Pelini: There's talent here, leaders emerging

[sea o' red]

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/0...40996104302.txt

With spring camp concluded and 15 practices in the books, first-year Husker head football coach Bo Pelini is starting to get an idea about what level of personnel he’s inherited.

 

A 5-7 season in 2007 certainly has some people curious about Nebraska’s talent level.

 

Pelini on Monday assured that the cupboard is not bare.

 

“You know, it’s not like you can go out and make trades or you can go out and draft or anything like that,” Pelini said during a Big 12 Coaches Teleconference. “What we’re trying to do is take the gentlemen that are on campus and develop them and try to push them to reach their potential. ...

 

“There’s talent here. They’re eager and they’re learning every day. And what I’ve seen is guys getting better. How that’s going to equate to wins and losses, that’s not something we’re real focused on right now.”

 

The Huskers concluded their spring practices on Saturday, the annual Red-White game attended by 80,149 fans, the second-largest crowd to see a spring game in college football history.

 

The coach knows there’s still plenty of work to do until the season opener Aug. 30, but Pelini said he was able to find some guys who could potentially emerge as leaders come fall.

 

He cited the leadership exhibited this spring by quarterback Joe Ganz and offensive linemen Matt Slauson and Lydon Murtha. On defense, he has liked what he’s seen from defensive end Barry Turner, linebacker Phillip Dillard and safety Larry Asante.

 

“A lot of guys showed leadership skills, but I think the key is having a culture that runs throughout your football team and finding the right guys to enforce the culture and promote it; and make sure (that) if there’s a crack built in the foundation, that they seal it real quick,” Pelini said. “I think that’s what’s happening. I think guys are buying in.”

 

A Wednesday team meeting is anticipated in which players will choose representatives from each position group to serve as part of a Unity Council, which became a part of Tom Osborne-coached teams in 1991. The council met each week to examine issues within the team.

 

Frank Solich continued to use the Unity Council when he came on as head coach in 1998, though the group’s effectiveness waned toward the end of Solich’s tenure. It went away during the Bill Callahan era.

 

“We’re developing better relationships and trust that is going to help us be successful and stay together for a long time through good times and bad,” Pelini said. “Because no matter what, you’re going to have rocky times and you’re going to have good times, and you need to have leadership to offset the bad times.”

 

Pelini said he was hopeful that all the crowd support at Saturday’s spring game might provide a lift to the the team as it goes through the summer.

 

“That sends a bolt of energy through your team,” Pelini said. “And the more our players are exposed to that, they start feeling that’s a responsibility they have when they put that ‘N’ on the side of their helmets.”

[HUSKER 37]

BAhVmjptZMI

[huskernumerouno]

Nice read

[husker249]

^No Doubt!!!

[Danimal]

There is definitely defensive talent here, too many solid recruit classes for there not to be.

 

 

Reminds me of early in the BC era when folks were going-on about how bare a cupboard Solich left. Then you look at how our 2004/2005 D's put a ton of guys into the NFL, those claims look like a lot of crap.

 

We had a fundamentally unsound, unagressive, unmotivated, overweight, and poorly schemed D. When you have that you aren't going to have production. Reminds me of John Blake's OU teams. I remember watching them and thinking there was plenty of talent, they were just piss-poorly coached and lacked discipline.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

We have the athletes here to get things done, but we need to get them developed first and get them out of the funk that Cally taught them.