2023 Off Season Thread

[Pepe Silvia]

 

[Carm]

 

[Jim14510]

N

 

[Jim14510]

He'll actually probably go to Michigan when Hausmann goes in the portal.

 

[Kaladin]

He'll actually probably go to Michigan when Hausmann goes in the portal.

where's huasmann gonna go

 

[Baron Winnebago]

where's huasmann gonna go

To heck

 

[Jim14510]

where's huasmann gonna go

Florida International

 

[vailhusker]

Evan Cooper was about a dozen names into talking about his room – with Greg Sharpe diligently asking what Husker fans want to hear about specific individuals – when the Nebraska secondary coach briefly stopped the player summaries to interject a thought.

"Man, as I keep going down the list, all these guys they really are coachable," Cooper said during an appearance Monday on the 'Sports Nightly' radio show. "I think that's probably what stuck out to me the most is coming in here in November is these guys want to be great and there's no limit to the things we do. They'll do whatever we ask."

You better be prepared because Cooper can tell you it's a challenge playing any spot in that secondary, where a fierce mentality must be packed in the lunchbox every day.

"As a D-back, that's a tough life," Cooper said. "Defensive back is hard. Even the great ones, they get beat. You can have 90 great plays and two bad plays and that's all that anybody will ever talk about. So you've got to have some deep-rooted confidence and I think I have those type of guys – those guys that work. We believe in that room that confidence comes from hard work and preparation and being dedicated to the craft."

As for those individuals in his room, here's what Cooper had to say:


– Marques Buford is coming back from the tough leg injury suffered in the first half against Wisconsin late last season. Where's he at in that recovery?

"I think we should take it slow with him," Cooper said. "He's one of those guys, he'll want to get right back into it. We'll probably have to, at least myself, protect him against himself. But what I've seen from him is he's attacking everything that he can do. Those little things that we give him, he attacks it. I give him small tasks in the DB room and he does it. He's a football junkie.'

– It's obvious Tommi Hill shouldn't be slept on as we near fall camp. He's bought into the new staff and grown a lot in Cooper's eyes.

"As I talk about him, I try not to get emotional," Cooper said. "I've watched him grow. I've only known him since November and I would say there's a drastic difference. Night and day. He is working. He is really working on the things that I ask him to work on. He's very involved in our team, in our room. He's trying to do the right things."

It is a nice comeback for Hill, who was a starting corner at last season's beginning but had his struggles. Hartzog came on and Hill was working at receiver at season's end. He seems to be thriving in the corner conversation again.

– Cooper said senior cornerback Quinton Newsome has done what is asked and has embraced the transition. He's a confident guy not afraid to call out mistakes on the field.

"He sticks by me. He's my messenger. I expect for him to have a great season. Typically we just try to go day to day, but if we want to forecast a little bit, I think he should have his best season as a Husker."

– High praise came from the coach to sophomore Malcolm Hartzog.

"Malcolm is really one of a kind," Cooper said. "His parents should be proud of him. That guy competes every day in the classroom, in the community, on the field. Does not say too much. Just kind of works. He's in the top 10 percent as far as the workouts and all that kind of stuff. He's been a Blackshirt in our offseason program. He works. If I have Malcolms, my job would be way easier ... I can't think about one guy in the building that doesn't love Malcolm. He's that kind of guy."

– Myles Farmer is a veteran who Cooper said has had a similar approach in his worth ethic to Newsome's.

"Those guys, they're attached to my hip, they want to learn. They've been attacking it and that's all I can ask for."

– Cooper described senior Omar Brown as "one of those pleasant surprises" he found on this team. "Omar is a really good player. I'm looking forward to seeing him and how he progresses ... When we left off I was pretty pleased with his production and how he approaches the game."

– Cooper describes Isaac Gifford as one of the tone setters for this team. "The thing that gets lost with Isaac is he's also one of the most talented, athletically gifted guys that we have. He's consistent. He's smart. He's coachable. He's tough as nails ... We'll lean on him a lot this fall."

