Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[entropy]

LJS

Ron Brown has heard that a person is wise to do many crossword puzzles as he gets older -- a good exercise to stimulate the mind.

"Well," Brown said after Wednesday's practice, "this is another crossword puzzle for me."

He was talking about his new role in the Husker football program, the one that has him coaching running backs.

The 54-year-old Brown has coached many different positions in his lengthy coaching career. He got his start in 1982 as a defensive coordinator for the semipro New Jersey Rams. He was the head freshman coach at Brown University. He's coached wide receivers and tight ends for Nebraska.

Running backs, though? Nope. Never that.

But what the heck? Bring on that crossword puzzle.

"You know, a lot of coaching is learning on the run," Brown said. "You have to be proactive in wanting to learn some things. I've been listening and watching tapes and studying and trying to get a feel for it. That's going to be a spring-long, summer-long process for me, just as it was when I first came here coaching wide receivers and tight ends."

When Brown started coaching receivers at Nebraska under Tom Osborne, he found whatever coaching books he could about the position. He went and asked the great former Baltimore Colt wide receiver Raymond Berry for whatever advice he could give.

The studying paid off. Brown coached wide receivers and tight ends for Nebraska for 20 years.

There was a comfort level there. Yet when asked by Husker head coach Bo Pelini about moving to coach the running backs this year, Brown was excited.

A new challenge.

"You're retraining the brain," Brown said. "But once the brain kind of gets through that first level and you can get your own creativity matched up into this position, it's good. There's a learning curve and it feels uncomfortable at first, and that's true for probably everybody. But you have to kind of work through it and then all of a sudden it begins to mesh slowly but surely."

Among the items Brown is studying these days: A tape of running back drills put together by a man he considers to have been one of the best running back coaches around -- Frank Solich.

"I patterned a lot of my things as a wide receivers and tight ends coach after how he set up his drills and so forth," Brown said of Solich, who coached NU's running backs before becoming the head coach at Nebraska. "One of the things that he said that stuck with me and I've implemented it: When a guy is a little bit shy and doesn't like to hit, he'd say, 'You know what? That guy needs a lot of collisions.'

"That stuck with me, because I've seen kids who have come into this program who weren't naturally tenacious kids who came out of this program very tenacious. I don't believe that either you've got it or you don't. I think that's why you put 'Coach' on my shirt. That's something I have to develop."

Right now, Brown is trying to develop what he calls a "mental tenacity" in some backs who could step up and help carry the load along with junior Rex Burkhead.

"I don't want guys running out of bounds. I want guys getting extra yards," Brown said. "I've stressed it. They understand it."

He's challenging players like junior Collins Okafor and senior Austin Jones.

"I'm trying to take our kids who have been in the program a while and say, 'Look, let's find a way to get out on that field. You don't want to be just drifting around the program and being mediocre in everything. Find at least one thing where you can be very talented at, very good at, where we can stick you in there.'"

Brown told all the running backs before the first practice he was going to push them hard. Jones liked that.

"There's never a time where we're going to sit there and relax," Jones said.

Brown doesn't have many bodies to work with right now. With injuries keeping some players out of practice Wednesday, he had just six of his players on the field.

But more help is on the way. In the summer, highly regarded recruits Aaron Green, Ameer Abdullah and likely Braylon Heard should all be in Lincoln ready to battle for playing time.

Brown, who was involved heavily in Green's recruitment, has talked to both Green and Abdullah since becoming the running backs coach.

"I don't know a lot about those freshmen yet coming in, what exactly they'll be great at and what they won't," Brown said. "But they're going to have to be quick learners and I'm going to have to get them ready for certain things where they can make a contribution. Maybe not in every realm of the game, but somewhere on that field, they have to make an early contribution."

[entropy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/news/story?id=6225668

Great article an interview with prince

[entropy]

Sipple: Barney Cotton welcomes help in trenches

http://huskerextra.com/sports/footba...a51dd0feb.html

Sipple: Barney Cotton welcomes help in trenches

Posted: Saturday, March 19, 2011 9:00 pm

Barney Cotton is an old-school, no-excuses sort of offensive line coach.

So he'll never complain about Nebraska's coaching setup the past three seasons.

