Nebraska Football Practice Report August 13: Defensive Update

Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander took his turn answering questions today. He offered some thoughts on the overall demeanor of the defense. We also got to hear about a freshman walk-on linebacker (from Lincoln) who has quickly worked himself onto consideration for the two-deep. If that doesn’t get your Husker red blood flowing, I don’t know what will!

As always, these are not exact quotes. If you need something clarified, let me know and I’ll go back and listen to the audio.

Defensive Coordinator Erik Chinander

On his takeaway from the scrimmage:

When we had busts, the offense was productive, but when we were on the same page, we were a solid defense.

The first group tackled well, second and third are getting better...

On Cam Taylor:

He’s a dynamic player, he can take reps at corner, he can take reps at safety, he can replace JoJo at backer...it’s good to have someone with his versatility

On the outside linebackers

I feel pretty good. I think that group is getting a lot better. Alex Davis, Ferg, and we know what JoJo is. Garrett Nelson too. Caleb Tannor. We’ve got four or five guys that we can roll out there and play.

On the practice and how the defense fared

The offense came out and punched us in the mouth that first series, but then we tightened it down ...

I like how it went because we got knocked down and came back...I could do a little butt-chewing and get them back...

In a scrimmage it’s hard to make a great play on the ball (defensively) because we aren’t tackling outside the numbers, not live on quarterbacks...not making a play to jar someone’s teeth loose - we don’t want injuries...but there were turnovers

On celebrations

The greatest thing about football is spontaneous celebrations with your teammates...if it’s “look at me” type of thing, I got a problem with it

On the freshman DBs

That group is great. They got a little confident swagger but they aren’t crazy dudes, they want to learn technique and scheme...they’re great to be around

Quinton Newsome hasn’t been afraid to make a break on the ball...he’s got some talent but skill we have to refine a bit...he’s definitely going to help this football team

On the offense

Adrian was great...the line came off better than all of camp...they played with some tempo

On too much confidence? (I didn’t quite catch the question as it was quiet)

I don’t sense we have that group that we’re so over the top...we’re 4-8 until we prove otherwise...they better come out with a chip on their shoulder...until they come out and win games, we’re 4-8 until they prove otherwise

On continuity

It’s huge...in spring, they’re running the same scheme, same techniques. Now over the summer, we aren’t with them, they can teach each other...it’s huge

On some of the inside linebackers

In the Big Ten we got a lot of different offenses. We got some that are uptempo, some that huddle...we’re going to need to play a lot of guys...I’m not seeing bickering, they’re coaching each other after the play

On leadership

I’m seeing vertical leadership...you see the coaches and leaders say something...now we’re getting horizontal leadership...others are spreading the word and making sure everyone gets the message

A few miscellaneous notes