Radio Rundown: Foley seeks aggressive, competitive, speedy special teams

On3 imageby:Grant Hansen12/28/22

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Nebraska special teams coordinator Ed Foley appeared on Sports Nightly on Tuesday night. The 55-year-old assistant shared his special teams identity, reviewed the last few months of the hiring process and talked his love for Philadelphia sports.

All that and more below in a rundown of Foley’s interview with the Huskers Radio Network.

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A December (and fall) to remember

***There’s no doubt, the last month has been hectic. But Foley said he got plenty of time to relax with his family this fall after he was released from his contract with the Carolina Panthers.

“I was able to sit back, spend some time with family and I just said, ‘I’m not going to worry about my next move,'” Foley said.

Foley said he is a Philadelphia guy by nature. His time off lined up perfectly with the Phillies’ World Series run. So, he attended Game 5 of the NLCS (a series-clinching 4-1 Phillies win) and got to take his son to a World Series game.

But baseball wasn’t the only thing the Foley family did this fall. They watched Wake Forest lose a tight one to North Carolina on the gridiron and saw future Husker OC Marcus Satterfield’s South Carolina offense pick apart Clemson.

“In those two college football games in the North Carolina area, we saw about 200 points scored in two games,” Foley said.

***Along with that relaxation, came a serious period of evaluation. Foley said he and his family discussed a variety of options for the future, such as staying on staff with Matt Rhule or taking another NFL job. Remaining in the Charlotte to let the kids finish school, or returning to the Philadelphia area was very much on the table.

But there was something else at play. Foley said his household is close with the Rhule, Satterfield and Cooper family. Foley said his kids wanted to know where Rhule was going and who was coming with him.

“It’s beyond the, ‘I don’t know that area of the country,” it was kinda like, “We’re moving the caravan out there and let’s go,'” Foley said.

***Foley detailed his history with Rhule that dates back to 2008 at Temple under head coach Al Golden. Rhule served on that staff as the offensive coordinator while Foley worked with tight ends and the offensive line. The two remained with the Owls until 2012 when Rhule left for the NFL.

A year later, Rhule returned as the head coach and Foley was still there. The two have been rarely separated since. Foley coached with Rhule for one year (2019) at Baylor before following him to Carolina.

“I wasn’t interested in the rebuild part of that Baylor trip,” Foley joked. “I just jumped in there for the Sugar Bowl year and ran over to the Panthers with him.”

Nebraska’s rebuild seems to be a different story.

“When (Rhule) was looking at different opportunities, personally I was hoping for Nebraska,” Foley said. “I was very happy to find out that that happened.”

Foley dives into special teams philosophy

***Aggressiveness, speed, physicality and simplicity. That is what Foley said he hopes to establish as the identity of his special teams unit.

“We want to be simple so that the kids can play,” Foley said. “So that we can identify the kids that we want to play on the units and keep things simple so that they can have the opportunity to make plays.”

Players will be judged on effort, technique and if they were in the right places according to Foley. Out-scheming the foe is not necessarily the goal compared to playing faster and stronger. Additionally, first teamers will be aloud to play (primarily on the punt and kickoff teams). Foley said the goal is to get the best guys to do the job of the 150 on the team.

“The selection process will be interesting because I don’t know the players that well,” Foley said. “But I’ve watched all the film already, and there’s a lot of guys that play really hard. We’re going to get them to continue to play really hard and try to play really smart and really hard. Keep it simple.”

***Foley said he did get a chance to meet the specialists prior to finals in December. He said he thinks it’s a good group. The next step in the process is their competitive side. Foley said that he plans to test the room in that area throughout the offseason. Foley said he will use a notepad to write down names of athletes showing flashes of competitive fire in addition to skill.

“I think special teams is about winning the rep,” Foley said. “It’s about the punt team versus the return team. You’ve got to protect against your man, he can’t block the punt and then you’ve got to run down and make the tackle and beat the guy that’s trying to block you.”

“There’s some technique that’s involved in that, but there’s a lot of desire in that part of it,” Foley added.

Look ahead…but not too far

***There’s a lot of work yet to be done in Lincoln. Foley admits that, but he said his personal key is staying focused on the work the tasks that lie ahead of him.

“I can’t look at what the starting punt team is going to be like or what kind of kickoff returns I’m gonna run, I have to recruit today,” Foley said.

Foley said he’ll try to segment things. He said the different challenges a coach faces throughout the year is his favorite thing about college football. First it’s the trials of a regular season, then recruiting, research and development of players, spring ball, spring recruiting, fall camp and then it repeats all over again.

“What’s right in front of you from a day-to-day changes, and I love that change of stimulus,” Foley said.

***Foley said he’s excited to coach in the Big Ten. It all ties in with his desire for challenge and competition.

“If there’s a No. 1 team out there in the country, I hope we play them and I hope we beat them,” Foley said. “We’re going to compete and accept and embrace that challenge.”

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