But he found it "interesting" not having a graduate assistant to help him, Cotton says. "Interesting" is as far as he'll go. It was "interesting" because in his previous years in the business, as an offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at four separate stops -- including a single-season stint at Nebraska in 2003 -- Cotton always had help from a graduate assistant coaching the line.

He had GA help at Iowa State (2004-06) and Nebraska in 2003 with Dan McLaughlin.

Cotton had help at New Mexico State (1997-2002) and St. Cloud State (1989-94).

However, for the past three seasons, Nebraska's graduate assistant on offense worked with the skill positions.

Consequently, Cotton coached up 20-some behemoths on his own and never said a discouraging word about it. And it wasn't like anybody was asking, anyway.

"I relished in it, to be honest with you," he says. "I didn't ask for more help. But now that I have more help, there's no question we're better off."

With former Nebraska intern John Garrison now working as a full-time assistant, guiding the offensive linemen and tight ends, Cotton actually may get a breather now and then.

Not that he would ever complain, not for a second, although he does bristle over harsh criticism of last year's offense, including the line.

"There obviously were some things we needed to correct," Cotton says. "On the other hand, do you realize that we were only (84) yards from having three 1,000-yard rushers? Even though nobody's happy with how the season finished, there were some pretty good things that happened.

"You're kind of measured on how you finish," he added, alluding to three losses in the last four games. "I accept that wholeheartedly. But I'm also not going to put my head in the sand and say we didn't do anything good last year."

The line will be better off in 2011? Cue the skeptics. Considering Nebraska's up-and-down line play in the past decade, it's natural to cast some doubt. But Cotton stays upbeat and confident, especially this spring.
It's all in the eyes and hands.

"Having two sets of eyes coaching the O-line, and two sets of hands, that's a big deal," he says.

It was a big deal for Milt Tenopir and Dan Young all those years (1985-2002), and for Tenopir and Clete Fischer, and Fischer and Bill Myles, and Fischer and Carl Selmer, so you get the idea.

Lo and behold, Cotton and Garrison will benefit from first-year graduate assistant Vince Marrow, a 42-year-old former NFL player who's helping coach the tight ends.

"The thing we had a heck of a time doing in the last three years ... well, my favorite thing to do with linemen is to split up in twos," Cotton says. "So like I might have the left guards and left tackles, and John might have the centers and right guards, and then Vince might have the right tackles and tight ends. Then maybe five minutes later, Vince runs over and does left tackles and tight ends, and now I've got the right guards and right tackles, and John's got the left guards and centers. So you're working all your front-side and back-side zone and man-gap combinations."

Makes me tired just thinking about it.

"We just come up with our practice plan daily," Cotton says. "And then in meeting time, sometimes John's with me and sometimes he's with the tight ends."

The 54-year-old Cotton seems recharged. Change is exciting, and Nebraska has "changed everything" on offense under new coordinator Tim Beck, Cotton says.

"The huddle's different," he says. "The snap count's different. The way we call things. ... There's not anything the same."

The offensive line also will have a new look, most notably at the guard positions, where Nebraska loses to graduation Keith Williams (33 career starts) and Ricky Henry (28). Cotton describes Henry as "the toughest guy I've ever coached. Ever." The Huskers likely will turn to sophomores Brent Qvale and Andrew Rodriguez, or perhaps junior Brandon Thompson.

Meanwhile, Nebraska returns 2010 full-time starters in Jeremiah Sirles at left tackle and Mike Caputo at center. Senior tackles Marcel Jones and Jermarcus "Yoshi" Hardrick have significant experience and will be top candidates to take over at right tackle, where departed D.J. Jones started every game last season.

Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini says the changes on offense should help the linemen "be aggressive and know what they're doing, so they can come off the football and play with technique and fundamentals."

With the help of their coaches, of course. All three of them. Imagine that.

"In hindsight, we were a little short-handed," says Cotton, not complaining a bit.

[entropy]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110320/MAVS/703209863

Huskers potential suitor for Zuerlein?

By Rob White
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

As their program teeters on the brink, many UNO football players are having to weigh options not faced since coming out of high school.

