2023 Off Season Thread

[Kazman5k]

So refreshing not seeing our coach front and center on this

 

[Baron Winnebago]

I forgot we signed him so good call Steven

 

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

One of the beauties of some of the specialists jobs Ed Foley is evaluating is that the numbers give the answers without human opinion even having to enter the room.

"It's an accounting system. Am I making my kicks? Am I putting the ball where I need to or am I not," Nebraska's special teams coordinator said on Wednesday during a 'Sports Nightly' radio appearance. "Some other positions – you can coach the tight ends or offensive line – it's not as cut and dry or black and white ... We're always looking to make our performance better. We were doing some things in spring pretty well and there's some things we need to get better at."

So there was a grocery list of items to work on this time of year. Foley can see the guys getting better at those things on the list as Nebraska turns the corner toward fall camp in a few weeks.

While his kickers, punters and long snappers are working on their crafts, he also doesn't mind his guys getting as much technical information on kicking from others well versed in it. But the important part he stresses to them is how they're processing that info.

When guys come back with something, they'll talk it over with Foley. And obviously at Nebraska's kicking camp – when kickers are hearing from guys like Alex Henery, Greg Zuerlein, Brett Maher and Sam Koch – it's worth listening to feedback even if it's not exactly aligned with their technique.


"So I encourage them to get as much (information) as they can. I do caution them or have conversations with them about how that's going to apply to exactly what they're doing."

Some individual notes:

– Foley highlighted punter Brian Buschini as "a real player" who is a joy to coach. And a challenge. "He's a challenge to coach because he wants so much information all the time. I love working with him."

Foley likes the job Buschini does with the location on his kicks and what he is asked to do. "I think he is going to have a really good year..."

– Timmy Bleekrode was the kicker last year and had a respectable enough Husker debut season (9-of-12 on field goals, though he was 2-of-4 in the 30-to-39 range). But he missed a couple in the spring game and obviously a new freshman foot has entered the competition.

While Bleekrode needs to make those kicks he missed in the red-White scrimmage, Foley pointed out everyone else needs to do a better job on the operation too. "So those goals go hand in hand. Without good operation, we're going to have a harder time making the kicks. But we're working with Timmy about becoming more consistent and he's done that. Timmy's another guy, he puts a lot of pressure on himself to make the kicks and be perfect and he's working on getting better."

– By the way, if you hear Foley talk about 'club face' with any kicker, he's talking about the kicker's foot striking the ball. Club face is a term he uses a lot in analyzing his kickers' technique.

– There's much excitement from fans about true freshman Tristan Alvano, now on campus after a very successful career at Omaha Westside.

"You're looking at a guy and you're saying, OK, he has a big leg and he can make a 55-yarder, but does he have a repeatable swing? Again, we talk about the golf swing. But is he swinging, where like OK, he's swinging the same way every time?" Alvano does that no matter the distance, Foley said. "Does he have a very repeatable, consistent swing? Yes he does. And he has a powerful leg."

And obviously Alvano has shown a capability for making pressure kicks, winning the state title for Westside in Memorial Stadium with a walk-off kick.

"That's a big part of the evaluation for me," the coach said of those pressure kicks.

– Remember, Marco Ortiz is a transfer from Florida who is here as a long snapper. Big job, where the whole point is to do it so well you're almost anonymous to fans and media.

Sounds like he's the guy they hoped.

"In the snapping game, it's not just like snapping the ball back there anymore. Now we're asking him to do certain things like put the ball in a certain spot (for the punter on directional punts) ... But we're also trying to get him to get it so that there's very little ball rotation on the field goals and extra points. So we're snapping the ball and we can catch the ball and put it down and not have to spin the ball to get the laces away from the kicker."

Ortiz has done it at a high level.

If you need a refresher on him, I wrote about him when he committed to Nebraska. He's from a snapping family. "The pedigree means a little bit to me in that it's in his blood a little bit," Foley said. "He's a junkie with it, so he's out there working at his craft all the time. He's very good and he's getting better too."

– Kickoff returner is still open heading to August.

Joshua Fleeks did it for Matt Rhule's staff when they were at Baylor and could be considered. Foley likes what he's seen of Tommi Hill back there. Billy Kemp can do that in addition to punt returner.

"That one's going to carry through the preseason I think maybe more than some of the other jobs. There are some guys that can do it. I'm not worried about it because I think there's a number of guys that can do it."

Nebraska is still in the growth stages with the kick return part, but Foley will find that guy who gets the nod in camp.

– Punt returner might be a little more settled, judging by Foley's words.

Guys who have done it include Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda and Alex Bullock and Foley thinks some newcomers could enter the mix as competition. (That goes for kick returner too).

But Kemp did it at Virginia and just might do it a lot here in 2023.

