Nebraska OC Marcus Satterfield clarifies Heinrich Haarberg's role with Dylan Raiola as starter
After finishing out the 2023 season starting at quarterback for Nebraska, Heinrich Haarberg will be taking a backseat to starter Dylan Raiola in 2024. But though he might not be the starter, the quarterback will still apparently be an involved piece of the Cornhuskers offense.
While Raiola, a heralded freshman and one of the top recruits in the 2024 class, didn’t take long to take the starting job, offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield evidently doesn’t want Haarberg just standing on the sideline. Be it some Taysom Hill-esque role or specific packages to get the junior quarterback into the game, the Cornhuskers staff is intent on getting the most out of the quarterback room.
Speaking ahead of Nebraska’s season opener, Satterfield shared that Haarberg is “too athletic to be holding a clipboard.” He anticipates that Haarberg will be on the field with Raiola “a lot.”
And during his 10 games and eight starts to end 2023, Haarberg did show a dual-threat presence that could be put to good use as Raiola eases in. While pushing Nebraska to a 5-3 mark in his starts, Haarberg put up 967 passing yards, another 477 on the ground and 12 total touchdowns — five rushing, seven passing. All those marks were team-leading for the Cornhuskers.
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While the hope is certainly that the offense is much more productive in 2024 — and flowing through many more players — the Cornhuskers staff doesn’t want to just take that returning production off the field.
Head coach Matt Rhule recently spoke about the desire to get Haarberg on the field in some capacity, even intimating that he thinks the quarterback is a good enough athlete to play at linebacker or safety or an offensive skill position, if given the runway to learn the position.
“Heinrich, to me, could be a great safety, could probably be a great linebacker,” Rhule said. “He’d be a great tailback, wideout, tight end, and so we have the opportunity to use him when needed. At the same time, I also don’t want to lose my No. 2 quarterback because he ran a dive.”
And with a winnable opener against UTEP on the docket, the Cornhuskers should an early opportunity to test out some of their looks with Haarberg on the field either with, or instead of, Raiola.