Tad Stryker: Sustained Investment in the Offensive Line is Nebraska's Best Strategy

Quarterbacks are sexy, but O-line coaches make a bigger impact. Could Geep Wade become the man?

Geep Wade on the sideline during the 2026 Nebraska spring game | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

A return to the gold standard? It’s not likely in terms of official U.S. financial policy, but from a football perspective, it would be a wise move for Nebraska. I detect movement in that direction in Lincoln.

The power running game has always been the gold standard at NU. During Nebraska’s best stretches, running backs got the headlines. But guys like Joe Orduna, Jeff Kinney, Mike Rozier, Calvin Jones and Ahman Green would’ve been the first to tell you the offensive line makes it all go.

There’s no denying that the quarterback is the single most important position on the field in the NFL, and even at the major college level, a great quarterback is the difference between winning and losing games that decide championships. But over the years, the Cornhuskers have won a lot of games with mediocre quarterbacks because they had a top-notch running back and a superior offensive line.

If Nebraska finally becomes a force to be reckoned with this season, it will not be primarily because of Anthony Colandrea and his impressive stable of pass catchers. It will happen because Big Ten defenses are getting softened up by Geep Wade’s maulers, opening the way for Colandrea to win through the air.

There is no substitute for a big, tough, athletic, disciplined offensive line. You want stability in the Nebraska program? Return to the gold standard. It is premature to anoint Wade as the savior of the offense, but it’s not too early to say Wade is the last, best hope for the rebirth of a running game that elevates the Huskers into the top division of the Big Ten.

Nebraska offensive tackle Gunnar Gottula | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraskans understood the importance of the gold standard throughout the Devaney-Osborne era, and they bought in. They followed its development with interest. If you’re under 35, it may be hard to believe, but not all that long ago, Nebraska fans eagerly looked forward to finding out who was getting playing time as a second- and third-team offensive lineman.

For about 40 years, it was predictable, and it was effective. In those days, red-clad fans usually walked out of Memorial Stadium well satisfied with what they had just witnessed. And no wonder; from 1962, when Bob Brown terrorized opponents, through 2002, when Toniu Fonoti did the pulverizing, Nebraska had 19 different consensus All-America offensive linemen, and some of them were multiple-year consensus All-Americans; centers Rik Bonness (1974-75), Dave Rimington (1981-82) and Aaron Taylor (1996 at center, 1997 at guard). Producing one of those classics every other year is not a bad batting average.

Nebraska offensive tackle Elijah Pritchett. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

If it’s true that you get what you emphasize, I think we’ve found the place to focus. If Nebraska can re-establish itself as Offensive Lineman U, there will be no difficulty keeping the Memorial Stadium sellout streak alive. Wade, who is 48 years old, has a two-year contract at $1.425 million per year. If folks are clamoring for a pay raise for Wade this December, the program is on the right track.

The importance of finding the right O-line coach cannot be overstated. You have to have someone who can recruit and develop, teach and motivate. Someone who can enforce the standard. For more than a decade, finding someone like that has been excruciatingly difficult for Nebraska. Although they were all good, decent human beings, Mike Cavanaugh, Greg Austin and Donovan Raiola couldn’t handle the load.

Center Justin Evans. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

For almost three decades, Milt Tenopir did that. If you go back farther, to the beginning of the Bob Devaney era, it was Cletus Fischer, with the assistance of Carl Selmer. Fischer developed an outstanding Husker offensive line in the late 1960s and early 1970s that resulted in a pair of national championships.

From 1962 to 2002, Nebraska had only two primary offensive line coaches: Fischer and Tenopir (they coached together from 1974-85). There’s a reason the Huskers were the most consistent team in the nation over that 40-year stretch. But the gold standard for Nebraska’s offensive line coaches was Tenopir. He was in charge of run blocking during the glorious run of the 1990s, but had a lot of help from Dan Young, who handled pass protection (something the Huskers really didn’t need a whole lot of during those days).

From left, Milt Tenopir, Matt Vrzal, Chris Dishman, Kory Mikos, Adam Treu, Dan Young | Nebraska Athletics

With the arrival of Wade after last season, there are hopeful indications that the search is finally over. Within a few months, Wade recruited a line that I think Husker fans will love to watch. It’s too early to tell how Wade will stack up against Fischer and Tenopir, but you read it here first: both Justin Evans and Elijah Pritchett will make at least second-team all-conference this fall, and one of them will be an All-American, because Wade will get that much more out of them than Raiola ever did. Wade’s lines at Georgia Tech have been effective at both run and pass blocking. Can he do it against the best defenses in college football?

We’ll be watching how well Wade can develop native Nebraskans Gunnar Gottula and Sam Sledge, and highly touted national recruits Gibson Pyle, Grant Brix and Clyde Mpouma. Those are the sort of athletes that came to Nebraska and stalled out under the tutelage of Austin and Raiola. The best they could do was turn Cam Jurgens into a third-team All-Big Ten center.

The best early indication would be that the Husker running game is steady — with an occasional explosive run — this fall after the departure of running back Emmett Johnson. Let’s set this for a baseline: 40 rushes and 200 yards per game. A 5-yard average per rush would set up Colandrea to do some damage with a vertical passing game. A good O-line would get Nebraska back to the nine-win level, which would be excellent progress in the toughest conference in college football.

There are no superstars in the Nebraska running back room this fall. EJ was an overachiever who had an All-America season despite — not because of — the NU offensive line. I’m still scratching my head at how EJ twisted, fought and battled for yards he had no right to get, considering the way he was swarmed by opposing defenders. Let’s put it this way: if the O-line had been doing its job, the second- and third-string running backs would have found success as well. As it was, Nebraska rushed for a mediocre 145.9 yards per game as a team and 4.2 yards per attempt, with EJ carrying almost all the load (120.9 yards per game, 5.8 yards per attempt).

Geep Wade congratulates center Justin Evans after a play during practice earlier this month. | Nebraska Athletics via X

It won’t happen all at once. Today’s Big Ten defenses are better than the Big Eight/Big 12 defenses that Tenopir worked against. He wasn’t a miracle worker; Wade won’t be, either. His degree of difficulty is higher than what his predecessors faced. If he can get eight players ready to rely on when the game is on the line, he will have accomplished a lot.

Under Cavanaugh, Nebraska would have merely had to improve one notch to gain respect in the Big Ten. It didn’t happen. In fairness to Austin and Raiola, the task got harder as the rest of the confrence improved their coaching and recruiting.

Last year’s 286-43 rushing yards discrepancy to Michigan showed how far the Huskers have to go to catch up at the line of scrimmage. Now under Wade, the O-line will have to improve at least three notches before we can say along with former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany that “Nebraska is back to being Nebraska again.”

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