2025 Nebraska Offseason Thread

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Greatest Husker to wear 43: Alonzo "Lon" Stiner, Tackle, 1925-1926

On Dec. 4, 2014, Oregon State's Mike Riley was named Nebraska's head coach, replacing the fired Bo Pelini.

The hire was… how do I put this politely... surprising. Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst conducted the coaching search on his own, without input from a hiring committee or independent search firm. Numerous names were speculated during the search (including Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost, former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and others), but nobody expected Riley.

A big reason was nobody expected Mike Riley to leave Corvallis. He was the dean of coaches in the Pac-12 and had resurrected the OSU program, giving the Beavers their first winning seasons since 1970. Riley's Oregon State teams were good, but not great. He led them to eight bowl games in his last 12 seasons and was known for big upsets (taking down No. 2 USC in 2006, No. 1 Cal in 2007 and No. 1 USC in 2008). But only one of his teams (2006) won 10 games, and they never finished a season ranked higher than 18 (2008).

One of the narratives around Riley was that he could be a great coach at a school with more resources and support than Oregon State. The Cornhuskers have bushels of both. In announcing the hire, Eichorst said, "Mike Riley has a proven record of success, a sound approach to football and teaching, an understanding of the educational mission of our university and the integrity and values that we cherish at Nebraska."

Mike Riley has the most wins of any coach in Oregon State's history (93), which he accumulated in 14 seasons. And yet, Riley trails another coach - a Nebraska alum and Hastings native - in winning percentage and years spent at Oregon State: Alonzo "Lon" Stiner.

Before Stiner became a coach, he was a tremendous tackle for Nebraska in the mid-1920s. Stiner started his playing career at Lombard College in Illinois but returned to his home state for the 1925 season. In 1925, Stiner helped first-year coach Ernest Bearg to a 4-2-2 record.

In 1926, Stiner was selected as a team captain. He controlled the line and received All-Missouri Valley Conference honors. Stiner was also recognized as a first team All-American, making him just the fourth Cornhusker to earn All-America status.

Stiner got into coaching after his playing career, and the Nebraska alum served as Oregon State's head coach from 1933-1948.* He compiled a 74-49-17 .589 in 14 seasons (the Beavers did not field a team in 1943 or 1944 due to World War II).

*Two other Husker players - Edward "Doc" Stewart and Dick Rutherford - also spent time as Oregon State's head coach.

Like Mike Riley, Stiner's best game was an upset of USC. In 1933, the two-time reigning champion Trojans brought 80 players - and a 25-game winning streak - to Corvallis. Stiner played a total of 11 men, never substituting throughout the game. The "Iron Men" game - which ended in a 0-0 tie - is still considered one of the greatest games in OSU history.

Mike Riley never made the Rose Bowl. Lon Stiner did in 1942, even if his team didn't play in Pasadena. The 1942 Rose Bowl took place just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The game was played at Duke, but the Beavers won the game.

Riley's teams were known for their pro-style offenses. Stiner's 1933 team innovated a new kicking defense. In the "pyramid play," a 6-foot-5 player would be lifted onto the shoulders of two 6-foot-2 players before kick attempts. Not surprisingly, the pyramid play was outlawed the following year.

We won't spend too much time relitigating the Mike Riley era at Nebraska. Despite being universally regarded as one of the best human beings you could hope to meet, he mostly received a chilly reception from Nebraska fans and others with ties to program.

Riley went 19-19 in three seasons that had good moments (a 7-0 start in 2016, en route to a 9-4 finish) and bad (4-8 in 2017 with one of the worst defenses in school history). Mike Riley was Nebraska head coach for less than three calendar years, the shortest tenure since Pete Elliott coached for one season 1956.

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Greatest Husker to wear 42: Jerry Murtaugh, Linebacker, 1968-1970

Prior to the start of the 1970 campaign, Nebraska had completed 80 seasons of intercollegiate football. The Cornhuskers had 29 conference titles to their credit (including one in 1969), but the program had zero national championships. Their highest finish in the AP poll was fifth, in 1965. Nebraska's all-time record in bowl games was 3-5.

So, when senior linebacker Jerry Murtaugh stood in front of the 35 media members in town on the Big Eight Skywriters Tour and predicted that Nebraska would win the national championship, it raised some eyebrows.

