Tradition, and the Walk-On, Thrive Again at Nebraska

[Ohio Pete]

Tradition, and the Walk-On, Thrive Again at Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. — Matt O’Hanlon pointed to the south end zone of Memorial Stadium, and said, matter of factly, that it was where he spent the most gratifying day of his young life.

 

It wasn’t the best day of his life — that was 17 months ago when he married his wife, Abby, a senior nursing student here at the University of Nebraska.

 

No, this was a late afternoon last month and O’Hanlon, a free safety at Nebraska, was already having a good week. He had just learned that he had an extra year of athletic eligibility, won the starting job and made five tackles in the Cornhuskers’ season opening victory over Western Michigan.

 

Now Coach Bo Pelini was gathering the team after practice for an announcement that comes perhaps once a year. It is one that resonates across the plains in this state of 1.7 million people who regard Nebraska football as a public trust and measure its success by the heart and hard work its Cornhuskers display on Saturdays.

 

Two walk-ons were receiving scholarships. One of them was O’Hanlon, a 5-11, 200-pound junior from Bellevue, Neb. It meant more than the $15,000 swing in tuition and room and board. It validated O’Hanlon’s decision four years ago to walk away from the University of South Dakota and its scholarship and try out for the Nebraska team, despite not being offered a scholarship there.

 

“I knew that I wanted to be a Cornhusker since I was 6 years old, and I saw those guys in red running through the tunnel,” he said. “I knew after a few days in South Dakota that I wasn’t ready to give up my dream.”

 

O’Hanlon is hardly alone. He will be one of four starters who were walk-ons when Nebraska (3-1) takes on No. 4 Missouri (4-0) here Saturday night. The Huskers will have walk-ons playing special teams as well, and first year Coach Pelini has guaranteed that they will play a prominent part of Nebraska football for years to come.

 

He has assigned an assistant to every corner of the state to find players like wide receiver Todd Peterson, linebacker Tyler Wortman and O’Hanlon — all of whom were homegrown walk-ons who evolved from scout team stalwarts to special-team players and now starters. Last spring, Pelini and his staff recruited another 30 walk-ons — most of whom turned down scholarships at smaller schools.

 

”These are guys who are sacrificing a lot to play here, and their parents are sacrificing much by paying for them to take a shot,” Pelini said. “These are kids who have grown up living and dying for Nebraska football. They are good athletes, too, with a huge commitment to the program. It has made us a power in the past, and it is going to continue to make an impact on our team.”

 

Nebraska lore is rich with walk-on-made-good-stories. Derrie Nelson, for example, played eight-man football in Fairmont, a tiny town in the southeast of the state, before becoming a first team All-American in 1980 and one of 27 former Nebraska walk-ons to play in the N.F.L. Linebacker Schott Shanle of the Saints and punter Kyle Larson of the Bengals are two native Nebraskans and former walk-ons currently playing professionally.

 

Despite its storied history, the walk-on program here was diminished under Pelini’s predecessor, Bill Callahan, who coached the Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl XXXVII. He not only posted a mediocre 27-22 record over four years, but also managed to alienate Big Red fans by refusing to acknowledge Cornhusker tradition.

 

O’Hanlon, for example, was originally recruited as a walk-on by Frank Solich, the current Ohio football coach who was fired despite a 58-19 record and a 3-3 record in bowl games over his six seasons. When Callahan took the Nebraska helm after the 2003 season, the Cornhusker coaching staff quit calling O’Hanlon.

 

So he accepted a scholarship from South Dakota, attended two-a-day practices, but returned home before ever attending a class. He enrolled here in January 2005, but could not get Callahan to take his call. Instead, he was directed to an open tryout on a cold February night inside Cook Pavilion, the indoor practice facility here.

 

O’Hanlon was among 60 hopeful walk-ons put through a brief set of drills. He ran 4.61-seconds in the 40-yard dash, recorded a 38-inch vertical jump, and completed the pro-agility drill, a measure of quickness, in 3.91-seconds.

 

“The whole thing took 20 minutes,” O’Hanlon said. “I remember thinking that it didn’t even count as a hope and a prayer.”

 

A couple days later, he was told he made the team.

 

Still, O’Hanlon, and many of the other walk-ons, did not feel like they were an integral part of Nebraska football. They toiled away on scout teams with an ardor meant to impress the coaching staff, and destined to irritate scholarship players.

 

Peterson, a three-time Big 12 Academic All-American, said, “Sometimes you get hit by a scout team player, and you’re like: ‘Chill out, Rudy,’” referring to the Rudy Ruettiger, the Notre Dame walk-on who became the subject of the movie, “Rudy.” “Then you remember, hey, that was me a couple years ago,” said Peterson, who was on a partial academic scholarship until the athletic department picked up the balance after his sophomore season. “You know as a walk-on that practice is the place to get noticed — that you’re going to be on film.”

 

O’Hanlon did not exactly rocket up the depth chart. In 2006, he played special teams and wracked up eight tackles. Last year, he played in 10 games, mainly on special teams and had three tackles.

 

“It was discouraging because last year it wasn’t necessarily the best guys playing,” said O’Hanlon. “The previous staff force fed their recruits, the guys they were invested in. It’s a new mentality here.”

 

True to his word that the best players would play no matter their status — or lack of it, Pelini named Hanlon the starter before the first game.

 

“He worked hard and earned it,” said Pelini. “He not only has a big heart, has a lot of talent.”

 

So far O’Hanlon has showed he belonged as the anchor of the Cornhusker defense: he has 20 tackles, three pass break-ups and one interception. What at first appeared to be a rash decision — leaving South Dakota after a couple of weeks — has become clearly a life changing one. He has a wife, a scholarship and, because he left before attending any classes his Division I-A five-year clock never started, another season to play.

 

“You hate to be all cliché about it,” he said. “But me, and every other walk-on through here, has taken a shot because we believe in ourselves. It’s all we’ve asked, and when you make the best of it, it makes you feel like you can do anything.”

[BigRedfxtoy]

That's friggin great!

[admo]

I appreciate the walk-on tradition. Just like when fans were red at the games. It's great.