– DeShon Singleton is a lot like Hartzog, Cooper said, in his approach. He does everything the coach asks him to do without questions. "He's the same guy every day, willing to learn ... He's a big guy, he's tough. He'll hit you. He'll cover. I'm excited about it."

– Javier Morton has found a spot that fits him in the defense, Cooper thinks. He didn't get too specific about that, but added, "He's tough, he's athletic, he's fast, he's got ball skills. I think we kind of found his niche and he's embracing it and he's working. He's attacking. I think overall the group is just really attacking."

– Corey Collier, the transfer from Florida who got reps with the 1s in the spring game, is always texting Cooper about this and that, that and this. A coach loves that, of course. "He's reaching out to me in exactly to know what I need, the expectations. And he's trying to meet them."

– Cooper said he gave honest feedback to Tamon Lynum about where he was post-spring, and the veteran DB has attacked it since that talk. He expects Lynum will keep competing hard with open spots available to all.

– With Dwight Bootle II and Syncere Safeeullah, Cooper saw "tremendous growth" from day one of spring ball to the end. You don't always know what to expect from freshmen, he added, but those guys listened.

"Things that I coached, I could see them trying it and the light would go on. 'Hey, Cooper said this.' And then he does it and it's right. Then he has it forever. I kind of use those guys as an example for the older guys too. 'Look, this is what I'm telling them to do and then they do it.' It's been good. It's been fun to watch."

He's excited about the summer arrivals too, but hasn't had a chance to see them up close too much yet obviously.

– Walk-on Phalen Sanford, who has played some key snaps and been involved on special teams, and is also a testing freak – is a quiet, unassuming guy always taking notes.

"He does exactly what I ask him to do and I wouldn't be surprised if he played a whole bunch on defense. He is one of those guys who you kind of fall asleep and you might even write him off, but he'll show up every single day."

 

[vailhusker]

Garret McGuire has had about half a year to learn about what he has in his Husker wide receivers room, with some freshmen summer arrivals adding to the fun. It was a specific word that came up.

"They are fun. They have matched my energy, which is pretty crazy to say," McGuire said Tuesday night about his position group during a 'Sports Nightly' radio appearance with Greg Sharpe. "But they've matched my energy. We've got some dudes with just a natural toughness and edge to them, but they are working really, really hard. That is one thing you can say about our room is we are working our tails off."

He likes the chemistry that is building and stresses that the room is a family.

"We have kind of this creed: PTF, which means Protect The Family. We really are family."

Some individual notes to note. Obviously positivity is going to be connected to most of these right now in offseason interviews.


– McGuire said he has "the highest expectations" for senior Marcus Washington. "I talk about just being tough. He's tough. He's going to block in the run game. He's going to be very, very explosive in the pass game. He's long. He can catch the ball in front of his eyes. He kind of leads that room a little bit when it comes to toughness."

McGuire added that Washington is very accepting of coaching.

"He's locked onto me and kind of hangs on every word I say, which is really, really awesome to see an older guy do that. He's a smart player. He's played a lot of football."

Washington knows all three spots and can all play three for Nebraska this fall.

– Zavier Betts and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda have seemingly made the most of their return to the Husker program so far.

"They are so hungry. ... They are very excited to be Huskers again ..."

Betts got 21 credit hours in the spring just to be eligible, McGuire pointed out. "He's doing his job. He's killing it." Garcia-Castaneda is set to graduate in August and will move on to a master's program plan after that.

– Garcia-Castaneda put on seven pounds of muscle in the spring. He's another guy who knows all three spots and McGuire likes his hands and calls him a great route-runner.

"He's kind of matched my enthusiasm in the run game about how are we going to play. And Zavier Betts, he looks different than all those other dudes. ... You see him burst off the football. You see some of the catches he makes. Just how long he is. He's another guy that's from Omaha and that means something to us. You talk about Coach Rhule. We want to play with kids that grew up watching Husker football."

