March is always an interesting month in Nebraska. Spring football practice will have started before the week’s out, the Nebraska basketball teams are preparing for their respective conference tournaments and the baseball team is getting into full-swing (no pun intended). Needless to say, there’s a lot going on, which was reflected in this week’s mailbag. Whether it was the competition at the quarterback position, changes the men’s basketball team needs to make or what TV show the Hail Varsity staff would most likely survive, we were not short on questions this week. We like it that way.
Brandon Vogel, Grant Muessel and Erin Sorensen answer your questions in this week’s Hail Varsity mailbag.
Q: Ideas on who the walk-on coordinator guy will be? Wouldn’t an ex-Husker/current high school coach be a good idea? – J.N.
BV: No specific names to offer, but I think you’ve hit on the right profile for that job. The first key is a knowledge of high school programs and coaches and few people probably know that better than someone who is currently (or just recently stopped, I suppose) coaching in Nebraska. That person has relationships with his peers and, ideally, a good knowledge of players on their way up. If it doesn’t go to a former coach, this is a spot where Nebraska ties probably are important as this staff is looking for someone who can sort of connect to one of the most important parts of NU football — the walk-on tradition.
Q: Will Armstrong be challenged at all for starting position? – R., Neb.
GM: First, might I suggest taking a look at our spring preview for quarterbacks
? I can’t speak for Erin, but the quarterback competition is something Brandon and I have talked a lot about. We both think Tommy has a big leg up on the competition, but I’m not sure that’s answering your question. The only way someone’s going to challenge Armstrong is with a huge step up in accuracy (Mike Riley and Danny Langsdorf’s top priority from a QB), and I don’t see that happening. We had the privilege of watching spring practice last year, and none of the QBs were exactly throwing lasers.
ES: I’m with Grant and Brandon on this. I think the idea of competition will exist for Armstrong this spring, but I don’t know if I necessarily think it exists. I think Armstrong is Riley’s guy, unless someone comes out of left-field and proves us all wrong. I’m just not convinced that’s going to happen.
Q: So 70%… When was the last time a QB at NU even came close to that? – L.C., Omaha, NE
GM: Rex Burkhead finished his career as an 80 percent passer, does that count? The closest this millennium was Joey Ganz’s 2008 season when he threw at 67.9 percent for 3,568. I know what you’re thinking and no, Zac Taylor never did it; his most accurate season was 60 percent in 2006.
BV: Not just this millennium, Ganz’s 2008 season is the closest any Huskers starting quarterback has ever come to hitting 70 percent. He holds the school record. That said, don’t be surprised if that falls during Riley’s tenure. It won’t happen this year, but I bet it will within the next five.
Q: What has to change so that the basketball team can win? – C.P., Neb.
BV: The abridged edition: Create and convert more scoring opportunities. The Huskers don’t shoot well, obviously, but they also don’t create many extra chances to score via offensive rebounds, forcing enough turnovers or getting to the free throw line. No matter the personnel, when you don’t do any of those things particularly well, you’re playing uphill.
Q: If the opening weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament is one of the best sports days, what is the best for Nebraska preps? – M.S., Cook/Tecumseh, Neb.
GM: I’m biased because Millard North won two state titles during my four years there, but I’m going with state football finals. When we were in high school, going to Lincoln for state was a treat. We’d drive down, eat at Old Chicago and watch the Mustangs roll. It’s interesting to me even now, because state finals happen on a Monday when the Huskers football team holds a Monday press conference at the stadium, so I get to watch some state ball. Last year I even witnessed Bo Pelini watching the 8-man finals with Brandon’s Hemingford Bobcats. Yes, they have enough people there to field a football team. Barely.
BV: Has to be the state basketball tournaments, right? (Boys or girls, whatever your preference.) It has a little of that March Madness feel, particularly on the first two days, where it’s wall-to-wall basketball and, even if your team isn’t in it, there’s still plenty to see. My family and I made the six-hour trek to Lincoln for I don’t know how many consecutive years to watch the boys state tournament each March and I loved every minute of it. You tried to see as much as you could on that first day, but there was nothing better than getting the next morning’s Lincoln Journal Star to read about all the crazy stuff you missed. If you’re a wrestling fan, I’m guessing that the state tournament in that sport offers much the same.
ES: As a high school cheerleading coach, I’ve had the opportunity to experience a lot of events from a new perspective. I’ve sat at countless football, basketball and volleyball games, as well as plenty of wrestling meets. I think, as Brandon sort of pointed out, that depending on what you’re interested in, a lot of days could be argued for Nebraska high school sports. For me personally, I’ve always loved football first and foremost (I also hail from a Millard school like Grant, but West for me. Go Wildcats!) so I think the state championship game is something special. I even used to go walk by Memorial Stadium while I was in college, just to take it all in.
Q: Would the Hail Varsity staff fare better cast in The Walking Dead or Dancing with the Stars. Who lasts longest on each? – M.S.
GM: Regardless, the answer is Erin. I assume she’s not as atrocious a dancer as me, and as a half-marathoner, I assume she could outrun decaying corpses.
BV: I’m excellent at growing beards and generally distrustful of things people tell me, so that’s a pretty good starter kit, I think, for being a part of Rick’s crew. I continue to watch The Walking Dead, though I’m not sure why as it feels like I’m just watching a loop sometimes. We’re on about our seventh pass of this storyline: Crew’s out on the road and near death. Here’s a place/group that is almost too good to be true. Can we trust them? We can’t trust anyone. But they seem so nice! And they have supplies. And we’re tired. Fine, we’ll start to trust them. There has to be some humanity left out there somewhere in this post-apocalyptic world, right? Here, take our weapons as a sign of good faith. What?! Oh, God, no! We’ve discovered an unspeakable horror at this place that seemed so nice! Never should’ve let down our guard. Get out of here! Crew’s out on the road and near death again.
ES: I really hope I could outrun decaying corpses like Grant said, but I can’t grow a beard like Brandon. The Walking Dead would be a toss-up for me. But Dancing with the Stars? I would own that. Don’t you even question that for a second.
Q: Does Mike Riley plan on having In-N-Out flown in after each home win, or is he opening a Lincoln location? – B.P., Sahuarita, AZ
BV: I would like to think that Riley has been converted to Runza’s burgers by now, though, as I have never had In-N-Out, I can’t not tell you if they actually compare or not.
ES: I’m going to need one of you to send Brandon In-N-Out immediately, please. Thank you.
BV: I will accept that package and, judging from Erin’s response, I sense that I’ll be considered an idiot for even mentioning Runza and In-N-Out in the same sentence. But isn’t there a ceiling on just how good a burger can be? Isn’t there a smaller gap between the best burger in the world and the tenth-best burger in the world than there would be with, say, the best and tenth-best steaks in the world? I feel like there is, but what do I know? I’ve never had In-N-Out but I am planning to have my first Shake Shack burger next week, so maybe that will change my entire burger worldview. (Though I doubt it.)
Q: Can you confirm that the dress was really Scarlet and Cream? – K.H.
ES: How dare you bring up #TheDress. (But let’s all just pretend it was scarlet and cream and move on, shall we?)
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