Owner of a sweat-soaked T-shirt, Tony White supplied as good of picture as any at how the reps counter is running high for Husker players the first two days of fall camp.
"You can even tell by the way I look, I need to get my butt in shape," said Nebraska's defensive coordinator after Tuesday's practice.
Matt Rhule has his coaches running after the guys as they make sure they know how to run to the ball.
"But it's great. One of the key words in the process is developing, right?"
So, reps. And then more so.
What's the man in charge of Nebraska's defense seeing in those reps so far?
REWARDING THOSE WHO DO IT RIGHT
As Nebraska continued it split squad practices for another day – mostly divided between older and younger guys, but not completely – White said "everything is daily" regarding competition and who's where and the rotations being used.
"From red to black. With the 'A' team. With the 'B' team. So we're going to constantly move guys around. We want to reward guys who do it the right way ... and make sure we send a message to guys if you're not going to do it the way it's supposed to be done, you're not going to play."
KNOWING HOW TO OPERATE
Right now the biggest focus is just establishing a certain way of operating and guys knowing what the defense's identity is.
"Whether it's individual work or it's full team competition, we know how we're supposed to act. So far it's been good but we still have a long way to go."
PRAISE FOR RU'
Keep Ru'Quan Buckley in mind.
He has played in just one game as a Husker through two years but the staff loves how he's attacked things. Other players listen to him too.
White was glad he was asked about Buckley. "That is truly what represents the process of what Coach Rhule has brought here. You talk about a guy like Buck. We identified, hey, he needs to be closer to this weight." White praised the strength coaches, Kristin Coggin in nutrition and the sports science department too. "Constantly giving him the resources he needed in order to get himself in the best shape he's been in. He's flying around. He's happy. He's being a leader out there. I'm really excited about what he's been able to do and that's representative of what's here now."
GETTING INTO A DIFFERENT KIND OF SHAPE
White said the Huskers are in good shape, but there's a difference to being in "playing shape." That's what they are working at now.
"You can see they've gained 10, 12 15 pounds. They're leaner. They're explosive. Now we're getting into actual football shape. Coaches included. It's a lot of moving parts and we have to make sure we do our job so that then those guys can go out and do their job."
HOW MANY DOES HE WANT TO PLAY ON DEFENSE?
"However many we can," he said.
You don't see the depth component's necessity as much early on when everyone is healthy. But White knows, "it's really when you get to those championship months in late October, November and December. If you have great depth and you have a lot of guys playing, chances are the injuries are down, you got guys that you can throw them in there and we're still playing at a high level."
HOW MUCH IS THE PASS RUSH ON HIS MIND?
Everything is on his mind, he said.
From how you do meetings to how you arrange your walk-throughs to how you watch the film so everyone can see what it looks like in tune.
Questions of, "Am I doing too much? Am I doing too little?" But it goes back to just operating the right way most of all right now. "And as we get deeper into camp, and we get more into a rhythm, then we're going to get more specifically, 'He's here on third down...."
Early in camp: Get them running to the ball, play with dominant contact and a term White likes to use a lot – "Husker Speed."
HIGH STANDARD FOR THE COACHES TOO
White said it's on coaches to keep making sure they're giving players the best chance to know what to do and how to do it.
"They're getting a chance on the grass," he said of young players. "So we need to make sure we're right. Every little thing. And it's awesome because Coach Rhule, same deal, he's on us. Offense, defense. He's 'Hey, why are we doing this drill?' 'What does this look like?' 'How are we teaching this?'"
SO, YEAH, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON
"When you look up and you see Buck out there, you see Nash, you see Blaise and you see Cam. And then you see guys down the line – A.J. Rollins and Kai, and you see Sua out there. You're just like, 'Wow.' Wave after wave, you're trying to get those guys to know what to do. And there's a point in practice where a guy makes a play and he did it the right way – and he used Husker Speed and he used dominant contact – and it's like, 'That was it.' And you can it in their face, 'That's what it feels like.' We're trying to get everybody to that point."
DOES HE SEE PLAYERS BEING ABLE TO ADJUST ON THE FLY AND FIX THINGS IN THE 'B TO C' PART OF THE PLAY?
White praised Omar Brown for doing this on a particular play in the spring. It's the part you can't coach. Football instincts. Finding the answer on the fly.
"You see that a lot in the older guys cause they see the game. They know, 'Hey, I was supposed to be over here but I saw the ball so I took a hole over here, I took my chance over here.' It's cool to see them still have that confidence to let it loose in the defense," White said. "But it comes back to the moment when you see the young guys do that. The young guys will be like, 'Oh, I can do this.'"
GO FAST
White and staff are constantly singing that song.
"We had an incident where a guy was trying to be too correct versus playing fast so I yelled at him because, 'Hey dude, I'm not worried about that right now.' I just care that you let loose and you go and play with – I'm going to keep on saying this – Husker Speed.
"That's the way we're going to play here: Husker Speed. Full go, full tilt. I'm not worried about making a mistake and I'm going to play my butt off."
What's Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White seeing from his defense early in camp?
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