The 3-2-1: How much can Nebraska improve its offense under Dana Holgorsen?
How much improvement can we expect from the Nebraska offensive under new coordinator Dana Holgorsen?
In this week’s 3-2-1 column, we hit on that and more with three things we learned, two questions, and one prediction.
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THREE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK
1 – No matter what happens, these final three games will be interesting for Nebraska
It was interesting to hear Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen talk more on Big Red Wrap-Up with us this week about adding Dana Holgorsen to Matt Rhule’s coaching staff.
Dannen said he has spoken to many people in the football industry, and nobody can recall a time when somebody from outside the building stepped in at mid-season to take over a play-calling position.
There have been some unique situations at Nebraska, like Rick Kaczenski coaching for Iowa in 2011 before joining the Husker staff after the Heroes Trophy game to coach in the Capitol One Bowl against South Carolina after Carl Pelini left for Florida Atlantic.
In 2022, Bill Busch took over as defensive coordinator for Erik Chinander. At that time, Busch had only been coaching special teams and was not involved with the defense’s day-to-day operation.
This situation, though, is highly unique. Many curious eyes will watch Saturday’s game at USC to see how things look with Holgorsen running the show.
The other thing that makes this all seamless is the new assistant coach rules that allow schools to have unlimited paid on-field coaches. This has allowed a lot of this to happen, even with Marcus Satterfield still on the staff. In the past, to add an on-field coach, you had to lose one.
2 – AD Troy Dannen laid out more details for the future of Memorial Stadium
We also got a more in-depth plan from Dannen on Tuesday about what’s to come for Memorial Stadium.
Currently, NU’s stadium capacity is around 86,000 to 87,000. Following the 2028 season, after all the stadium renovations, Dannen envisions a stadium capacity of around 80,000 or “slightly below.”
The big thing is that by adding chairbacks, seat size will go from 19 to 21 inches, automatically shrinking capacity.
“We are working towards what will be a post-2026, post-2027, a really thorough renovation of the stadium,” Dannen said on Big Red Wrap-Up. “The South has to come down to tie everything else together. There’s no ‘keep a little bit of it.’ It has to come down. I think we can rebuild half of it and put some temporary (seats) in to really protect our capacity for 2027 before that is finalized in 2028. Then with the East and the West, maybe East chairbacks, and then with the West, anywhere from doing chairbacks to really taking inside the tower down and reconstructing it. There is a lot of deferred maintenance underneath there that if we cover it up, I’m not sure that we will just buy ourselves some more problems down the line.
“Going forward, the stadium has to provide the amenities of the day. We talk about the sellout streak a lot. There are a lot of alternatives for people than to go to Memorial Stadium. We want people to be comfortable when they get there, and the quality of play has to be good; then you’ll have alcohol and (improved) WiFi when the stadium is done — so make it as good of an experience. We will have a scoreboard in there that will hopefully dwarf almost any other scoreboard in the country to make it feel awesome when you are in there.”
3 – A large contingent of Husker fans is expected to travel to USC
Any time Nebraska has traveled West – USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon, the Rose Bowl, multiple Holiday Bowls, and Fresno State, we’ve seen a massive amount of Big Red faithful make the trip.
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I expect to see the same thing at the LA Coliseum for Saturday’s 3 p.m. game on FOX. It’s a safe bet that we might see around 20,000 Husker fans at the USC game.
For NU fans in California, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, this is their trip and probably one of the real advantages Nebraska will have when they make an annual West Coast trip now each year. We saw it this past weekend with Husker volleyball, bringing record crowds to Washington and Oregon.
It’s been nearly 20 years since the Huskers played at USC in 2006, and I’m not sure many folks around there realize how much red is coming their way.
TWO QUESTIONS THIS WEEK
1 – What is the future moving forward with Marcus Satterfield?
A big unknown is what is the future of Marcus Satterfield at Nebraka. He’s currently under contract for $1.4 million through the 2025 season. Satterfield remains on staff and is no longer the offensive coordinator.
I think there are two paths forward. Satterfield will either move on at the end of the season and be paid out his contract, or he could stay on and coach under his 2025 contract terms and then enter into a reduced agreement in 2026. Remember, if Holgorsen is the guy for 2025, NU will not have to pay him a standard deal since Houston will still be paying him for three more seasons.
2 – Is there a simple fix to get Nebraka’s offense going this week?
What is the quickest way for Nebraska to get its offense going this week? Two things: Rhythm and identity.
Holgorsen needs to find a rhythm as a play-caller and with QB Dylan Raiola. From there, develop an identity. That was the biggest complaint many had in the last month. NU’s offense had no rhythm, nor did it have much of an established identity. That’s what you hope Holgorsen can bring to the table.
ONE PREDICTION: Dawson Merritt will be N by this week
We saw a flood of RPM picks for Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley linebacker Dawson Merritt to Nebraska this week.
I predict things will be official in the next 24 to 48 hours, and Merrit will flip to the Huskers. What a recruiting win for Rhule and the Big Red.
Sean Callahan can be reached at [email protected] and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.
