Nebraska Football: New chief of staff finds beauty in ‘one college state’
New Nebraska football Chief of Staff Susan Elza talked about joining the Huskers program after leaving Texas and sees quite a few similarities.
The Nebraska football staff under Matt Rhule has been undergoing some wholesale changes compared to what it looked like under Scott Frost. Right at the top of the list of things that look very different is the hiring of a Chief of Staff. Rhule’s COS is a woman named Susan Elza who has built herself quite a reputation in Texas. Her most recent position was as the UIL athletic director, which basically had her overseeing every high school in the Lone Star State.
Elza recently sat down for an interview with David Smoak of 365 Sports and talked about a wide range of topics surrounding her previous job, Texas and Nebraska football. Chief among the things she touched on was that while her previous job had her overseeing a massive organization, she’d still been blown away by what goes on behind the scenes at a place like Lincoln.
She also made it clear that she saw some similarities to how people treat football in Texas and in Nebraska.
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"“You hear in the high school setting talk about a ‘one school town.’ [Nebraska is a] one college state.”"
Elza went on to say that she was digressing a bit from the question about the differences between leading the NIL and being the Chief of Staff for Nebraska football.
She then went back to explaining her comparison between the two places.
"“That’s the beauty of it. You do feel, even for me, I’m thinking I’m not an on the field coach, they’re not even going to notice me if I come in the door and that has been just exactly the opposite.”"
New Nebraska football Chief of Staff finds beauty in one college state
It’s always interesting to hear someone from a football-crazy state like Texas get blown away by the interest and attention paid to the sport in Nebraska. It appears that even having dealt with the spotlight that comes from dealing with over a million participants in the UIL, she didn’t understand how much the program is under the microscope in this “one college state.”
One thing is for sure. Now that she’s here and her arrival was as heralded as it was, Susan Elza has a big important job in front of her. Nebraska football fans might not even know exactly what that job is, but it’s a safe bet she won’t avoid at least some criticism (right or wrong) if things go south.