Sievers fits in at linebacker

[Blackshirt]

Man this kid seems like he has such huge potential..

Doesnt he have a brother as well? Clayton I believe... hows he doing?

 

 

Most anywhere Chad Sievers goes, people will ask him about the West Coast offense.

 

 

Never mind Sievers plays linebacker.

 

Man, can't the Blackshirts get a little love? They're learning a new system, too, you know.

 

Try telling that to the several hundred fans who were invited to last Saturday morning's practice after participating in the Coach Callahan 5kFun Run.

 

 

"The defense would do like four good things in a row, like get an interception, get a sack, and they wouldn't say anything," Sievers said of the fans.

 

"Then one pass would be complete, and about 4,000 fans are clapping. It was hilarious. It was like game day. And we (the defense) were like, 'Geez, give us a break, here.'"

 

Sievers, a senior, understands the fascination with coach Bill Callahan's offensive system. Although, he says it's above and beyond what he knows as the West Coast offense.

 

He simply calls it Coach Callahan's offense.

 

"There's other teams in college football that say they run West Coast offense ... well, they don't run this offense," Sievers said. "It's a whole other level of what the West Coast offense is supposed to be. It is so NFL. It's ran exactly like an NFLWest Coast offense, if not more complicated."

 

In talking to defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove, Sievers learned Callahan used more shifts, more motions, more multiple sets than Jon Gruden had run with the Oakland Raiders.

 

That means more headaches for defenses - the Blackshirts included.

 

"It's something we haven't seen," Sievers said. "On the defensive side, we laugh and stuff after practice, even the coaches. We're just kind of anxious to see how other teams defend it."

 

Sievers specifically is learning a very diversified role in Cosgrove's system. After two years of playing MIKE linebacker, Sievers says he finally feels comfortable in the WILLspot - a position he said he should've been playing all along.

 

"This opens up opportunities for me," Sievers said. "It fits my body, it fits my athleticism, it fits the type of player I am. Ifeel like I finally have a chance to really show what Ican do. Now Ijust have to go out there and perform."

 

Sievers fills one of two holes in Nebraska's linebacking corps. Stewart Bradley, who played a reserve role at defensive end last season, is taking the other spot at SAM. He says linebacker is his natural position.

 

"Iwas pretty light for end," the 240-pound Bradley said. "That's just not really my body type."

 

Sievers says the WILLand SAM positions are interchangeable in Cosgrove's defense. Sievers is an inside backer at WILL, and in certain coverages he's outside on a receiver, covering man-to-man like an outside backer, or even a safety. In other situations, he's on the line, covering a tight end like a SAM.

 

"You play three different positions, a lot of time, on the field," said Sievers, who works mostly with Cosgrove, the inside linebackers coach. "And the fourth one, you blitz."

 

Neither Sievers nor Bradley has ever started a game. That's led many prognosticators to label linebacker as a question mark on this year's NUdefense - even with the return of Butkus Award candidate Barrett Ruud in the middle.

 

Bradley said such speculation isn't accurate.

 

"You try not to really focus on that," Bradley said. "Just because we don't have as much game experience doesn't mean that we're not just as athletic and ready to go."

 

Outside linebackers coach Bill Busch said he's been impressed with the progress his group has made. He said redshirted freshman Bo Ruud, the top backup to Bradley at SAM, has had an impressive fall camp.

 

"There's no doubt about it that they're a little bit raw as far as playing time on the field ... but we have no reservations at all about these guys coming in and playing, all season, all game," Busch said. "It's very positive. We're a little bit green, but we're fine."

 

http://journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/26...ll/10054230.txt