With Nate Scheelhaase now a Los Angeles Rams assistant coach who is set to interview for open NFL head coaching jobs, the time is right to throwback to his Illinois days. So with that in mind, we flash back to this exclusive interview that we did with Scheelhaase back at 2013 Big Ten Media Day.
It originally ran on August 17, 2013
During the 2012 season, the third as a starter for IIlini quarterback Nate Scheelhaase, he suffered a severe statistical regression. Meanwhile the Illini went from seven wins to just two, going 0fer in the Big Ten.
He explained what happened.
“I don’t think any of us felt good about what went down, and we didn’t do what we needed from a coaches standpoint or a players standpoint,” Scheelhaase said during our exclusive this summer.
“You can point out a bunch of things that you want to improve upon, but ultimately the best thing about college football is that you get another chance at it.
“And that’s exactly what we’re looking forward to. The new season is knocking on our door.”
Despite going 2-10 (0-8 in the Big Ten) in 2012, the Illini saw five players get drafted by the NFL this past April.
Scheelhaase explained why we can sometimes see a massive disparity between the level of NFL talent on a given team and their win-loss record.
“It’s easy to understand when you’re in it that if you don’t play together as one, everyone doesn’t play for the guys to their left, the guys to their right, you’re not going to be successful,” he said.
“You can’t rely on talent and just think that we have better players, better athletes and we’re just going to go out there and win.
Scheelhaase continued.
“I think it comes down to what your about as a team, as one unit going forth. And I think we learned that, and that’s what makes me excited about this year.”
Scheelhaase got hurt in week one, and it was the first of his three seasons in which he had to deal with severe injury issues. Perhaps his ankle was actually just never totally right.
He simply never had his usual speed burst, during the 2012 season; he wasn’t the dual threat that we were used to.
Scheelhaase threw just 4 TD passes last season. Compare to that to 13 the year before, or 17 as a freshman in 2010. He only topped 200 yards passing in a game once last year.
And his yards per carry was literally half of what it was during his freshman season.
His passing efficiency rating dropped 30 points in 2012.
Despite the glaring statistically off year by Scheelhaase, he still retains some impressive places within the Illini football record book. He’s currently fifth in school history for career total offense.
If he stays healthy for all 12 games in 2013, he could easily leave Illinois as the all-time leader. He’s also currently 6th in Illini history in career passing yardage; and it’s quite possible that he could be third or fourth on this list when his time is through.
Scheelhaase will probably also break Juice Williams’ school record for rushing yards by a quarterback too. And that’s who Nate will always be compared to. It’s who Scheelhaase replaced at QB, and thus, they’ll always be juxtaposed.
Unfortunately, Juice Williams had a bad statistical regression his senior year, and finished his career on a down swing.
However, Scheelhaase still has a chance to end on a high note.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.