Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield is speaking out about the Husker offense heading into the 2024 season. One of the biggest talking points of the off-season has been freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola.
Satterfield was about the expectations for the Cornhusker quarterback as fall camp begins for Nebraska.
“All three quarterbacks, I haven’t really seen them. Coach (Rhule) really made us get away this year and let the players kind of take over. Last time I saw those guys in June, they had taken another step since the spring from throwing the football. That was an emphasis for us going into spring ball was throwing the football. They had a good June, and then I’m anxious to get back to see where they are. I obviously heard people talking about how all those guys are developing. Danny (Daniel Kaelin), Heinrich (Haarberg), and Dylan (Raiola). All of them had great summers. A great last three weeks especially.”
Nebraska’s offense needs to improve markedly this season. Last year, it ranked 115th in the nation in total offense, averaging a paltry 312.8 yards per game.
They also struggled in scoring offense ranking 120th overall and averaging only 18.0 points per game. Satterfield was also asked on how far ahead Dylan Raiola is mentally compared to other true freshmen he’s coached.
“I think it’s his work ethic the way he attacks it. He’ll stay up all night just rewriting notes and rewriting plays just to make sure he can call them in the proper cadence in the proper rhythm. He’s just obsessed with trying to be really good and that shows in the development thus far since he’s been here since January and I’m just anxious to see what it’s going to look like this week for all three of those dudes.”
Find more comments from offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield.
On conversations about changes he wants to make this season
“There isn’t a lot of changes, I think it’s just the mindset on how we are teaching the quarterback. The reason that we hired Glenn (Thomas) is that we are very familiar with him and I know how he is going to teach the quarterback and the calmness he does it with. I’m really pleased from the spring to this point where these guys are.”
On Carter Nelson
“More of a position made for him. I think that whether you’re playing 8-man football or 11-man football, when you go from high school to the Big Ten, that’s a huge transition physically. As athletic, with all the tools that he’s been given, we didn’t want to slow his path to the field down by trying to make him block a 6-foot-5 285 pound defensive end. We wanted him to do what he does best which is run routes, get open, catch the ball, play in space. So we thought if we taught from the outside, back to inside, it’ll get him on the field a little bit quicker. That’s kind of the direction of why we did that.”
On if the second and third team players can push the first team players
On the importance of the younger players continuing to progress through camp
“The cool thing is the veteran guys that we brought in, when we were recruiting those guys like Isaiah (Neyor) and Jahmal (Banks), we talked to them about being big brothers and I think they really embraced that role. I think the younger receivers have not looked at them as ‘I’m not going to get on the field because we have older guys.’ They’ve looked at them as big brother types and I think they’ve done a really nice job of mentoring the young guys and teaching them how to practice, teaching them how to work, teaching them how to be pros. Again, I think they’re going to play off each other. There’s great competition in that room.”
On the key to eliminating giveaways
“Obviously you all, we, the citizens of Nebraska, know that you can’t turn the ball over and I think you can talk about that but once our guys globally, coaches, players, everything, look back and know how different the season could have been if we don’t turn the ball over. I think they know how critical that is and I think starting last spring the emphasis on not turning the ball over. If we have to just take a knee three times and punt the ball but we don’t turn it over we will do that. But we are not going to turn the ball over. And they know that if you turn the ball over you are not going to play. Just talking about the depth that we’ve developed on offense we’re at a point now where if you do turn the ball over you are coming out of the game and whether you get out there again or not that is yet to be seen.”
On if incoming freshman quarterbacks are more advanced now
“I think it is just sped up a lot. Back in the day when you were a quarterback you played baseball, basketball, you did everything. Now, especially the high-end quarterbacks, they’ve played quarterback for 6-7 years now and that’s all they’ve done. They prepared and learned how to prepare. They learned how to watch film at an early age. The offenses, going back down into the high-school level, are so advanced now that by the time they get on campus here mentally they are at a higher rate then they were 10 years ago. Just the physical component, like how fast can they physically get ready to get out there and perform.”
On in-helmet communication
“It’s amazing. I’ve listened to so many interviews from coaches and how some teams haven’t even used it yet. I think Coach (Rhule) pushed us to make sure we are the best that we could possibly be on headsets and using the iPads. We’ve used those at every scrimmage. I think it’s great. I think we have to be careful to not say too much. I can’t imagine being out there during a Big Ten game as a quarterback and us talking to you the whole time. You just can’t do that. You need to give them the proper information in a sequence that gives them rhythm in a way that they can call plays. And obviously in 15 seconds if there’s things that we can’t get to I’m going to try to not talk too much. Just front load it early. Like ‘A, B, C, D, E, let’s go baby here we go.’ And then if there’s something that pops obviously we will tell them. I don’t want to be talking the whole time.”
On Thomas Fidone
“I’m really pleased with where he is. He’s put weight on, he’s running really well, changing direction really well. All skills are improving. He’s had a really good summer, and I love the fact that he is obsessed with being the best version of himself. I think he works toward that and he has a standard every day and he lives up to it. I’m really excited to see how far he can take it this year. We’re definitely going to need him to produce for us, we’re going to put him in a position of use.”
On how the offensive line will help the skill players
“I think it’s huge just to have pass protection. Sometimes offensive lines get a bad rap for sacks and it has nothing to do with what they were doing. It has something to do with the quarterback’s depth, the quarterback not getting rid of the ball, the receivers not running the proper routes, things like that. I think just their ability to pass protect and their comfort in our system in year two is going to allow them to protect the quarterback and block and create seams for the running backs which bleeds out through the entire team for success.
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