– What about senior Billy Kemp?

"What he's brought to this room is just an edge," McGuire said. "He plays with a natural edge. You talk about a guy who's probably 5-8 on a good day. He's got a chip on his shoulder. And him and I, we can really play off each other. Because I chew his tail. And Jaidyn Doss sees me chew his tail and it's like, 'Oh, that's a fifth-year senior listening to Coach. That's a big deal.'"

McGuire expressed excitement about what receivers get to do in this offense.

"And some of the stuff really, really fits him. Because of how smart he is, how decisive he is ... changes directions and how he catches the football."

– Another transfer Joshua Fleeks is up to 204 pounds.

"He's a big receiver. I think we're going to be able to use him in a lot of ways, possibly in the return game," McGuire said. "Just kind of move him around a little bit. Find ways to get him the ball.

– True freshman Malachi Coleman wasn't on the team yet in the spring but did show up to about every spring practice as a spectator.

"Malachi can be as good as he wants to be. ... He's very self-motivated. He comes from two great (parents). Mom and Dad. They're awesome. They've also been there for him ... He's kind of the leader of that freshmen crew right now just from what I'm seeing, what I'm hearing. He's got a voice in the room. It's pretty cool to hear him answer questions because it puts pressure on some of hose other freshmen because he's answering this question at a really, really high level. The other guys don't know that, but Malachi is ahead so it kind of speeds up their learning process a little bit."

McGuire has been impressed with Coleman live. He hadn't seen him live as a recruit. "Watching him live, he's a good football player."

– McGuire likes how fast Demetrius Bell plays for a young guy.

He's decisive. "He's a very, very confident football player. You kind of see that and he'll jump to the front of the line even though he's a freshman..."

– With another summer arrival Jeremiah Charles, his athleticism jumps out immediately. McGuire said you know what you're getting in an Arlington Martin player. That was Bob Wager's old program.

"He ain't going to shy away from working," McGuire said of Charles.

– Doss' competitiveness jumps out on McGuire's tape watching.

He likes how Doss strains for extra yards. "You see Malachi Coleman and you see Jaidyn Doss, they're on the Jugs, they're in the playbook they're working their tail off right now. Because they expect a lot of each other and they know that this 2023 class can be a really good part of Husker football."

– Jaylen Lloyd is springy and explosive.

The Omaha Westside grad has also caught McGuire's eye with his ball skills. Like with Betts, McGuire highlighted the importance of the Omaha angle and how much it means to those guys.

– Brice Turner's family came in mass support to drop him off.

"All 17 of them to drop them off. He's a little far away from home but he's having fun. It's good that we have some guys from Texas ..." for the chemistry aspect while starting in a new place.

"What I like about him is he's a prepared guy. He really is. He's going to be about 45 minutes early every lift just so he can get his body right and nutrition."

– Interesting position note: D'Andre Barnes is working at receiver to start off his career.

The prospect out of Colorado was also aDB candidate as a recruit. He got here about two weeks ago due to the Colorado high school schedule. He's about week behind the other arrivals, "but he's doing good. You plug him in and he just started going."

– Walk-ons Ty Hahn and Alex Bullock got some love too. Matt Rhule also highlighted them in the spring, so don't forget about them come camp time.

They will find a way to punk any scholarship guy on tape, McGuire said, if they don't strap it on.

"Alex and Ty, they're true route runners. They're good football players that are, again, local kids that we want to win with, that we want to play with."

Cooper Hausmann and Roman Mangini also got mentioned by McGuire. He said Mangini had a big June teaching camps. There's a future football coach in that guy, McGuire is sure.

Taveon Thompson and Barron Miles have also been making strides – with Miles starting to play faster now.

His dad was pretty fast too.

 

[BorWhiskey]

Evan Cooper was about a dozen names into talking about his room – with Greg Sharpe diligently asking what Husker fans want to hear about specific individuals – when the Nebraska secondary coach briefly stopped the player summaries to interject a thought.

