Tag: Erik Chinander

Former Husker coach named defensive coordinator at Boise State

A former Nebraska defensive coordinator has been promoted to the same job at his current school.

A former Nebraska defensive coordinator has been promoted to the same job at his current school. Boise State announced the promotion of defensive line coach Erik Chinander to defensive coordinator.

Chinander just finished his first season in Boise, where he served as assistant head coach and defensive line coach. He had been the defensive coordinator at UCF and Nebraska.

Chinander served as the defensive coordinator of the Cornhuskers from 2018 to 22. He was fired four games into the 2022 season after the team gave up 49 points and 580 yards in a 49-14 loss to Oklahoma.

Boise State is preparing for the LA Bowl on Saturday against UCLA.

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Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Erik Chinander Fired

Special Teams Coordinator Bill Busch will take over the DC job!

Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Erik Chinander was relieved of his duties on Sunday afternoon by interim head coach Mickey Joseph.

“We appreciate Erik and the work and dedication he has given to our football program. At this time, I feel that it is in the best interest of the Nebraska Football program to take the leadership of the defense in another direction and decided Bill Busch will take over as defensive coordinator.”

The decision comes after Nebraska gave up 49 points and 580 yards in Saturday’s 49-14 loss to Oklahoma. In back-to-back weeks the team surrendered 94 points and 1,222 yards. Chinander had been the defensive coordinator in Lincoln since 2018. He followed Frost from UCF, where he had been the defensive coordinator for two seasons.

Special Teams Coordinator Bill Busch will coordinate the defense for the remainder of the season. The Huskers have a bye this week before hosting Indiana at Memorial Stadium on October 1st.

Social media reactions of Sunday’s news can be found below.

Coordinators talk to media in preparation for North Dakota

Some encouraging comments from members of Nebraska’s coaching staff!

Nebraska’s offensive and defensive coordinators met with the media today ahead of Saturday’s home opener against North Dakota. If you remember, position coaches will not meet with the media this season. This is the first time these restrictions have been implemented with the Cornhusker coaching staff. However, all three coordinators will be able to talk with reporters in 2022. Things started with offensive coordinator Mark Whipple speaking, and he began by saying he likes what he sees from his team after returning to Lincoln from Ireland.

“We had a really good meeting on Sunday night, then practiced light on Monday, but they were flying around. Today we did some good things, put in some new stuff and checked on some stuff. We will get it cleaned up, but they have been really good.”

More from Nebraska’s coaching can be found below. Scroll and let us know what you think. Kickoff is right around the corner.

 

2022 Husker Breakdown: Linebackers could be among Big Ten’s best

With Luke Reimer, Garrett Nelson and more, the Huskers’ linebackers provide a proven and stable presence that will lead their DC Erik Chinander’s defense

Stability is a beautiful thing in football and that Nebraska’s linebackers in 2022 will bring just that. The group was among the team’s best last season, with three Huskers in the top 16 in the Big Ten in tackles.

The heart and soul of the group was JoJo Domann, who was unsurprisingly drafted by the Indianapolis Colts following a second team All-American recognition from the Associated Press. Domann was elite in every phase of coverage last year but although it sounds far-fetched, there’s potential for the Cornhuskers to completely offset the loss of him. 

The starting group is all but locked in, with Caleb Tannor and Garrett Nelson ever-present on the outside pairing with all-Big Ten honorable mention pick Luke Reimer and Nick Henrich on the inside. After switching from a 3-4 to 4-3 look this year, the Huskers may still find a way to put those four on the field for a majority of snaps. Barring injuries or outside circumstances, the quartet will constitute Nebraska’s hallmark this season, plain and simple. 

With head coach Scott Frost being a former linebacker himself, former NFL star Barrett Ruud manning the inside linebackers and Mike Dawson, a 4-year NFL coaching vet, coaching the Huskers’ edge rushers, success is to be expected. 

That crew went out and landed prized transfer Ochaun Mathis from TCU and his presence on the defensive line adds to the pressure felt by opposing offensive lines. The Huskers didn’t exactly have a edge rusher of his caliber last year and Mathis may line up as a linebacker in a two-point stance on some occasions. 

Each starting linebacker brings something different to the table: Tannor is dependable, Nelson plays a large leadership role, Reimer is a tackle machine and Henrich is gifted in the open field. A number of 2nd stringers had impressive practices in the spring and fall so Nebraska’s linebackers may be as deep as they’ve been in years.

JUCO Lineman to visit Lincoln by month end

Another JUCO prospect may help add depth to the defensive line!

A JUCO defensive lineman has announced his plans to visit the University of Nebraska. Rivals are reporting that Taylor Lewis is planning a visit to Lincoln on the weekend of May 27. It was back on May 12 that Lewis announced that defensive coordinator Erik Chinander had offered the lineman a scholarship to play for the Cornhuskers.

The 6’3″ 295-pound Lewis is a Kenwood, Illinois native who had been playing defensive tackle for College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. He currently holds six Power Five scholarship offers. Joining the Huskers are Arkansas, Auburn, Missouri, Oregon State and Washington State. The WSU Cougars are the only Power Five school that Lewis has visited during his recruitment process though he does have plans to visit Oregon State later this month as well as Lincoln.

 

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Report Card: Grading Nebraska’ Defense

A deep dive into the Nebraska Cornhusker’s defense during their annual spring game on Saturday.

Another Nebraska Spring Game has come and gone. This year’s edition saw the defense defeat the offense 43-39 in a modified game format. All spring camp questions remained the same for the Nebraska defense, “who will replace the production of Cam Taylor-Britt and Jojo Domann?” Defensive end Garrett Wilson raised his hand and answered the call on Saturday but more on that later. Last year’s unit was better from a statistical perspective than what you would expect from a 3-9 team. Erik Chinander’s defenses have been some of the few bright spots in the Scott Frost era, and he’s hoping to recreate some of that magic in 2022.