Foremost among that group is All-America kicker Greg Zuerlein, who said he’s had contact with six Division I FBS programs, including Nebraska, since last week’s announcement that the University of Nebraska at Omaha planned to drop football as part of its move to Division I.

“I’m just sitting back right now, and if schools contact me, that’s fine,” Zuerlein said. “What we’ve been talking about is getting transcripts to those schools and getting film to them so they can evaluate me and see if I’m eligible.”

Besides Nebraska, Zuerlein said, UCLA, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Minnesota have made contact. Many others at the Division I FCS and Division II levels have also shown interest, and Zuerlein estimates that he’s heard from 50 to 60 schools so far.

As of now, Zuerlein (pronounced ZER-line) and his Division I pursuers are uncertain about his eligibility at that level. While Zuerlein — who missed all but one play last season because of a partially torn hip labrum — has been cleared for a sixth season of eligibility in Division II, the rules between Division I and Division II are different.

Division I players have five years to play four seasons, while in Division II players can play four seasons over the course of being enrolled as a full-time student for 10 semesters. Zuerlein is attending school part-time this spring to preserve his Division II eligibility, but his five-year Division I clock would have expired since he redshirted in 2006.
“I’m probably going to have to apply to the NCAA again to be granted another year,” Zuerlein said.

Nebraska is seeking replacements for its 1-2 kicking combination of Alex Henery and Adi Kunalic. Henery, the most accurate kicker in NCAA history, connected on 68 of 82 career field goals, including a career-best 57-yarder. And Kunalic, recruited mainly for his ability to knock kickoffs out of the end zone, banged 40.2 percent (125 of 311) of his career chances for touchbacks.

Zuerlein’s career touchback percentage is better than that of Kunalic at 43.1 percent (91 of 211) and he has twice led Division II in touchbacks. At least two UNO opponents have stationed their return men 9 yards deep in the end zone to try to get a return, but Zuerlein often kicks it out of the end zone anyway.

Zuerlein also made 36 of 49 career field goals, including 17 of 23 in his junior season. Of those six misses in 2009, five were blocked as the Mavericks struggled with comically bad blocking and defenders frequently broke through the middle of the line. The only miss that wasn’t blocked was a rushed 33-yarder after it appeared officials didn’t re-set the play clock.

His career long field goal is a 52-yarder and, like Henery, he has frequently made attempts of 60 yards or more in practice.

Zuerlein remains hopeful that he’ll get a professional kicking opportunity for 2012. But first, he’s looking for somewhere to go in 2011.

He said his conversations with Nebraska have been in general terms.

“They’ve just been asking me a lot of questions about my eligibility,” he said. “If I am cleared to play, then we’d have to see potentially if I would fit in. I told them I’d be interested, and we talked about the situation they currently have. I wouldn’t be able to just go in there and have a spot. I’d have to earn it, just like at any other place.”

Nebraska recruited a scholarship kicker as part of its 2011 class, Mauro Bondi of West Boca Raton High in Florida. There are also four other players listed as place-kickers on the NU roster.

Zuerlein, a soccer player who didn’t go out for football until he was a freshman at Lincoln Pius X, drew interest from several Division I schools — including several from the Big 12 — as a senior. But he said he was uncertain then about going to a school that already had an established kicker and wanted to be a four-year starter without redshirting. When UNO made an offer that included scholarship money and the chance to be a four-year starter, Zuerlein accepted.

Coincidentally, UNO had a kicker transfer in from a Division I FCS school in late July and Zuerlein wound up redshirting in 2006 anyway.

“But in the end that was good for me, because I got a lot better,” he said.

Currently, Zuerlein is working to get his kicking leg better. He injured the hip labrum one week before the season started, then re-injured it on the initial extra point of the season opener. He tried rehabbing during the season but never got close to being able to play. He finally had surgery in late December and his rehabilitation is being monitored by the UNO training staff.

“It’s coming along and it’s feeling pretty good,” he said. “I’ve been doing some running and I’ve been able to do a lot more stuff. The only thing I haven’t tried is kicking, because they don’t want me to rush back any time soon.”

Zuerlein said there has been little conversation with schools at this point about whether he would be asked to walk on or if scholarship money would be involved.

He also said the potential transition from Division II to another level shouldn’t present a problem.

