Criticize Frank Solich if you must, but give the man credit for tapping all the outside expertise available in his efforts to right the Big Red ship.
His latest quest for knowledge took him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp.
That's right. Frankie meets Chucky.
Solich recently spent some time with Jon Gruden and the Buccaneers, a visit arranged by former Husker player and assistant Monte Kiffin, now the Bucs' defensive coordinator.
"It was a great experience," Solich said. "I was truly amazed at how open Jon Gruden was and how hospitable he was.
"Normally, most pro coaches don't allow you into the meetings."
Solich said he picked up all kinds of valuable information from the Super Bowl champs, including a better way to work on special teams during practice.
Previously, NU did its special teams work at the end of the practice. But now, following the Bucs' lead, the Huskers are doing those drills in the middle of practice.
The Tampa Bay way is to do several minutes of kicks and coverages before letting the players take a short break. After that rest time, it's back to work on the kicking and return game again.
"It's like coming out for the second-half kickoff," Solich said. "You're sitting in the locker room or you're taking a break, and then, all of a sudden, you have to be ready to go."
Solich also picked up some tips on the Bucs' goal-line offense and the Tampa Bay passing game.
"They go into a game with about 125 different (pass) patterns," Solich said. "And when (Gruden) is in meetings and when he's on the field, he's coming up with (more)."
Of course, the revamped Husker offense will be limited to about 100 pass plays, right, Coach?
"Well," he said, laughing, "if you run too many, it will look like you have 100 patterns because you'll never see the same thing twice. So you don't want to get to that point."