"Man, as I keep going down the list, all these guys they really are coachable," Cooper said during an appearance Monday on the 'Sports Nightly' radio show. "I think that's probably what stuck out to me the most is coming in here in November is these guys want to be great and there's no limit to the things we do. They'll do whatever we ask."

You better be prepared because Cooper can tell you it's a challenge playing any spot in that secondary, where a fierce mentality must be packed in the lunchbox every day.

"As a D-back, that's a tough life," Cooper said. "Defensive back is hard. Even the great ones, they get beat. You can have 90 great plays and two bad plays and that's all that anybody will ever talk about. So you've got to have some deep-rooted confidence and I think I have those type of guys – those guys that work. We believe in that room that confidence comes from hard work and preparation and being dedicated to the craft."

As for those individuals in his room, here's what Cooper had to say:


– Marques Buford is coming back from the tough leg injury suffered in the first half against Wisconsin late last season. Where's he at in that recovery?

"I think we should take it slow with him," Cooper said. "He's one of those guys, he'll want to get right back into it. We'll probably have to, at least myself, protect him against himself. But what I've seen from him is he's attacking everything that he can do. Those little things that we give him, he attacks it. I give him small tasks in the DB room and he does it. He's a football junkie.'

– It's obvious Tommi Hill shouldn't be slept on as we near fall camp. He's bought into the new staff and grown a lot in Cooper's eyes.

"As I talk about him, I try not to get emotional," Cooper said. "I've watched him grow. I've only known him since November and I would say there's a drastic difference. Night and day. He is working. He is really working on the things that I ask him to work on. He's very involved in our team, in our room. He's trying to do the right things."

It is a nice comeback for Hill, who was a starting corner at last season's beginning but had his struggles. Hugehog came on and Hill was working at receiver at season's end. He seems to be thriving in the corner conversation again.

– Cooper said senior cornerback Quinton Newsome has done what is asked and has embraced the transition. He's a confident guy not afraid to call out mistakes on the field.

"He sticks by me. He's my messenger. I expect for him to have a great season. Typically we just try to go day to day, but if we want to forecast a little bit, I think he should have his best season as a Husker."

– High praise came from the coach to sophomore Malcolm Hugehog.

"Malcolm is really one of a kind," Cooper said. "His parents should be proud of him. That guy competes every day in the classroom, in the community, on the field. Does not say too much. Just kind of works. He's in the top 10 percent as far as the workouts and all that kind of stuff. He's been a Blackshirt in our offseason program. He works. If I have Malcolms, my job would be way easier ... I can't think about one guy in the building that doesn't love Malcolm. He's that kind of guy."

– Myles Farmer is a veteran who Cooper said has had a similar approach in his worth ethic to Newsome's.

"Those guys, they're attached to my hip, they want to learn. They've been attacking it and that's all I can ask for."

– Cooper described senior Omar Brown as "one of those pleasant surprises" he found on this team. "Omar is a really good player. I'm looking forward to seeing him and how he progresses ... When we left off I was pretty pleased with his production and how he approaches the game."

– Cooper describes Isaac Gifford as one of the tone setters for this team. "The thing that gets lost with Isaac is he's also one of the most talented, athletically gifted guys that we have. He's consistent. He's smart. He's coachable. He's tough as nails ... We'll lean on him a lot this fall."

– DeShon Singleton is a lot like Hugehog, Cooper said, in his approach. He does everything the coach asks him to do without questions. "He's the same guy every day, willing to learn ... He's a big guy, he's tough. He'll hit you. He'll cover. I'm excited about it."

– Javier Morton has found a spot that fits him in the defense, Cooper thinks. He didn't get too specific about that, but added, "He's tough, he's athletic, he's fast, he's got ball skills. I think we kind of found his niche and he's embracing it and he's working. He's attacking. I think overall the group is just really attacking."

