Story by NU Athletic Communications
Opening Statement
“I want to express our gratitude for all the people that came to help. Knowing that everyone in the state is going to help moving forward. My thoughts and prayers are with the people that were affected. Obviously in the game, Demitrius (Bell) went down with a significant injury. Blye Hill looks like maybe a semi-significant injury. Both to the patellas, I don’t know long term. I hate to speak until the MRIs are done and all that. It looks like it could be somewhat significant for each. From a football perspective, that hurts, from a personal perspective, they really hurt. I know both guys are tremendous competitors and young players and they’ll bounce back and be great. Just wanted to start with that. I thought the crowd, for an early game, for everything that happened yesterday, to have over 60,000 people there – what a great message in recruiting, what a great message to our team. Hopefully, we brought people some joy today on a dark day after yesterday.”
On if the offense showed what he wanted to see
“There were some explosive plays, there were some extended drives, there were some big plays. I have to watch the film to see who did what. Obviously, sometimes, some players are matched up against a player that’s older than them or better than them, but I thought there was a lot of positive energy in terms of the way the offense conducted itself – got in and out of the no huddle, sometimes got in a huddle. Just the overall feel from the field felt really good. Those are the things I was looking for. Obviously the two turnovers back-to-back, I didn’t like, but I’m happy that the defense made those plays. I felt for the rest of the game, that some plays were made that we have to make.
On if the game was a summary of Dylan Raiola’s spring season
“That’s a great question. I don’t know how to answer that, to be honest with you. I don’t get tongue twisted very often. Dylan’s had a very good spring. The plays I liked – I was up doing the TV at one point – one where we kicked a field goal that we missed, you could see that he so badly wanted to throw the ball back across the middle of the field as he was scrambling and he didn’t. The one scramble probably ends in a sack, but he has two hands on the ball, he’s running. It’s going to be the little things with Dylan, not the big things. He’s got a great feel for the game, he’s got a big arm. He’s calm. It’s going to be the little things – protecting the football, taking three, managing the game. It just felt like he did a lot of those things. He hasn’t done all of them. He’s grown as the spring has gone on. He, like the rest of our players, had a chance today to just improve on what they did last week, and I thought, in a lot of ways, he did.
On showcasing Jaylen Lloyd’s talent
“I think the thing with Jaylen is his ball skills just continue to improve. It’s really a credit to Marcus (Satterfield) and Garret (McGuire). They’ve introduced drills that I’ve always been against. Deep down, I’m just a d-line coach. They do pat and go and all these drills and I’m against them, and the guys have just bought in and gotten better and better and better. From the first scrimmage to this scrimmage, the ball skills, the catching of the football has just improved. I think Jaylen is one of the prime guys with that. It’s one thing when the guys have great speed, but when you’re a triple jumper and when you’re a long jumper – he has such athleticism and mobility. He can track balls, he’s loose, he can track it over his shoulder. He plays hard. When the quarterbacks get outside the pocket, he can turn up. To be honest with you, Dylan has the ability to get outside of the pocket and make those throws. Heinrich (Haarberg) can throw the ball 75 yards. So (Jaylen) has the feeling of ‘I can turn up on these plays.’ Danny (Kaelin) – I don’t know if you saw him get outside of the pocket and throw one downfield. He has a big-time arm and can do it as well. It’s contagious. Jaylen has been one of the most improved players on the team. His becoming a receiver is just growing exponentially.
On Jacory Barney Jr.
“I felt bad for him. I think he thought the kicker was the same color jersey as him. I was watching that on tv. The kickoff return is hard to tell because it’s not live, but I watched the tv replay up there, and I think Koby (Bretz) grabbed his flag and that's it. Jacory’s dynamic, and he’s tough. He’s still learning a lot. They jumped offsides, and he took off before the ball was snapped because he saw them jump offsides, so he’s really a smart player. He’s really, really competitive, really fast, and if he can bring just a little bit of that kick return dynamic to our team, that changes things. He can play all three spots because he is quick and fast and can catch the ball across the middle.”
On Dylan Raiola’s ability to make throws
"I’m not going to compare the guys. I don’t know if I can prepare to do that. I think the thing that Dylan has done really well this spring as a young player is sometimes young quarterbacks can pass on– ‘oh that guy is kind of covered– where as Dylan knows the ball’s supposed to go there and he’s going to throw it there. He’ll throw it on his back shoulder. He’ll throw it where he needs to throw it and then trust those guys to make those plays. You can’t play quarterback and receiver. You can only play quarterback. You gotta throw the ball away from the defender and let the guys go make the plays. I think all of our quarterbacks have done that, but you saw that today from him. To your point, I thought that was a big time catch. The four verticals to (Alex) Bullock, that’s the kind of thing we do pretty well. We are a pretty good four vertical team. I think later on when I was up in the TV booth, did we hit (Nate) Boerkircher down on the seam, I think? Heinrich (Haarberg) did, so we do that well, but the in-cuts and controlling in the middle of the field is really important to us. I think one of the major keys to that Mitch (Sherman), is throwing the ball below the chin so the ball is in a catchable space but if there’s a tip it’s not up in the air. That’s what happened on the triple slant interception, the ball was a little bit behind, a little bit high. Red zone tips equal picks. To me, we’re just constantly evolving those areas but Dylan has a great feel for that. The thing he does is he just trusted that the ball was supposed to go there. I’m gonna put it there where the defender isn’t and let the guy make those plays, and those guys made those plays.”
