Coach C article

[hoyamannn]

This is a pretty awesome article I read on CoachCallahan.com. Hope everyone enjoys.

 

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I know it has been a couple months since I last had a chance to share a few thoughts with you in a column. What a great spring it has been in the Nebraska football program, and I am excited about everything that is ahead this summer.

 

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I would be remiss if I did not mention the Red-White Spring Game. What a great day for Nebraska football.

 

A year ago, I was blown away by the experience of having more than 61,000 fans at the spring game. I was hopeful that this year would be the same, and once again, you the Nebraska fans, proved that you are unlike any other fans in the country. 63,416. What more do I have to say. I don’t know of anywhere else in the country where the support is quite like it is here at Nebraska.

 

Thanks for attending and I hope you had as much fun on that beautiful Saturday afternoon as I did.

 

As for the game itself, I hope you saw a glimpse of the potential our football team has for this season. Obviously much of the focus after the game was on Zac Taylor and the performance he had. Zac made big strides during spring practice and capped it with an impressive showing in the spring game. We are pleased with where Zac was at coming out of spring practice, and now it will be vital that he continues to refine and develop his game during the summer and come into fall camp ready to go. It was a huge advantage to have Zac go through spring football with our team.

 

In looking at spring ball as a whole, we achieved many of our goals and objectives. The experience of the spring game with a large crowd was invaluable for our players, especially those new to our program. The game-like setting helps players get acclimated and helps prepare them for the fall.

 

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We were proud to have 14 of our players cross the stage at the Devaney Center in early May and pick up their degrees. My congratulations go out to Dan Burrow, Sandro DeAngelis, Mike Erickson, Jared Helming, Joel Jackson, Dusty Keiser, Mike McLaughlin, Lornell McPherson, Jack O’Holleran, Barrett Ruud, Benard Thomas, Kiffin Wigert, Delrick Williams and Ben Zajicek.

 

Our players continually impress me with their dedication and work ethic in the classroom, and graduation is the ultimate reward for that. Our coaching staff continually stresses the importance of keeping a proper balance between athletics and academics and our student-athletes have done exactly that.

 

The team has also taken an active role in community outreach activities. The football program was honored to win the Athletic Department’s Team Life Skills Award this year, accumulating the most points ever in the competition. Our players made regular appearances in the community and early this spring we traveled in two groups to make hospital visits in Omaha.

 

Of course, much of the credit for the academic success and Life Skills activities goes to Dennis Leblanc, Keith Zimmer, and the rest of the Hewit Center staff. Even more credit goes to the parents of these fine young men. We have great character and work ethic throughout our football team and that is direct result of the family backgrounds of our players.

 

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Our team was well-represented in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft. Congratulations to Fabian Washington for being a first-round selection and to Barrett Ruud and Josh Bullocks for being taken in the second round.

 

I wish the three of them the best of luck in their NFL careers. I know each of them will do a great job with their respective teams. One of our primary goals as a staff is to continue to bring quality players to our program that have the ability to eventually advance their playing career to the professional level.

 

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As we move into the summer months, there are a lot of exciting things going on in our football program.

 

We are currently in the midst of the first-ever Husker Youth Camp, for little Huskers ages 8-13. This should be a great learning camp for some younger players and help them with fundamentals and basics of the game as they get started in their football careers. We had more than 500 youth take part in the Husker Youth Experience during spring football, and this will be another great learning experience for kids around the state.

 

Later this month, we have four other sessions of our Big Red Football School. We have two sessions of our regular high school camp, a Kicking Academy and an Elite Quarterback Academy. Our staff is looking forward to the opportunity to have some quality young men on campus, and the chance to help mold their playing abilities. Having these players on our campus for three or four days is another great avenue to sell the University of Nebraska and all of the great things going on here.

 

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My wife, Valerie, and I had the special privilege of touring the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center earlier this spring. The advancements that Dr. Ken Cowan and his staff are making in the field of cancer research and treatment are amazing. It is a true credit to our state and our University system to have a facility like this right here in the state of Nebraska.

 

I am grateful to have the opportunity to direct many of the proceeds from next week’s second-annual Football 101 to support the Eppley Center and their continued efforts in the battle against cancer.

 

Speaking of Football 101, the event is now booked with more than 1,000 female Husker fans. We are looking forward to having a great evening of Nebraska football and fun, and the opportunity to help several great causes.

 

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Have a great summer and Go Big Red!

[Blackshirt34]

Very nice article... good luck to the Huskers