Quotes from the first day of Husker fall camp
The Huskers opened fall camp with orientation on Wednesday and their first practice Thursday afternoon. Here is what the coaches and players had to say, in their own words.
Coach Bill Callahan
On the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex
You couldn’t find a better facility in the country. If you find one, let me know, because I can’t imagine any facility than the one we have currently built.
On offensive line flexibility
I almost drove Coach (Dennis) Wagner crazy when I got here. We always try to mix and match. Every guard has to learn to snap a football and learn to play center. We tell every tackle that they need to learn to play guard. We tell our right-side guys to learn left-side footwork and vice versa. We always mix and match, especially during this training camp.
On the level of contact in preseason drills
Our camp will definitely be physical. We want a physical football team. We always look to be physical in our camps and have drills that highlight tough, physical play. There’s always a lot of talk that physical play starts up front, but you also have to be physical on the edge at tight end, with your backs in picking up guys and on the perimeter in terms of downfield blocking and open-field tackling.
Zac Taylor - Senior, Quarterback
On how much they are taught about NCAA compliance rules
A ton. We definitely know what’s going on and what you should be doing and shouldn’t be doing. We definitely know what’s right and what’s wrong.
On throwing with his teammates this summer
Guys were really willing. Especially this summer we’d have throwing some nights at 6 or 7 o’clock and we would have 13 or 14 guys show up. That’s good to see guys willing to work. A lot of guys had jobs that they came straight from. We always had great turnouts and guys were willing to stay as long as we wanted to stay. It’s really a positive thing to stay.
Corey McKeon - Junior, Linebacker
On how fragile the three-game winning streak to end last season is and higher goals
We’re passed it. Talking about that, the momentum and everything, everyone is passed that. Everyone’s ready to get to work. Everyone is excited to start practice just to see how good our team can actually be. We’ve got the talent. We’ve got everything. We’re just excited to see how we turn out. Everyone’s working hard. For a change, people aren’t like ‘oh man, we have to practice.’ People are like, ‘we get to practice because we want to be better and see how good we can be.’ Momentum is over. Two-a-days kills momentum.
Stewart Bradley - Senior, Linebacker
On the new locker room
It’s sweet. It’s a lot bigger. The lockers are bigger. It’s so convenient because everything is close. It used to be like you had to march all the way to the weight room. Just to get yourself mentally ready for the walk to the weight room was a challenge. Now that it’s so close you can just hop down and get everything done. The training room is right across the hall...Now it’s way better. It’s just a really well-built facility. It’s fun to be in there. We have a lot of excitement coming into the season anyway but throw in a multi-million dollar facility makes it even more exciting. We’re really excited.
Terrence Nunn - Junior, Wide Receiver
On how much improvement he has noticed with the wide receivers
Coach (Ted) Gilmore has helped us a lot with patterns and helped with getting off the press. He’s helping us to do a lot of things better than the way we did.
On how this summer is different than last summer
We did the tennis ball drills again. We ran a lot more routes. We call Zac (Taylor) up and just go run routes on our own. We would do towel drills where you hang from the towels just to get your hands stronger. We would just do multiple drills every day. I feel a lot better because it just helps you out in the long run.
Jay Moore - Senior, Defensive End
On the progress made since Coach Callahan began coaching
I think the one main thing that I noticed and feel about Coach Callahan and the staff he’s brought in is how comfortable everyone is. His first year and even last year a little bit guys were kind of walking on eggshells – afraid to make certain remarks or moves just because we didn’t know what his expectations were and how he was going to react. I know this year everyone can joke around with coaches. Everyone is so much more relaxed. That can play a huge factor especially on the practice field and even during games, you can relax and just have fun. In the past we couldn’t do that because we didn’t know if we could have fun because if they’d get mad.
Cody Glenn - Sophomore, I-Back
On competing with Marlon Lucky for the starting job
Once we’re on the field it’s all about competition. I’m not going to go easy on him because he’s my friend, because I want the starting running back spot. We’re all going to go hard. Whatever happens, happens. That’s why coaches get lots of money to make those kinds of decisions.
Read all of the quotes at huskers.com
See photos from the first day of practice at rivals.com
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