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Husker secondary coach Evan Cooper has one of those rooms on the roster you could easily kill a half hour talking about.
You want to talk about the 'old'? Because you could take up a good chunk of the conversation just locked in on veteran returnees like Isaac Gifford, Tommi Hill, Marques Buford, DeShon Singleton and Malcolm Hartzog. That could feed the appetite.
Or you want the newer? Because you could drift over to a collection of first- and second-year guys trying to take advantage of a plethora of reps and carve out a spot in one of the higher chairs.
Seven practices into spring, plenty remains to be settled, except perhaps for Cooper's opinion on one of his veterans. It seems the stance by the coach on what "Giff" means to this team is already pretty secure.
– High, high praise for Isaac Gifford, who sets the tone and knows what to expect while raising the expectation of others.
"We're fine-tuning Giff. When we first got here, we had to do some overhaul. But now it's just fine-tuning," Gifford said. "It's working on his coverage ability and all. That's been the focus for him."
Cooper added this about Gifford, "Legitimately, Isaac Gifford is one of the best players in the country. Pretty soon you will all see. He's a warrior. That's why he's tough. That's why he's got the single digit."
Even with a shoulder harness on, Gifford doesn't want to miss a rep, the coach adds.
"He knows the defense at a high level, he knows the offense at a high level. Of course he tackles well. ... He's just one of those guys. It's a coach's dream. Everything I ask him to do, he just does it. And then he holds the other guys accountable for not doing it."
– Besides Gifford, Cooper said guys like Marques Buford, Tommi Hill and DeShon Singleton know what to expect and it shows to others.
"I kind of compare it to when you first move in a house and you wake up in the middle of the night and it's dark, and you kind of tiptoe around," Cooper said. "But then you stay in the house for a month or two and you know exactly where everything is. You move at a better pace. That's where those guys are right now."
– While he hasn't known defensive coordinator Tony White that long, he feels like he's known him his whole life.
"When you guys talk to him, you can feel it. He's one of those guys. I love being around Coach. Whether he was here or not, I'm happy. If he goes somewhere and elevates his career, and elevates his family and the way he lives, I'm all for that. But I am relieved that he's here because I think we accomplished a couple things on defense but we left a lot on the table."
– Malcolm Hartzog is working solely at safety right now and that might be a benefit for him.
"I should probably apologize to Malcolm. I put Malcolm at a bunch of sticky situations due to injuries and stuff and now this spring I'm just having him focus at one position. I know he can play them all but I just want him to fine tune the things at one position. And I've seen him grow in that area, and it's been fun to watch. He's just comfortable now. Instead of me moving him all over the place like a bad coach. He's been working at it."
He likes Hartzog at safety because he feels it's similar to being a nickel in certain down and distances and he can do those things.
"And he's also really smart and tough. He play in the post, he can play man, he can play in half, he can blitz, he can do all those things. And then in the NFL teams that play with a nickel, that's kind of one of the most important pieces. Because the nickel they have to be very versatile. That's what Malcolm is."
– OK, what areas does his crew need to climb?
He said Nebraska wants to improve on third down and have more takeaways.
"We didn't do enough. Obviously last year was last year but we want to improve on those things. All the DBs are working on coverage."
Working on takeaways was a major focus during the open portion of practice media saw on Tuesday, including drills specifically aimed at punching the ball out.
– He's hopeful a year of knowing the defense will put the Huskers in position for more of those takeaways.
"When you first learn the defense, you spend most of the time trying to remember what to do. And then as the season goes, you know what to do and now you can focus on what the offense is trying to do. So I can't really do step three and four if I can't fully grasp step one. So they need to know it at a level they can teach it. And defenses are reactionary so they need to know it and be able to react within the first blink of the snap."
He has seen more opportunities for takeaways this spring camp, perhaps because this group has moved past those first initial steps. "I've seen more effort for takeaways. I've seen a better grasp of the defense as a whole."
– Cooper won the tug-of-war for Jeremiah Charles to be a defensive back because he just kept bugging Matt Rhule about it. "Coach Rhule, please let me have him,'" he said with a smile.
It's paying off so far, Cooper said, though everyone has to keep working.
"For a guy who barely played football in high school – his athletic traits are well documented – but the things you wouldn't notice about him if you didn't know him is very competitive. He's really smart and he's also really tough. So it's just a natural fit for him at DB."
Cooper good-naturedly added he's not saying the receivers aren't tough. "But it's just a natural fit for him, and he's just working at it."
– Cooper said Rhule is "a genius in splitting up the teams three ways."
Because everyone gets about the same reps.
"There's not much managing going on. There's just a lot of reps and those guys just working. The young guys, inexperienced guys, you really only get better at football playing football." Guys get plenty of work in. And, well, "you can't hide."
– Lot of names in that room so don't get too lost in if one wasn't asked about.
Ethan Nation, for instance, is another intriguing young corner that Cooper wasn't asked specifically about but did come up when Ed Foley said he was continuing to be one of the leading options at punt returner.
– Blye Hill's size and speed made him a portal target Cooper wanted.
"He fit right in. Like, he's a good human. And that room is full of those guys. They've been trying to get pretty tight. You need to be able to gel in the secondary and we're doing a good job with it."
A nice piece to this one is Hill is just a sophomore. Basically in that same age category as most of the young dudes on this roster.
– He likes how the young guys in general fit.
Cooper mentioned Mario Buford is playing three different positions right now.
Cooper said Marques and Mario both play hard, know football and are tough people. "I like tough people. That room is tough."
Mario Buford is an early enrollee who Hartzog highlighted as someone who will be good in this program.
"He just kind of goes out and does it and gives us effort. ..." Cooper said. "Again, the leadership from Quinton (Newsome), the leadership from Phalen (Sanford), the leadership from Ashton (Hausmann), the leadership from the other guys, the Omar Browns, it just carries over. And now Tommi Hill, he's up now, and he knows how to do it because those guys did it before him."
– Dwight Bootle II is back out there after injury.
"He picked up where he left off. The arrow was pointing up for him, and I think it is right now. He missed a lot of football so he's got to play the game of football and learn the intricacies and different techniques and defensive calls. I think he's going to be a really good player. I don't see any leftover ailment from his shoulder so he's been doing a good job."
– Cooper went out of his way to thank his previous seniors and those guys who were in the program last year.
He said the right culture started with them.
"When I first got here, they didn't know me but those guys just bought in right away and just set the tone for it."
Evan Cooper on Nebraska's secondary as spring ball nears midpoint
The Husker secondary coach discussed some of the goings-on with his room after the seventh spring practice.247sports.com
Forgot Bootle was still on the roster.