– Corey Collier, the transfer from Florida who got reps with the 1s in the spring game, is always texting Cooper about this and that, that and this. A coach loves that, of course. "He's reaching out to me in exactly to know what I need, the expectations. And he's trying to meet them."

– Cooper said he gave honest feedback to Tamon Lynum about where he was post-spring, and the veteran DB has attacked it since that talk. He expects Lynum will keep competing hard with open spots available to all.

– With Dwight Bootle II and Syncere Safeeullah, Cooper saw "tremendous growth" from day one of spring ball to the end. You don't always know what to expect from freshmen, he added, but those guys listened.

"Things that I coached, I could see them trying it and the light would go on. 'Hey, Cooper said this.' And then he does it and it's right. Then he has it forever. I kind of use those guys as an example for the older guys too. 'Look, this is what I'm telling them to do and then they do it.' It's been good. It's been fun to watch."

He's excited about the summer arrivals too, but hasn't had a chance to see them up close too much yet obviously.

– Walk-on Phalen Sanford, who has played some key snaps and been involved on special teams, and is also a testing freak – is a quiet, unassuming guy always taking notes.

"He does exactly what I ask him to do and I wouldn't be surprised if he played a whole bunch on defense. He is one of those guys who you kind of fall asleep and you might even write him off, but he'll show up every single day."

That reads to me like a week one unit of:

CB - Quinton > Hill
CB - Malcolm
SS - Farmer > Singleton
FS - Omar
Rover - Gifford

🤕 - Buford
🤷🏻‍♂️ - everyone else

 

[vailhusker]

Deano's Scholarship Chart is still at 91. I believe they are at 85 now so 6 players have retired or went on NIL deals. Who's no longer on scholarship?

Pos.	Fr.	RFr.	So.	Jr.	Sr.
QB (3)			Heinrich Haarberg Chubba Purdy	Jeff Sims
RB (5)	Kwinten Ives	Emmett Johnson	Gabe Ervin Jr.	Rahmir Johnson	Anthony Grant
WR (7)	Malachi Coleman Jaidyn Doss Brice Turner Jaylen Lloyd Jeremiah Charles Demitrius Bell D’Andre Barnes		Zavier Betts	Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda	Marcus Washington Josh Fleeks Billy Kemp IV
TE (6)	Ismael Smith Flores	Chase Androff Jake Appleget Janiran Bonner	Thomas Fidone Arik Gilbert Nate Boerkircher
OL (13)	Gunnar Gottula Brock Knutson Sam Sledge	Justin Jenkins Jacob Hood Tyler Knaak	Henry Lutovsky Teddy Prochazka	Bryce Benhart Turner Corcoran Ethan Piper Nouredin Nouili Ben Scott
DL (15)	Vincent Carroll-Jackson Riley Van Poppel Cameron Lenhardt Sua Lefotu Jason Maciejczak Princewill Umanmielen Mason Goldman	Brodie Tagaloa	Ru’Quan Buckley Blaise Gunnerson Elijah Jeudy Kai Wallin AJ Rollins	Nash Hutmacher Ty Robinson
LB (14)	Eric Fields Dylan Rogers Maverick Noonan	Gage Stenger	Seth Malcom Randolph Kpai Mikai Gbayor Jimari Butler Chief Borders Kaine Williams	Nick Henrich Garrett Snodgrass MJ Sherman John Bullock	Luke Reimer
CB (8)	Dwight Bootle II Syncere Safeeullah Ethan Nation		Tamon Lynum Malcolm Hartzog	Javier Morton Tommi Hill	Quinton Newsome
S (9)	Rahmir Stewart		Koby Bretz Corey Collier	Myles Farmer Marques Buford DeShon Singleton Isaac Gifford Javin Wright	Omar Brown
ST (4)	Tristan Alvano			Timmy Bleekrode Brian Buschini	Marco Ortiz
Class Total	27	9	24	23	8
Total	27/85	36/85	60/85	83/85	91/85

(Bolded players have used their redshirts.)

