It was probably one of the more anti-climatic moves you will ever see made but John Papuchis was promoted to defensive coordinator at Nebraska on Thursday and Rick Kaczenski of Big Ten division rival Iowa was hired as the new defensive line coach, replacing Papuchis.
Huskers head coach Bo Pelini announced the moves Thursday, more than two weeks after former coordinator Carl Pelini (Bo’s older brother) was hired as head coach at Florida Atlantic.
Both moves had been speculated heavily by the Nebraska fan base and media who covers the team on a daily basis.
Though Papuchis is young at 33, he has been at Nebraska four seasons and is an original member of Bo Pelini’s staff. In addition to coaching the defensive line, he has been special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator.
Kaczenski coached Iowa’s defensive line for five seasons. The 36-year old will coach for No. 21 Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl against No. 10 South Carolina on Jan. 2.
The Nebraska defensive line was hammered with injuries this season but Papuchis coached a front four that ranked among the nation’s best in 2009-10. Ndamukong Suh was Associated Press national player of the year in 2009, and Jared Crick was a two-time all-conference selection before getting hurt this year.
Papuchis also oversaw special teams that included Alex Henery, the most accurate kicker in NCAA history, and Brett Maher, the first player since 2001 to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors as both a place-kicker and punter in the same season.
Kaczenski coached a defensive line that helped Iowa rank sixth nationally in rushing defense and seventh in scoring defense in 2010. The Hawkeyes were in the top 10 in four defensive categories the year before.
Seven of Kaczenski’s defensive linemen have been drafted or signed an NFL free agent contract over the past four seasons.
Thoughts on these hires you ask?
Husker fans were clamoring for Mike Stoops, who was fired by Arizona as the head coach. Papuchis is young, enthusiastic and will spend the entire off season watching film and making the Huskers defense the best it can be next season. There’s no substitute for enthusiasm and he has it in spades. Stoops would have brought experience but let’s face it he would be working after being demoted and while he has experience in the coaching profession I’m not sure he would bring near the fire that Papuchis will bring. Though Papuchis is considered a rising star in the coaching profession, one must wonder if Stoops still has the desire to be a head coach, in which case he might view Nebraska’s defensive coordinator job as a weigh station.
Though the days of coaching staffs staying together for 20 plus years are a thing of the past, the Huskers need staff stability. Though there are no guarantees, the Papuchis/Kaczenski combination is more likely to stay at Nebraska than Stoops.
The big question now becomes, who takes over Papuchis’ role as recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator?
I am of the opinion that Pelini will be very involved in the defense and will, in essence, be doing his own thing. I think at some point he completely turns Papuchis loose, but I don’t think it’s this coming year.
These moves might not appease a Husker fan base that is starving for the glory days but keep in mind, Bob Devaney and tom Osborne picked assistants who were loyal. They weren’t big names nationally. In fact, most of Devaney's assistants were high school coaches. Nothing wrong with young blood.
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