Great new Husker Football Book coming out soon
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NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
Another little random snippet from former OLineman Zach Weigert talking about the NU receiving corps...
"Oh, you had Barron Miles and Ed Stewart… we had so many good players. All those front seven guys were just phenomenal. Doug Colman, he had a rock head. Then you had Cory Schlesinger who played twelve years in the pros as a fullback, which is unheard of. Abdul Muhammad on offense; he caught more balls than anybody, but he was 170 pounds soaking wet and you’d just see some of the blocks he’d throw in games. It was like our receivers were in some mad race to get downfield and see who could knock down the backside safety and stuff. You wouldn’t believe the stuff that we’d see on film. It just came down to the fact that we had guys who loved to play..."
"Oh, you had Barron Miles and Ed Stewart… we had so many good players. All those front seven guys were just phenomenal. Doug Colman, he had a rock head. Then you had Cory Schlesinger who played twelve years in the pros as a fullback, which is unheard of. Abdul Muhammad on offense; he caught more balls than anybody, but he was 170 pounds soaking wet and you’d just see some of the blocks he’d throw in games. It was like our receivers were in some mad race to get downfield and see who could knock down the backside safety and stuff. You wouldn’t believe the stuff that we’d see on film. It just came down to the fact that we had guys who loved to play..."
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
..followed by some thoughts about a former teammate:
"ZW: You know, Lawrence was probably, to this day, the most naturally talented football player I ever played with. I’d tell guys in the pro’s that all the time and they’d be like, “No way.” And I’d tell them, ‘The guy could do everything. He could run over you. He could run around you. He’d catch.’ And when I was at Nebraska you never heard a peep out of the guy. I mean, the guy was quiet, very respectful to the older guys on the team, just an all-around great person to be around. You know, after we left he had a few problems the next year. And we were together in St. Louis for two years, also.
Q: Oh, yeah...
ZW: Things just went downhill. Here was a guy that if the agents and the people with the money would have just left him alone, he would have been the best player ever. When you get that money and that posse hanging around you who want to spend that money for you it’s a bad deal. But I have nothing but good things to say about Lawrence Phillips."
"ZW: You know, Lawrence was probably, to this day, the most naturally talented football player I ever played with. I’d tell guys in the pro’s that all the time and they’d be like, “No way.” And I’d tell them, ‘The guy could do everything. He could run over you. He could run around you. He’d catch.’ And when I was at Nebraska you never heard a peep out of the guy. I mean, the guy was quiet, very respectful to the older guys on the team, just an all-around great person to be around. You know, after we left he had a few problems the next year. And we were together in St. Louis for two years, also.
Q: Oh, yeah...
ZW: Things just went downhill. Here was a guy that if the agents and the people with the money would have just left him alone, he would have been the best player ever. When you get that money and that posse hanging around you who want to spend that money for you it’s a bad deal. But I have nothing but good things to say about Lawrence Phillips."
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
It was a long weekend moving out of my place and away from the computer...so here is an extra "No Place Like Nebraska" book snippet from Athletic Trainer Emeritus George Sullivan about policing the Training Table manners:
"Q: I remember there were always a few guys on staff who you didn’t want to make angry: Coach Osborne, Charlie McBride, Milt Tenopir and George Sullivan. You didn’t want any of those guys on your bad side…
GS: (laughs) They all would laugh (the coaches,) because at the Dining Hall they didn’t have much control over things and I guess they left it to me because I ran the whole thing. And when I started slapping even the girls on the back of the neck? They thought that was pretty tough.
Q: George, that’s so funny! I was talking to a former player a week or so ago and they mentioned how you would quietly sneak into the training table area and spot some athlete eating at the dinner table with his cap on… and you’d scare the living hell out of them with a quick slap on the back of the neck! (laughs) Then every head in the room would be on a swivel and they’d rapid-fire rip their own caps off and throw them to the floor!(laughs)
GS: That’s the way I was brought up. If I’d have walked in the house and kept my cap on... my mother was right there to give me a good whack on the fanny. I thought it was probably better not to whack these guys on the fanny, so I did it on the neck there, instead. (laughs)"
"Q: I remember there were always a few guys on staff who you didn’t want to make angry: Coach Osborne, Charlie McBride, Milt Tenopir and George Sullivan. You didn’t want any of those guys on your bad side…
GS: (laughs) They all would laugh (the coaches,) because at the Dining Hall they didn’t have much control over things and I guess they left it to me because I ran the whole thing. And when I started slapping even the girls on the back of the neck? They thought that was pretty tough.
Q: George, that’s so funny! I was talking to a former player a week or so ago and they mentioned how you would quietly sneak into the training table area and spot some athlete eating at the dinner table with his cap on… and you’d scare the living hell out of them with a quick slap on the back of the neck! (laughs) Then every head in the room would be on a swivel and they’d rapid-fire rip their own caps off and throw them to the floor!(laughs)
GS: That’s the way I was brought up. If I’d have walked in the house and kept my cap on... my mother was right there to give me a good whack on the fanny. I thought it was probably better not to whack these guys on the fanny, so I did it on the neck there, instead. (laughs)"
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
Another tidbit from former Athletic Trainer George "Sully" Sullivan, about the '94 Orange Bowl:
"But I remember there, against Miami with Warren Sapp, he kept mouthing off at the time and I kept hollering at him. (I shouldn’t have been doing it.) (laughs) He was so funny in that he kept running back along the sideline after he’d make a good hit downfield. He said, “How’d you like that one, Doc?” I said, ‘That was out of bounds, you rat!’ (laughs) He just laughed.
