Steven M. Sipple, Parker Gabriel and Chris Basnett discuss a busy Wednesday for Husker football and chat Final Four volleyball.
Things I know, and things I think I know:Â
They're a couple 60-somethings that might find themselves reminiscing quite often in months ahead.
Current Nebraska football players might even find Mark Whipple and Ron Brown's stories entertaining.
For instance, ESPN legend Chris Berman is part of their story, and Brown paints an interesting picture of Whipple as a collegiate quarterback.
They played together at Brown University during the 1970s, with Brown serving as starting free safety and Whipple as first-string QB.Â
This was back when collegiate programs had freshman teams.Â
"In his heroics, Whipple led us to six come-from-behind wins," recalls Brown, now a Nebraska senior offensive analyst. "We were nicknamed 'The cardiac kids.' We were the greatest freshman team in the history of Brown University, and it was largely because Whipple was a dramatic, clutch, comeback kind of quarterback."
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Whipple, of course, was named Dec. 8 as Nebraska's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
"He was scrappy, extremely competitive, very bright. He was kind of a free-wheeling, let's-wing-it-out-there kind of a guy, you know what I'm saying?" Brown recalls with a laugh. "He was fun and exciting. He really played that way throughout his career."Â
They played varsity ball at the Ivy League school the following three seasons, capturing an Ivy League championship in 1976.Â
The Bears then finished runners-up the following two seasons, losing to Dartmouth when Brown was a senior.Â
Ah, yes, memories come flooding back, and a somewhat vicious side of Brown is revealed by Brown himself.Â
It seems Dartmouth had a standout receiver, Dave Shula, who got in Brown's craw at times. Shula would go on to be the Cincinnati Bengals' head coach.Â
"Whip and I both struggled in that game," Brown says. "Of all the games we wanted to play well, I've heard Whip say that was a tough one for him, and it was certainly tough for me because I was trying to destroy Dave Shula. I did not have my mind where it needed to be. Â
"In my mind, my job was to make him pay. I was going to come up and deliver blows on him all day."Â
It didn't quite work out that way.Â
A few years later, in 1983, they found themselves back at Brown together, this time as young assistant coaches. Ron Brown led the freshman team and coached defensive backs, and Whipple coached wide receivers.Â
Yeah, Whipple must love being back in Brown's midst and hearing this stuff. Â
Let's be clear, they were all-Ivy League players having the time of their lives.Â
All the while, Berman served as Brown's student radio announcer.Â
"Whip was friends with him," Brown recalls. "I didn't really hang with him. But we've talked over the years. He remembers a game that was played in awful weather, and I was back there returning punts."
Berman respected that.
"I remember when Berman and the sports information director at Brown were leaving the department to work for some company called ESPN," Brown says. "Everyone was like, 'What the heck is that? E-S-P-N?'Â
"The rest is history, you know?"Â Â
Considering their histories, one might think Brown perhaps planted a seed about Whipple in Nebraska coach Scott Frost's head as Frost embarked on his hiring process.Â
That's not the case, Brown says.Â
"Whipple has a pretty well-known name," Brown continues. "He's extremely knowledgeable in quarterback coaching, the passing game. He's won a national championship (in 1998 as head coach at UMass). He's coached a Super Bowl-winning quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger. I mean, Whip's had some great experiences.Â
"(Former Penn State coach) Bill O'Brien played at Brown, as well. So, sometimes I'd talk to Billy when he was at Penn State, and we'd laugh about Whip, because he was always good for a few laughs. He's a pretty interesting character. We've already had a lot of good laughs. Â
"I get it, though. Anybody reading this article might say, 'Well, that's good, but we didn't hire him to have a few good laughs.' We're here to win, and we understand that."Â
Sometimes it's good to break the tension, though.Â
Perhaps even current Huskers might get a few laughs out of it.
* Out of everything I've read and heard about Whipple, perhaps the most important element, as pointed out by our Parker Gabriel, is this is the 11th time he’s showed up at a place with either a coordinator or head coaching job. He (presumably) knows what it takes to implement a system efficiently. He also knows the importance of first getting the assistants on the same page so they can teach the system and accompanying language and techniques effectively.
I still find it wild that Frost is overhauling the offense as he enters his fifth season at Nebraska. The key will be to fit the new system to talent in the building, some of which — namely, a quarterback — likely will come from the transfer portal. So, it's not all there at this point.
College football has gotten a little on the weird side, if you haven't noticed.
* Best I can tell, the name, image and likeness world is in some places a thinly veiled money-laundering system. Did I just say that?
* You often hear people defend the growing number of players who opt out of bowl games by pointing to coaches who leave their programs for the next job before the season is finished.
So, two wrongs make a right?Â
Got it.
* Sizing up the Nebraska men's basketball schedule during the preseason, December had a make-or-break feel.Â
The Huskers are 0-for-5, and it's a bad 0-for-5.
Makes me wonder how bad January might get.
* Lexi Rodriguez just dug another kill attempt. If anyone deserves a Blackshirt ..."Â