"Here, we put some pressure on him to catch it and make decisions ... He's done a good job ... There's some guys that can do it but I like Kemp. Because Kemp's a guy to me that has a little bit of swagger to him when he catches it, he can make the first guy miss. I like him back there."

 

[2010sarenevercomingback]

Is that woman on meth? She's moving unnaturally fast.

 

[Jim14510]

Is that woman on meth? She's moving unnaturally fast.

I thought she was going to continue stripping but then she had more clothes on.

 

[NSECTA4]

I’d love to have the original

 

[Huskerforlife]

 

[Huskerforlife]

 

[Huskerforlife]

 

[Huskerforlife]

 

[Huskerforlife]

If link asks for login, here is the article:

Steven Sipple: Scrappy linebacker Nick Henrich counts among his blessings the 11th annual Nebraska Football Road Race​

Steven Sipple • about 9 hours

Nebraska Nick Henrich (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Nebraska linebacker Nick Henrich makes no bones about a common struggle that players in his sport must endure.

“I’ll you what, rehab can be a dark road sometimes,” says the Omaha native, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during last season’s seventh game, against Purdue.

A team co-captain in 2022, Henrich finished the season with 37 tackles, including three for losses.

“My teammates and everyone have been so supportive,” he adds. “It’s been great. The road to recovery has been a lot of time to just work and grind. My knee feels really, really good, and I’m itching to get back out there during (preseason) camp later this month.”

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Henrich — a junior with 18 career starts — feels energized by being able to work out with his teammates. During rehab stints, players sometimes feel like they’re not part of the team. Rehab by nature includes many highs and lows.

Henrich, though, counts his blessings.

“I’m just so thankful that I’m in the situation that I’m in with this staff and my teammates,” he says.

Nick Henrich was officially cleared two weeks ago​

Henrich was officially cleared to go full-go in practice two weeks ago. That’s a blessing. Another blessing: He looks forward to being part of Sunday morning’s 11th annual Nebraska Football Road Race. A 1-mile fun run begins at 8 a.m., and a 5K run will follow with an estimated start time of 8:30 a.m.

The history of the Nebraska Football Road Race is directly tied to the inspirational relationship created in 2012 between former Husker running back Rex Burkhead and pediatric brain cancer patient Jack Hoffman, who became famous as a 7-year-old by running for a 69-yard touchdown in the 2013 Spring Game.

All proceeds from the road race will go directly to pediatric brain cancer research at the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. People can register for the races by going to huskers.com/roadrace. Online registration is open until 6 p.m. Saturday.

So, here’s yet another blessing for Henrich: As he’s done for the past two years, he will once again push his friend Andrew’s wheelchair. Andrew is an adult who had a brain tumor at age 5.

“His family knew (former Husker linebacker) Will Honas, and Will was pushing him,” Henrich says. “Once Will graduated, he made sure Andrew always had someone to push him.”

Andrew, you see, is a fighter — a quality that Henrich genuinely appreciates.

“He’s just got the most positive outlook on life,” Henrich says. “He’s really, really inspirational.”

Henrich, a 12-game starter in 2021, feels the road race in general is inspirational.

“First of all, it’s really cool to see the state come together,” he says. “We all sometimes think that football is the only thing that matters, and it’s kind of easy to get caught up in all that. But to see everyone united against pediatric brain cancer is a super-cool experience.

“It’s cool to be able to talk to the kids and interact with fans just so openly. There are no barriers. It’s not like an autograph signing. It’s just like all of us talking as one big family as a state. It’s just a different vibe, and I really enjoy it.”

Husker star has only vague memories of Jack’s big run​

Henrich, the top high school prospect in the state in 2018, has only vague memories of Hoffman’s 69-yard sprint to paydirt in 2013. After all, Henrich was a grade-schooler at the time. But Henrich knows Hoffman’s story well, and Henrich has come to regard the Nebraska Football Road Race as basically a program tradition.

“I would say for me personally it absolutely is a tradition just because I’ve been involved in it for so many years now, and I don’t really know a time at Nebraska without looking forward to the road race and it being a real big deal,” he says.

“I think it’s something that all the guys look forward to doing every year.”

Considering his recent eight-month rehab stint, Henrich perhaps looks forward to it even more than usual.

He’s had to endure plenty, but nothing compared to the friend he’ll be pushing to the finish line Sunday.

 

[Carm]

well Henrich is not retiring

“My teammates and everyone have been so supportive,” he adds. “It’s been great. The road to recovery has been a lot of time to just work and grind. My knee feels really, really good, and I’m itching to get back out there during (preseason) camp later this month.”
Henrich was officially cleared to go full-go in practice two weeks ago.

 

[Huskerforlife]

 

[cwessel76]

 

[Mavsker]

Didn't lose by more than single* digits. Virtually no one ever loses by more than double digits.

 

[2010sarenevercomingback]

 

[nja13]

 

[cwessel76]

 

[2010sarenevercomingback]