 

[jickey moseph]

Deano's Scholarship Chart is still at 91. I believe they are at 85 now so 6 players have retired or went on NIL deals. Who's no longer on scholarship?

Pos.	Fr.	RFr.	So.	Jr.	Sr.
QB (3)			Heinrich Haarberg Chubba Purdy	Jeff Sims
RB (5)	Kwinten Ives	Emmett Johnson	Gabe Ervin Jr.	Rahmir Johnson	Anthony Grant
WR (7)	Malachi Coleman Jaidyn Doss Brice Turner Jaylen Lloyd Jeremiah Charles Demitrius Bell D’Andre Barnes		Zavier Betts	Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda	Marcus Washington Josh Fleeks Billy Kemp IV
TE (6)	Ismael Smith Flores	Chase Androff Jake Appleget Janiran Bonner	Thomas Fidone Arik Gilbert Nate Boerkircher
OL (13)	Gunnar Gottula Brock Knutson Sam Sledge	Justin Jenkins Jacob Hood Tyler Knaak	Henry Lutovsky Teddy Prochazka	Bryce Benhart Turner Corcoran Ethan Piper Nouredin Nouili Ben Scott
DL (15)	Vincent Carroll-Jackson Riley Van Poppel Cameron Lenhardt Sua Lefotu Jason Maciejczak Princewill Umanmielen Mason Goldman	Brodie Tagaloa	Ru’Quan Buckley Blaise Gunnerson Elijah Jeudy Kai Wallin AJ Rollins	Nash Hutmacher Ty Robinson
LB (14)	Eric Fields Dylan Rogers Maverick Noonan	Gage Stenger	Seth Malcom Randolph Kpai Mikai Gbayor Jimari Butler Chief Borders Kaine Williams	Nick Henrich Garrett Snodgrass MJ Sherman John Bullock	Luke Reimer
CB (8)	Dwight Bootle II Syncere Safeeullah Ethan Nation		Tamon Lynum Malcolm Hugehog	Javier Morton Tommi Hill	Quinton Newsome
S (9)	Rahmir Stewart		Koby Bretz Corey Collier	Myles Farmer Marques Buford DeShon Singleton Isaac Gifford Javin Wright	Omar Brown
ST (4)	Tristan Alvano			Timmy Bleekrode Brian Buschini	Marco Ortiz
Class Total	27	9	24	23	8
Total	27/85	36/85	60/85	83/85	91/85

(Bolded players have used their redshirts.)

I think in their TT this past Friday, on3 said Malcolm and Androff are no longer part of the program.

 

[Huskerforlife]

 

[Carm]

I think in their TT this past Friday, Tater Island said Malcolm and Androff are no longer part of the program.

They didn't say that -- they just said "a few guys" have retired. That was poster speculation based on the fact that Malcom and Androff were among the layers without updated roster photos.

 

[BorWhiskey]

What an upstanding person. He didn’t kick off a bunch of players from a 11-2 team who finished ranked 10th. Must’ve been tough.

 

[1HuskerDad]

An oldie but a goodie

 

[vailhusker]

 

[Huskerforlife]

 

[Dawgsauce]

I don't imagine any of y'all were just watching Kirby Smart's presser at SEC media days, but he started by welcoming Rhule back to CFB and said "Nebraska is really the only team I worry any about. Not this year, and not the next, but Nebraska will be much better than the rednecks from Knoxville, the inbreds from Bama, the goofballs from Florida, and the whiny little bitches that reside in Columbus Ohio."

 

[Kaladin]

I don't imagine any of y'all were just watching Kirby Smart's presser at SEC media days, but he started by welcoming Rhule back to CFB and said "Nebraska is really the only team I worry any about. Not this year, and not the next, but Nebraska will be much better than the rednecks from Knoxville, the inbreds from Bama, the goofballs from Florida, and the whiny little bitches that reside in Columbus Ohio."

i'm a Georgia fan now