Mark Whipple expresses frustration with offense, hilariously describes his approach to coaching

During Nebraska’s victory over Indiana last week, offensive coordinator Mark Whipple and quarterback Casey Thompson were seen having a heated conversation following a pivotal third-down sack. Frustrations were mounting about the offense, especially as the Cornhuskers and Hoosiers were tied 7-7 at the time.

That’s when Whipple knew he had to take a different approach, and he summed it up candidly in his Tuesday press conference.

“I guess in my history, when I walk around being a nice guy, it just doesn’t work as well as when I’m a dick,” Whipple said. “I don’t know why. And that’s just what I told the kids on Monday. I said, ‘Look, man. Just when I have something across my rear end, we just play better,’ and that’s really what it was like at halftime.”

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Whipple’s message must have gotten through considering Nebraska came away with a 35-21 win over Indiana and Thompson got back on track after Chubba Purdy came in for a sequence. Thompson finished with 270 yards on 18-of-27 passing and two touchdowns on the afternoon.

But that exchange on the sideline stood out as a key moment. Whipple said his message to Thompson was similar to an instance between Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel. During a game, Spurrier pulled Wuerffel after an interception, which led to an all-time quote.

“Probably like Spurrier said to Danny Wuerffel, ‘Hey, I’m not mad at you, Danny. It’s my problem because I put you in the game,” Whipple said. “So that basically is the same thing there. You can’t miss that chance for a touchdown when Trey [Palmer’s] running wide open in that situation. As I said, he bounced back. And I’ve got to coach him better. I’m pointing the finger at myself. This season, we’re almost halfway there, we’ve got a chance. We’ve wasted so many opportunities that as an older person, it’s like, this thing goes by fast and you’ve got to make sure you’re on your Ps and Qs. That was the frustrating part.

“I don’t understand how the first game, we didn’t have that many practices, we don’t have a penalty and then we have probably six in the second quarter. Just doesn’t make any sense to me. I’ve never seen anybody in my history — and I told ‘Corc’ [Turner Corcoran] — have two 15-yarders on two back-to-back plays. We talk about these things all the time. That’s the frustrating part, and ‘Corc’ one of our better players, Casey’s one of our better players. I don’t know.”