On3 Roundtable: Jeff Sims was the 'hand-picked guy for a reason' at Nebraska

As Matt Rhule set out to build his roster at Nebraska, he saw a need at quarterback. That’s when he dove into the transfer portal to bring in Jeff Sims from Georgia Tech even though last year’s starter, Casey Thompson, was still on the roster.

But Rhule saw his guy and went to get him. In fact, Sims was the “hand-picked guy,” according to HuskerOnline’s Sean Callahan.

Sims spent the last three years at Georgia Tech, and played last year under then-interim coach Geoff Collins. In fact, Collins and Rhule have a longstanding relationship dating back to their time coaching together at Western Carolina more than 20 years ago. That, Callahan said, could have been a factor in the decision to bring Sims in as the next quarterback.

“Jeff Sims had a very impressive spring,” Callahan said on On3 Roundtable with J.D. PicKell. “9-of-13 in that Red-White spring game, had a touchdown run that was impressive.

“I think he was the hand-picked guy for a reason. Geoff Collins coached him at Georgia Tech. Matt Rhule and Geoff Collins go way back. They coached together for a number of years, so there was a connection that they had through Jeff Sims that got him to Nebraska and I think you’re seeing why they wanted this guy here.”

Sims arrived in Lincoln planning to compete with Thompson for the starting job. But after Nebraska’s spring game, Thompson went back into the transfer portal even though he didn’t practice much during the spring as he recovered from shoulder surgery.

Now, the door appears to be open for Sims to become the Cornhuskers’ QB1. That’s the role he had at Georgia Tech the last few years, too, as he threw for 4,464 yards and 30 touchdowns over three seasons.

HuskerOnline’s Sean Callahan: Nebraska went ‘live’ with all quarterbacks during spring practice

Rhule has made multiple changes at Nebraska after taking over as head coach. But the biggest might have come at the quarterback position, Callahan said — and it wasn’t just Sims.

Nebraska’s quarterbacks went “live” throughout the spring. That means Thompson, Sims and the rest of the quarterback room were susceptible to live sacks and, conversely, could get full reps as part of the run game.

Rhule is the first coach to implement such a strategy through spring practice in some time, according to Callahan, and that’s important considering the rough couple years Nebraska had in 2021 and 2022.

“They were live all spring,” Callahan said. “Like, no green jerseys in the scrimmages, all spring. And that hasn’t happened at Nebraska in close to 15, 20 years. I mean, the quarterbacks all were live. Bill Callahan did it back in the day with Zac Taylor when he was a quarterback, I remember that still to this day. You don’t see that happen, where all your guys are eligible to be sacked and the quarterback run game’s live. But it was really important for them to have that type of simulation.

“I think when you tag off in spring ball, you know, when you’re 3-9, 4-8 team back-to-back, you’ve got to get better. And you’re not going to get better finger-tackling a 6-4, 220-pound quarterback. You know and I know, in a game situation, it takes more than a hand to bring down a guy like that. So, I think he wanted to fully simulate as much as he could in these 15 practices, having that quarterback run game live.”