After the Tailgates: Nebraska reshuffled everything, and still has big questions

It's been a minute since I last wrote anything about the Huskers. Nothing wrong with some time off. It soothes the soul. A lot has happened. Dylan Raiola packed up and moved in the middle of the night to Oregon. Huskers lost a bowl game but at least the players got to experience a lot of cool things in Sin City. One can never underestimate team bonding time. Coach Ekeler also bounced out without saying goodbye to his players and now gets paid at USC. Sad to see him go, but after hearing the internal rumblings, I'm very ok with it. My favorite quote from someone deeply in the know, "He doesn't deserve to be in Nebraska." More new coaches and players were bought in -- I should say brought in but we know what really goes on nowadays.

Portal season has closed. I have to admit I'm still scratching my head after thinking (along with a lot of others) that Big Red was going to make finding a good replacement for stud Emmett Johnson in the backfield. There are currently 7 running backs on the roster. 1 senior (Vincent Genatone), 1 junior (Kwinten Ives), 3 sophomores (Isaiah Mozee, Mekhi Nelson & Izaac Dickey), 1 freshman (Jamal Rule), and 1 redshirt freshman (Conor Booth). That seems as thin as skim milk in a room where you want Vitamin D products. Gone from last year are Kenneth Williams (remember his earning that scholly after performing like Hermes (Greek God of Speed) on the field, and Jamarion Parker. It seems like the numbers don't add up to any kind of chance for 100 yard rushers for the Huskers. But then again, I'm not a paid football coach. In my mind, Running Back Coach E.J. Barthel hasn't earned his $450,000 for any year. Emmett Johnson wasn't great because of EJ's tutelage. I sincerely hope my math is wrong, but the odds are, I'm not.

Nebraska has seen massive change to the coaching staff and roster

I was curious what all the new coaching hires are getting paid. Only time will tell what they are worth. Nebraska "assistants" will earn a total of 9.67 mililon for next year's brutal B1G Ten navigation. It was nice to see Marcus Satterfield's salary finally match his position. He's been riding the paycheck of an OC for too long since being demoted. He now gets paid $550,000. The new DC Rob Aurich is earning 1.1 million to put the Blackshirts back on the map. That goes up each year by a mere 100k. Be WORTH it, Coach Aurich. I do like his numbers for quick improvement in the schools on his resume.

The best buy on the coaching roster for the Huskers is new offensive line Coach Geep Wade. He's getting $700,000 per year with a 25k bump next year. After looking at his shopping cart after the portal I think he sets up to be the best bang for the buck next year. He also has run game coordinator Lonnie Teasley on his team for a mere 100k, 1 year deal. I'm curious to see the results next year not to mention his protection of a new QB behind center. I'm looking forward to a real QB battle come Spring.

The new B1G schedule is out. It's daunting to say the least. We knew it would be. Huskers have their first three games at home for the non-conference list of Ohio, Bowling Green and North Dakota. Then it gets interesting with playing at Michigan State. I could see this being a Friday game because they have a new coach who can't really complain too loudly about it. The good news is that they play Notre Dame away the week before. Coach Pat Fitzgerald always plays Nebraska tough so not sure how much of a walk in the park it will be. Maryland comes to town after playing UCLA the week before in MD. Indiana rolls in on October 10 having played at Rutgers the week before. Huskers get on a plane to play Oregon in Eugene. Ducks will have beat up on the Bruins the week before.

The bye week will be a good chance for Big Red to heal up and rest up before Washington comes to town for Halloween week. I'm thinking there is no better time for the black out game to be played. Washing has a bye at the same time at Nebraska so no advantage there. As a tailgater person, I'll have 2 weeks (3 if you count the away game) to put together Halloween Husker treats for the game. The Cornhuskers roll into Illinois who lost a lot of players from the 25 squad thankfully. They will have played Maryland on the coast the week before.

To add to more November struggles for Coach Rhule, Huskers then travle to New Jersey to play at Rutgers who will be returning after playing Washington. I'm hoping for some coastal jet lag to help out Big Red. The only game at home in November will be against Ohio State on Nov. 21. It would be nice to think that they will overlook the Huskers and be game planning for MIchigan the next week but the odds are slim. The end of the season is at Iowa who will have played Illinois the week before. No times have been announced so no need to start really planning ahead yet.

While most Husker fans will be trying to calculate whether Mens' Husker hoops will be a 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA March Madness tournament, I'll be busy with baseball and spring practice nuggets. I'll drop in from time to time but this is my off season too. If you have interesting things to say, hit me up on X/Twitter at @Kelian_NE. In the meantime, GO BIG RED!