LINCOLN — Between 1980 and 2000, Nebraska centers made All-Big Eight or All-Big 12 teams 16 times.
That stretch started with Dave Rimington and finished with Dominic Raiola, and in between featured others such as Mark Traynowicz, Jake Young, Aaron Graham and Aaron Taylor who would become household names around the state.
The starters of the past nine seasons, however, have come to NU without much recruiting hype. One was even a walk-on who won the job as a senior.
Mike Caputo knows about the first bunch but is OK with being associated with the second, having climbed the NU ladder as a non-scholarship player who became Jacob Hickman’s backup the past two seasons.
“I was proud to be a walk-on,” Caputo said Monday. “I still identify as one.”
Caputo is on scholarship now, and he heads into his junior season with a good shot at winning the starting job. He’s still treating every day as if he’s the same underdog he was upon arrival from Millard North in 2007.
“I’ve never seen him take a day off,” said Barney Cotton, the Huskers’ offensive line coach. “I mean, he comes to work every day like he’s supposed to.”
Caputo knows that the former Husker coaching staff was looking for a different profile when he showed up at 6-foot-1 and 260 pounds — say, somebody closer to 6-4. He might be 275 now, but the height was never going to change.
So Caputo set out to do things a little differently, living by a philosophy that meshed well when Cotton returned to NU in 2008.
“Coach Cotton, you always hear him saying, ‘Bring your lunch bucket,’” Caputo said. “So I think I’ve tried to embody that and just come to work every day and want to get better.”
Nebraska hasn’t had a first-team all-conference center since Raiola. Among those who followed, John Garrison (2001 and ’02), Kurt Mann (2004 and ’05) and Brett Byford (2006 and ’07) were hardly ballyhooed coming in.
Josh Sewell started for Cotton as a former walk-on in 2003 and is the last Husker center to be drafted (sixth round, Denver). Hickman (2008 and ’09) turned into a solid performer, but even he was relegated to being a first-semester grayshirt in 2005, partly because of an overstocked recruiting class and partly because he was only 235 or 240 pounds at the time.
Caputo knows the lineage, both pre- and post-2000. Two of his favorites have always been Raiola and Rimington, not coincidentally because they stood 6-1 and 6-3, respectively.
“Obviously I get stuff because of my height, and I would always point to them and say, ‘You know, they’re just about as tall as me,’” Caputo said. “Those guys were two of the best, so it’s easy to look to them.
“The tradition here is strong. You just hope that you can fit in.”
Cotton wouldn’t bet against it.
Being shorter actually helps Caputo get under defenders in the running game. He needs to be technically exact in pass protection because of his shorter arms, Cotton said, “but he can win with his feet.”
And Cotton knows Caputo is going to come with everything he has every time he’s asked.
“He’s just progressing like he always has,” Cotton said. “He was ready to play last year, and when he was asked to play he went in and played well. He’s on a real good pace to be a good football player for us.”
