Cally coach, UNL alumni

[kramer]

Napa High head football coach Jerry Dunlap

 

Napa High head football coach Jerry Dunlap has been on the go, traveling to the University of Nebraska, his alma mater, to see the Cornhuskers during their spring practices and going to UCLA for an Adidas-sponsored combine involving 200 of the best prep players in Southern California.

 

The combine was put on by Recruits Unlimited, the same company that will be in Napa on Wednesday for the Northern California Super Combine, which starts at 5 p.m. at Napa Memorial Stadium.

 

The combine will test high school players in the 40-yard dash, 20-yard shuttle run, vertical jump and bench press.

 

Players will have their heights and weights taken, and there will be individual passing and receiving drills.

 

"It's professionally done," said Dunlap.

 

Over 100 players from throughout Northern California are signed up for tomorrow's combine, which is free and open to all players. Check-in starts at 4:30 p.m. Players are to wear shirts, shorts and football cleats.

 

Recruits Unlimited is an organization from Lincoln, Neb., that offers free combine testing for 2006 and 2007 graduates.

 

All of the performance data collected at each RU Combine appears on its collegiate database.

 

The Napa Valley Unified School District entered into a partnership with Recruits Unlimited to offer the NorCal Super Combine. All of the players will receive a T-shirt.

 

Dunlap was joined at Nebraska and UCLA by two Napa High football coaches, Tim Simmons, a varsity assistant who coaches wide receivers and defensive backs, and Nick Tedesco, the junior varsity defensive coordinator. They saw the Cornhuskers' spring game, which drew 65,000 fans.

 

"It was kind of an alumni weekend, so a lot of former players were back there," said Dunlap, a quarterback for Nebraska from 1986-1991. "We got to go down to the stadium and see everybody down there. We learned some things. It was a time to get away and see what it's like at the next level. It was a good trip for us."