“I’ve always said kicking is kicking,” he said. “The field goal posts are the same, the hashmarks are the same — whether it’s NAIA, Division III, Division II or Division I, it’s all the same.”

[entropy]

http://omaha.com/article/20110319/BI...st-new-offense

Starting job up for grabs as QBs test new offense

By Jon Nyatawa
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — When junior Cody Green describes his approach to playing quarterback in Nebraska's offensive system last year, it sounds like Saturdays were as much quarterback class exam as football game.

The Husker quarterbacks were taught during the week to be game managers, their heads loaded down with verbal jargon. The challenge was to flawlessly execute a smorgasbord of plays. Improvising beyond the scheme's limitations was not encouraged. Football by the book.

And with young quarterbacks and a strong defense, the plan made sense in lots of ways. But as the year unfolded, a mental roadblock seemed to emerge. The NU offense seemed to be playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Players seemed focused on avoiding mistakes. And first-year starter Taylor Martinez and his backup, Green, rarely got comfortable as the leaders of the NU offense.

The direction last fall, Green said, was to put the offense in the best situation to win.

“That's not making a contested throw,” he said. “Or throwing the ball away instead of taking the sack. Not rolling out and attempting to make a play. Be smart with the ball.”

The jargon, the plays, carrying out the scheme.

It became paralysis by analysis.

Things are changing this spring.

“In this offense, it's about winning,” Green said. “Go out there and compete. Keep the offense on the field, get the ball to whoever you need to get the ball to and get the W.”

The specific methods the Huskers will use aren't completely clear just yet. NU coaches and players are intentionally vague when they speak publicly about a simplified offense.

Martinez, who started 12 games at quarterback as a redshirt freshman last season, hasn't yet talked to reporters this spring. Coach Bo Pelini told reporters last week they would have to wait until the season opener — and perhaps even longer — before the Huskers revealed clues as to what offensive coordinator Tim Beck has in store.

But it's clear one of Beck's goals has been to ease the mental strain on his players, especially those at quarterback. That process is already under way, according to Green.

“It's a lot of the same stuff, just different terminology. That's really the easiest and quickest way to describe it,” Green said. “We had good stuff prior — we just had a hard time getting to it.”

Beck has hinted at a few changes.

He's tweaking the terminology and trimming down the playbook. He wants his wide receivers to have more flexibility in their routes so they and the QBs can react to various defensive coverages. The receivers all were wearing play-calling wristbands on the first day of spring practice.

Still, despite the new approach, the outcome of the quarterback race might end up determining how successful the Huskers are. And Beck said he's nowhere near figuring out that position battle.

“Obviously, with Taylor and Cody being veterans and having played in games and been around a little bit more, they're further advanced because of that. There's no question,” Beck said. “And that gives them an edge up. After three days, that's probably where we're at.”

There are still 12 practices left this spring, though. Then summer conditioning. And a month of preseason practice.
That's plenty of time for youthful talents — redshirt freshman Brion Carnes and January enrollee Jamal Turner — to show what they can do. Sophomore Kody Spano, sidelined for nearly two years with separate ACL injuries, is back on the field as well.

At this point, Beck said he hasn't outlined the exact criteria he'll use to pick a starter. He's told the players simply to compete.

They're starting over, in Beck's mind. He won't review game or practice tape from last year, nor did he enter spring drills by tabbing favorites and creating a depth chart.

“Things we did last year I'm not going to ask them to do, so I'm not really going to look at that,” Beck said. “I don't want any preconceived ideas. I want to make my own evaluations on them based on what I need them to do. So that's what we've been doing.”

According to Green, one thing's for sure already: Beck wants a winner.

“He needs a competitor and someone who's going to get their teammates to win, play for them, fight for them,” Green said. “You need that leader on the football field, and that's what he's looking for.”


QB CAPSULES

TAYLOR MARTINEZ
The explosive sophomore is the presumed favorite to retain the starting quarterback job this fall, though he wouldn’t appear to be a lock. As a passer, he struggled with accuracy and pocket presence, especially later in the season when a foot injury limited his mobility. At 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, Martinez is a potential game-changer, though. He proved that during the early portion of 2010, when he totaled 12 rushing touchdowns in Nebraska’s first five games. But as adversity arose late last fall, so did questions of Martinez’s commitment and leadership. He’ll have plenty to prove in April and August.