On Janiran Bonner
“I think he’s an NFL fullback, but I also think he’s a dynamic wideout too, and I think it’s a credit to Corey (Campbell) that the way that Janiran’s really continued to improve his body, but he’s in that 218 range, and so to me, he is a true weapon. He’s a guy that we could conceivably play at wideout for 10 plays in a row, or we could motion in and he’ll block defensive ends. He carried the football for us last year, but what I love is you see the perimeter screen game that we have going on, but to have a 220 pound wideout out there blocking their nickel, that helps. Then you put (Isaiah) Neyor and Jahmal (Banks) out there. You have some big men on the perimeter, so I’m really pleased with what Janiran’s done, and I think he’ll continue to evolve, and you’ll see him line up in a lot of different places in the offense.”
On how Thomas Fidone is moving this spring
“He’s a pretty explosive guy. He’s four five. I think the biggest thing with Thomas is at the end of the season, I said to Thomas. I was like, ‘What a great fall we had,’ meaning him. Like us. We had. He’s like, ‘What do you mean?’ What I love about Thomas Fidone is he’s never happy. He’s never happy, and it’s because he wants to be great. He wants to be the best tight end in the world, and he’s always trying to get better, but my point was, coming off two ACL’s, to get through a spring, a fall camp and a season healthy, that’s what he needed because now, instead of rehabbing this winter, he’s lifting, and he’s in the 260 range at four five, with 35 inch arms, 34 inch arms. He’s a physical freak and he’s loyal. Every team in the country’s trying to get him to leave and go there, and he’s a Nebraska Cornhusker through and through. I love that guy, and I love his approach, and it’s so good for our players to see a guy who’s so obsessed with being great and never happy. But at the same time, to your point, he just had to have a true off-season. He just had to have weightlifting, where he’s not rehabbing, and now I think you’re starting to really see what he can do.”
On if Rhule was resting veterans today
"Minimal warmups like (Marques Buford Jr.) and Giff (Isacc Gifford) and Ty (Robinson) and Nash (Hutmacher) and I told Tommi (Hill) not to and then typical Tommi Hill he’s out there the whole first series playing corner. He’s just like ‘let me get a series coach.’ And I’m like alright go get a series. And I love that guy, his competitive nature. Bryce (Benhart) and Ben Scott and other guys who played we kind of set numbers for them. Let’s get this guy three series. Let’s get this guy four. It’s kind of hard because we’re so thin and then with D-Bell (Demetrius Bell) we’re really thin. Jaidyn Doss, he played both ways for us. I don’t know if you saw that, he played corner, he played wideout so Jaidyn is a guy we think is really really special and we are just trying to foster many different talents for him.”
On strides Heinrich Haarberg has made since last season
“You saw a lot of this. He still had the ability to tuck the ball down and run. He’s truly a dual threat at a quarterback who can change the game. I love him taking what’s there. I love him being explosive, pushing the ball down the field, deep balls down the field. Elite ball in the middle of the field. I also love him moving in the pocket – Taking check downs, taking a bad play and getting out of it. I think it’s really, really important in our job. You guys haven’t asked the question yet of when you’re going to name a starter. I went to dinner with Eric Crouch. Eric tells me his entire freshman year here, he couldn’t sleep Friday night because on Saturday morning, they’d go to breakfast and Coach Gill (Turner Gill) would tell them who was starting that week. That’s Nebraska. What I love is that we’re going to focus on Dylan Raiola. I get that. But you can see the improvement in Heinrich (Haarberg). You can see Danny (Kaelin), as a true freshman, go out there and complete 60% of his balls, or whatever he did today. I want the quarterback play to be great. Each guy from there has to bring their own sensibility. Dylan kind of makes these types of plays, and Heinrich kind of makes these types of plays. I really believe that it’s going to take all of us to play pretty well at quarterback in the Big Ten. We have aspirations of regaining Nebraska’s place of winning national championships. How many games is it now to win a national championship? Between Big Ten, playoffs and the championship game, if you don’t have a bye, it’s 15 or 16 games, yes? play one quarterback. I think watching Heinrich blossom and getting better, and watching Danny and watching Dylan. You know Luke (Longval) and Jack (Woche) went out there and moved the football. I just want the quarterback play to be good and I think it’s a credit to Glenn (Thomas). He’s done really well.”