"A bunch of reporters around, and they just ask me, bluntly: How do you think you're going to do?" Murtaugh said. "And I just told them — I said, we're going to win it all. Nobody's going to beat us."

Just wait… ol' Murt was just getting warmed up.

Murtaugh predicted Nebraska would avenge its 1969 loss to Southern Cal, saying NU would "beat the hell out of USC."

He didn't believe the preseason hype about Kansas State and quarterback Lynn Dickey. "We read about Dickey. All those things in the paper. White shoes and all that stuff. You like to knock guys down like that. We put a good pass rush on Dickey last year and he got a little shook. Hey, they say Dickey is Mr. Cool. He got shook. He was scrambling. He didn't have to do much last year. But he was off against us."

Around this time, I-back Jeff Kinney arrived. He grabbed Murtaugh by the arm and pulled him away from the reporters saying, "You just look pretty and let me do the talking."

In a 2004 HuskerMax interview, Murtaugh recalled getting reamed by coach Bob Devaney for speaking out of turn: "He said, 'You got to keep your damn mouth shut. You can’t be doing this crap, Murtaugh!'" As punishment, Murtaugh had to run stadium steps.

That is Jerry Murtaugh, one of the biggest characters - and best players - of the Devaney era.

Murtaugh was a standout linebacker - and undefeated state wrestling champion - at Omaha North High. With offers from all over, Devaney worked hard to keep him home.

Murtaugh broke into the starting lineup in 1968, recording a team-high 99 tackles. He was named honorable mention All-Big Eight. As a junior in 1969, Murtaugh had 126 tackles, which broke Wayne Meylan's single-season record. Murtaugh earned first-team All-Big Eight honors.

This brings us back to 1970, Murtaugh's senior season. Could he - a captain - back up his "We're going to win it all. Nobody's going to beat us" claims?

Nebraska beat Wake Forest 36-12 in the opener. A newcomer from Omaha - a kid named Johnny Rodgers - caught a long touchdown pass in the game.

Next came a trip to No. 3 Southern Cal, who had beaten Nebraska 31-21 the year before.

It was a back-and-forth game with the two teams trading touchdowns. A bad Husker snap led to a 22-yard missed field goal in the fourth quarter. Murtaugh's prediction that NU would avenge the USC loss was incorrect. But Nebraska didn't lose, either. The game ended in a 21-21 tie. Murtaugh had 14 solo tackles (and 11 assists) including a stop on fourth-and-one near midfield late in the game.

Nebraska didn't "beat the hell out of USC," but the Huskers gained a confidence that they could play with anybody, anywhere. From there, the 1970 team got on a roll. 28-0 over Army. 35-10 at Minnesota. They beat No. 16 Missouri 17-7 before blowing out Kansas, Okie State, Colorado and Iowa State.

The next game was against Kansas State. Lynn Dickey and his white shoes came to Lincoln in November of 1970. On K-State's first possession, the Blackshirts' pass rush of Willie Harper and Larry Jacobson forced Dickey into a bad throw that was intercepted by Murtaugh. It was the first of a school-record seven interceptions on the day. Johnny Rodgers scored from 30 yards out on the next play. Nebraska won 51-13.

A year before the Game of the Century, 6-3 Oklahoma had yet to become an irresistible wishbone juggernaut. But the Sooners played one of their best games of the season. They stopped Nebraska on fourth-and-goal from the 1 and led twice.

But the Huskers battled back to regain the lead. With five seconds to go, Oklahoma had the ball at the Nebraska 27. A touchdown would tie the game and end Nebraska's title hopes. Jack Mildren's fourth-down pass was tipped and intercepted by Jim Anderson.

Going into the 1971 Orange Bowl against LSU, Nebraska was ranked third behind No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Ohio State. Notre Dame beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl, and Stanford knocked off Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The door was now open for Nebraska.

In the Orange Bowl, the Blackshirts held the Tigers to just 12 points. After Jerry Tagge's touchdown to take the lead in the fourth quarter, the defense stood tall, turning back several LSU drives in the fourth quarter to preserve to win.

Murtaugh led the team with 10 tackles. Murtaugh's prediction came true: Nobody beat Nebraska. The Cornhuskers won their first national championship in 1970. He ended the 1970 season with 142 tackles, breaking his own record (back then, bowl games were not included in the stat totals). Murtaugh also set the school record for most tackles (342). That mark stood for over 30 years until Barrett Ruud broke it in 2004. In addition to being All-Big Eight and All-America, Murtaugh was the 1970 Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year.

