Ten’s tight end of the year in 2021, but given that Sean Beckton is the only offensive staffer returning in 2022 and what the rest of the room looks like, it does feel like there’s more continuity at the position than any other for the Huskers on offense.

The group in 2022 will be led by senior Travis Vokolek, perhaps NU’s best blocker last year and also a capable pass-catcher, and also features walk-on Chancellor Brewington, redshirt freshman Thomas Fidone coming off a knee injury that cost him most of his first collegiate season, sophomore Chris Hickman and a bunch of young players still early in their development.

It’s amazing how fast attention turns elsewhere, but a year ago, Fidone was one of the most talked-about players on the roster and the crown jewel of the Huskers’ recruiting efforts in 2021. Now, he’ll try to establish himself as an option — perhaps a major one — in an offense that has a ton of new skill position players to sort through.

5. Fidone and the young guys will get a ton of work in spring ball, too, because Vokolek is going to miss most or all of it after having postseason surgery on an apparent shoulder injury.

“Really anxious to see the development of those young guys at that position,” Frost said on Feb. 2. “We feel like we have really good young talent there. Thomas and (fellow redshirt freshman A.J. Rollins) and others. Those guys are going to get reps with Travis out. I think that’s going to be great for them.

“Obviously, Travis has enough reps that we feel good about him when he comes back and gets back with the team this summer and fall camp. Those guys are going to their shot to really develop and (Beckton) will do a great job with them.”

6. It’s hard to kick the portal habit, so let’s close with this.

A ton of players will hit the market in the next three months — there have already been more than 2,000 transfers this cycle — but in the search for help on the defensive front, how many are going to be more coveted than TCU transfer Ochaun Mathis? The 6-foot-5, 260-pounder was a second-team All-Big 12 selection and had four sacks and seven tackles for loss.

The competition is heavy, but the Huskers have a need and a connection in that Bryan Applewhite was on the staff at TCU. Texas might be tough to beat, especially with former Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson on staff, but we’ll see if the Huskers take a swing. Mathis entered the portal on Jan. 12 but didn’t sign anywhere before spring semesters began.

Just one of what’s likely to be many names to file away for the coming weeks and months.