CODY GREEN
Serving as Nebraska’s backup quarterback for the past two seasons, Green has yet to fulfill the perhaps unfairly high expectations placed on him during his recruitment. Nebraska did win both games (Iowa State and Colorado) that Green started in place of an injured Martinez last season. But like Martinez, Green wasn’t consistent as a passer, completing 55 percent of his throws. His playmaking ability as a runner hasn’t translated to this level, mostly because the long-striding 6-foot-4, 235-pound junior lacks the instant burst at the line of scrimmage displayed by a player like Martinez. Green has leadership qualities, and he’s hungry. He knows his collegiate career is halfway over.

KODY SPANO
Spano is listed as a sophomore on the official NU roster, although coach Bo Pelini said the injury-plagued quarterback hasn’t yet been officially granted an extra year. Spano, who joined the program in 2008 and redshirted that season, has missed much of the past two years because of two separate ACL tears. Now the 6-foot-2, 210-pound quarterback is finally back, but he’ll have to play catch-up. Spano threw for 2,263 yards and 23 touchdowns during his senior year at Stephenville High School in Texas. That was nearly four years ago now.

BRION CARNES
He spent his redshirt freshman season running the scout team offense for the Huskers, as Taylor Martinez had done at times in 2009. Perhaps Carnes can have the same kind of breakout spring that Martinez had a year ago, vaulting himself into the quarterback race. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound quarterback seems to possess all of the athletic skills, meshing well with the expected spread-oriented approach of offensive coordinator Tim Beck. The question: When will it all start to click? Carnes has certainly made progress in the mental aspect of his game, and a new offensive system helps level the playing field.

JAMAL TURNER
Tim Beck wasn’t sure a couple of weeks ago where Turner would play. Quarterback? Receiver? He’s a shifty and explosive ball carrier, skills that could be used elsewhere if he can’t earn playing time at quarterback. For now, the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder is taking snaps and learning to run the offense. How long he lasts at that spot might be up to him. He spent his sophomore year at Sam Houston (Texas) High School forbidden by his coach to scramble in hopes that he would learn basic pass scheme principles. Turner was admittedly worried that his smaller frame might limit him, but when spring practice got under way earlier this month, the bulked-up true freshman didn’t appear out of place.

RON KELLOGG
Kellogg, who quarterbacked Omaha Westside High School, bypassed a couple of small-school scholarship offers to walk on at Nebraska. He’s been steadily improving since joining the NU program in 2009. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound sophomore actually was promoted to Nebraska’s regular practice rotation at quarterback at one point last season, a move mostly influenced by injuries to Taylor Martinez and Zac Lee. Still, Kellogg made enough of an impression last year to earn some looks. A former offensive scout team MVP, Kellogg could provide some increased depth at the position if he continues to improve.

[entropy]

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=205119597

Big12 Champs!!

[entropy]

first official drawing of the east stadium expansion...

[entropy]

http://www.huskers.com//pdf8/725918.pdf

[entropy]

so my cousin is replacing my existing countertop on my tailgate vehicle. He's about a week or so from being done. This thing is going to look amazing... very old school and I like it. He has to add some black to harry husker and seal the whole board, but this is going to look amazing. Really happy with his ideas of contrasting stain. I'm ready for football season.

[SeanB]

That's atrocious. ;)

[entropy]

http://www.huskerj.com/mascots-logos.htm

Mascot and Logo history of Nebraska, in case you wondered.

[entropy]

Nebraska softball is off to a 22-2 start. Best in school history

[WM Wolverine]

Softball? Hows your womens bowling team doing?

[entropy]

not as good this year

[lineygoblue]

As of last weekend, Michigan's softball team was ranked #5, and was 29-2. They did lose Saturday's final game in the Judy Garman Classic to Fresno State, 3-1. So, they may drop down a bit in the rankings.

They have wins this season over both Arizona and Arizona State, both currently ranked in the top ten.

They open the Big Ten schedule this weekend at Northwestern. Maybe. Winter has scheduled a return to the midwest this week.