No matter how many sets of stadium stairs he had to run, Jerry Murtaugh never has kept his "damn mouth shut." He hosted the "Legends Radio Show" for over a decade, interviewing numerous former Huskers. Murtaugh has also been an unofficial Nebraska football alumni ambassador, helping to connect former players with speaking engagements and other public appearances.

And, as we'll discuss at #39, Murtaugh's ability to talk and connect continues to make a difference for former student athletes across the state.

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Greatest Husker to wear 41: Marc Munford, Linebacker, 1983-1986

Nebraska has long been a pioneer in athletic performance. The core philosophy has always been about helping student athletes maximize their physical potential.

Most people think of that simply as lifting weights and running sprints. But there is more to making sure an athlete is in peak condition. If we think of a college football player as a vehicle - backs and receivers as sports cars, linemen as large trucks, etc. - the fuel that goes into them plays a tremendous role in their performance.

As fundamentally basic as that is, there are inherent challenges as well. Often, young men in the 18-22 range, away from home for the first time, aren't skilled in the kitchen. Even if they know the difference between roux and stew, time is the next hurdle. Between workouts, practices, classes, study hours, meetings, film study and more, it is easy to run out of hours in the day. And finally, players may lack the knowledge of what is good fuel and what is not. Fast food might be an "extra value meal," but it's not ideal nourishment for a college athlete with demanding caloric needs.

The Cornhuskers have long provided food options for their players. The Big Six conference approved "training table" meals in 1938. Early versions of Nebraska's training table - available only to male athletes - were located in the Student Union and the Selleck Quadrangle.

In the 1960s, the origins of the Husker Beef Club started. Nebraska ranchers would donate cattle to be served at the training table, often with Nebraska farmers donating the corn the cows ate. Nebraska football was a field-to-farm-to-field operation.

Nebraska's 1978 summer conditioning guide - given to players to conduct their own offseason workouts - had a nutrition section that stressed the importance of vitamins, minerals and proteins. It provided some sample menus for gaining weight using a six-meals-a-day plan.

In 1985, Nebraska's modern training table - in the west side of Memorial Stadium - opened. In addition to the expanded capacity (it held 220 people and served 330 meals a day in 1985), it was overseen by a registered dietitian. This allowed the staff to begin educating players on nutrition and making sure they were properly fueling themselves.

Linebacker Marc Munford was a part of the first group of Huskers to benefit from the training table.

If you’re compiling a list of the best linebackers in school history, Marc Munford’s name should be on that list. A strong tackler, he led the team in tackles in each of his final three seasons. He is in an elite group of Huskers to win all-conference honors in three seasons.

As a sophomore, he had a breakout performance against Missouri with a career-high 16 tackles and a 57-yard interception return for a touchdown. A devasting knee injury cost Munford the final two games of his junior season, but he still led the team in tackles and repeated as an All-Big Eight pick. In his senior season, he was a captain of a Blackshirt defense that held Kansas to minus-21 yards on 22 carries.

Munford was an excellent prep baseball player with offers to the some of the top college programs of the day. He wanted to moonlight with the Nebraska baseball team, but the coaches wouldn't allow it. He was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

By 1997, Nebraska's sports nutrition program had gone to another level. Dave Ellis - who had started on Boyd Epley's strength and conditioning staff - was hired in 1994 as the first full-time nutritionist in a college athletic department. He elevated Nebraska's program by customizing meal plans based on the different positional needs of football players. In addition, Ellis' staff would educate and coach players on food choices, portions, and more.

Nebraska's dedication to athletic performance - on and off the field - was a major factor in the Huskers' success.

Today, Nebraska's training table in the new Osborne Legacy Complex is led by Kristin Coggin, assistant athletic director for performance nutrition. It is a state-of-the-art facility that has an executive chef serving hundreds of meals every day. There is also a demo kitchen where student-athletes learn how to make their own healthy meals - an important life skill for everyone, especially elite athletes.

The nutrition staff works with the strength and conditioning team to help players meet their goals - weight loss, gain, or maintain. It's all part of a holistic approach to player performance and recovery intended to help players maximize their ability.