On if Rhule came to the conclusion that they’re set on the quarterback position
“I would say we would always, always, always look for quarterbacks. If there’s a quarterback that comes along, we would always take another quarterback. I think we have our starter sitting in that room. Let me say that. I think we have three guys that we believe in, but if a young player comes along or a depth player comes along – I don’t go looking in the portal, but I’m also not stupid when things come across to us. Scott Fitterer was the GM when I was in Carolina. He used to say, from the Seahawks, “We’re in on every trade.” He just would explore everything, but I think we have quarterbacks capable of winning for us. I think the quarterback play’s significantly improved from last season, and that’s kind of where we’re at.”
On the plan for the next few days with the transfer portal deadline on May 1
“What I do at the end of every spring, is I have a team meeting on Monday, and then they meet with their position coach, then they all meet with me over the course of however many days. I’ll be available Monday, I’ll be available Tuesday. I’ve had so many guys already come and talk to me. As you can tell, there’s a lot of tampering going on in college football. I’ve had guys, like I said earlier in a press conference, guys showing me their phones. If a player is urgent and they’re trying to make a decision about going in the portal, then they’ll sign up early for their meeting with me. A lot of guys, most of the team is probably pretty set, they’ll sign up with me later in the week or next week. That’s kind of on them. We have our process, we meet with every single player, go through where they stand right now. We can’t make promises for the future. I think the biggest thing that I’d say is, wanting them to always understand – everyone is going to have your back, everyone is going to tell you what you want to hear when things are going well. When you’re one of the top players and they’re trying to get you into the portal, when you’re Demitrius (Bell) or Blye (Hill) and you’re laying there, and you have tears running down your face and you don’t know what’s going to happen to you, who has your back then? I’m an open, open, open book. We talk to every single guy regardless, but a guy who’s trying to make a decision on the portal, they can come talk to us. I wouldn’t forget that we do a great job here of graduating players. We don’t slow down graduations. If they’ve graduated, they can still go in the portal. In training camp, they can go in the portal. It’s kind of an open conversation the whole time. We’re going to leave here and recruit. We’re going to recruit tomorrow and then go honor the student-athletes at Night at the Lied tomorrow night, then Monday/Tuesday, we’ll start the process.”
On Dante Dowdell today
“Today, I saw a burst in him. I haven’t seen that long run from him in the other scrimmages. Maybe it was blocked better, maybe Tony (White) didn’t blitz as much today. I didn’t tell Tony what he could or couldn’t do. It was great to see that from Dante. He’s had a good spring, but you saw a burst. When I stand down there, you could see a level of acceleration into contact in that long run down the left sideline. Some really good things. You have a pretty deep running back room. You saw Maurice Mazzccua – I saw a spin move that he made that was a fantastic run. Big fan of Kenneth Williams. I think Kenneth is a guy that’s going to play here in some different ways. Dante, Emmett (Johnson) – I kind of sidelined Emmett at one point, said ‘that’s enough from you.’ During practice this week, Rahmir (Johnson) took a lot of reps in one of the practices, and he looked good in the no-huddle stuff that we’re doing. We get Gabe Ervin Jr. back, I think it’s a deep room. We’ll have to do a good job as coaches of figuring out what each guy does well. I think we have a good feel for it, but I was really pleased to see some of the things that Dante did today. Just a flash and a burst that maybe I hadn’t felt as the spring has gone on.”
On level of comfort with tampering
“It is what it is. It is what it is. They’re going to call D-Bell (Demitrius Bell) and say ‘come here, come there,’ but when he’s hurt, who’s there with him? We are. I just have to coach them all like they’re my younger brother. I don’t like to say sons. I coach them all like they’re my younger brother. I’m hard on them probably, like an older brother is, but I try to give them advice, I try to listen to them. Help them through this. Sometimes they offer you so much money, you’ve got to leave. Coaches complain about it. My assistant coaches do the same thing to me – ‘hey, coach, I got this offer to go there.’ I just want them all to be successful. It’s a sad state. I’ll just say that. It’s a sad state. But it is what it is. And you know what? A lot of people want to come here too. A lot of people want to stay here. Roster numbers are certainly not going to be our issue in terms of having enough good players. I hope everyone saw that today. You saw a lot of guys flashing and doing some things. Maybe I’m thinking through three scrimmages, but we have a lot of depth. Keelan Smith made some big time catches down the stretch. I think we have a lot of guys that can make plays.”
On how close he was to the storms
“I was in the stadium. We had recruiting going on. I know some of my neighbors out there in Waverly and some of you were kind enough to even check on us as those things happened. I didn’t even realize what was happening. I was in the middle of recruiting and your phone is kind of going off, but everyone is in the building. My daughter called me – she’s in Omaha in school – she’s in the shelter. I went out to the Waverly road and my neighbors were affected. I talked to some friends. I talked to Eric Crouch, up there in Elkhorn and they were affected. But I was here. Obviously, we weren’t directly affected, but it’s just a sad thing to see.”