Later on I was down to Tampa one time and he says, “Weren’t you the Doc for Nebraska when we played?” I said, ‘I was. And you cheated!’ He laughed so hard. He was a great guy."
"But I remember there, against Miami with Warren Sapp, he kept mouthing off at the time and I kept hollering at him. (I shouldn’t have been doing it.) (laughs) He was so funny in that he kept running back along the sideline after he’d make a good hit downfield. He said, “How’d you like that one, Doc?” I said, ‘That was out of bounds, you rat!’ (laughs) He just laughed.
Later on I was down to Tampa one time and he says, “Weren’t you the Doc for Nebraska when we played?” I said, ‘I was. And you cheated!’ He laughed so hard. He was a great guy."
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
Here is a small post before I head out for the weekend. This one comes from former NU DB Eric Stokes, who talks about Charlie McBride's coaching:
"Coach McBride, he was always going between the dip and the gum and taking his teeth out and him barking at you, he would just do some crazy stuff, literally kicking these defensive linemen in the behinds. Charlie was blunt.
And it’s funny now, but it wasn’t funny then. That’s why I’m really having a hard time remembering. Take the NFL scouts: if you were messing up in practice he’d say, “Hey, I’m gonna tell the NFL scouts that you’re dumb as a tick and you can’t learn. And you mark my word, I’ll tell ‘em that!“ That was serious stuff. And you can laugh now, but believe me, those guys weren’t laughing then. It was serious business, man. Serious business. (laughing)"
"Coach McBride, he was always going between the dip and the gum and taking his teeth out and him barking at you, he would just do some crazy stuff, literally kicking these defensive linemen in the behinds. Charlie was blunt.
And it’s funny now, but it wasn’t funny then. That’s why I’m really having a hard time remembering. Take the NFL scouts: if you were messing up in practice he’d say, “Hey, I’m gonna tell the NFL scouts that you’re dumb as a tick and you can’t learn. And you mark my word, I’ll tell ‘em that!“ That was serious stuff. And you can laugh now, but believe me, those guys weren’t laughing then. It was serious business, man. Serious business. (laughing)"
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
One more before it's Beer-thirty on the West Coast: a tidbit from my soon-to-be-released book "No Place Like Nebraska", a comment by former NU DB Eric Stokes:
"I think a lot of the jokes, truth be told, came from the defensive line. When you’re dealing with Charlie McBride, I can only imagine. You know, we had a nick-name, we called the D-linemen ‘The Crazies’ when we had Wistrom and the Peter brothers and those guys. I remember McBride talking before we were getting ready to play, and basically his message was like this: “We’re gonna set ‘The Crazies’ on them, and then the defensive backs will essentially just cover and do their job.” (laughs) It was true, it was just that blunt, “We’ll set them loose and you guys cover them and end of story.” When you had Wistrom and the two Peter brothers and Jared Tomich? I have no idea what was going on with those four guys, they were out there. And not to mention, when I first got there we had John Parrella and Kevin Raemakers. You had some clowns, now. They were birds on a wire. They were walking a fine line sometimes with those guys. (laughs)"
"I think a lot of the jokes, truth be told, came from the defensive line. When you’re dealing with Charlie McBride, I can only imagine. You know, we had a nick-name, we called the D-linemen ‘The Crazies’ when we had Wistrom and the Peter brothers and those guys. I remember McBride talking before we were getting ready to play, and basically his message was like this: “We’re gonna set ‘The Crazies’ on them, and then the defensive backs will essentially just cover and do their job.” (laughs) It was true, it was just that blunt, “We’ll set them loose and you guys cover them and end of story.” When you had Wistrom and the two Peter brothers and Jared Tomich? I have no idea what was going on with those four guys, they were out there. And not to mention, when I first got there we had John Parrella and Kevin Raemakers. You had some clowns, now. They were birds on a wire. They were walking a fine line sometimes with those guys. (laughs)"
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
Hey Everybody, I'm really jazzed today. Got some great news relating to my book project:
1) Charlie McBride and Tom Osborne have both read the final chapter and gave it a resounding thumbs up! They were impressed.
2) Charlie has agreed to write the Foreword for the book...and if you know Charlie at all, it's gonna be a worthwhile bit of reading.
3) T.O. has also lent me a favorable snippet of recommendation - a 'blurb'- as they call it in the publishing world. It's a huge boost of credibility!
4) My photographer sent me shot that I plan to use as the cover photo. It's a gathering of all the championship rings from the '93-97 seasons. Let's put it this way: it's very impressive, and will make any Husker fan's chest swell witih pride as we look back on those days 20 years ago. GBR!!
1) Charlie McBride and Tom Osborne have both read the final chapter and gave it a resounding thumbs up! They were impressed.
2) Charlie has agreed to write the Foreword for the book...and if you know Charlie at all, it's gonna be a worthwhile bit of reading.
3) T.O. has also lent me a favorable snippet of recommendation - a 'blurb'- as they call it in the publishing world. It's a huge boost of credibility!
4) My photographer sent me shot that I plan to use as the cover photo. It's a gathering of all the championship rings from the '93-97 seasons. Let's put it this way: it's very impressive, and will make any Husker fan's chest swell witih pride as we look back on those days 20 years ago. GBR!!
HuskerNationNick
All-Conference
I am not even a book worm, and you have me excited to purchase and read this book!
On a side note, have you thought about taking donations with purchases to help out Team Jack? Kind of a way to help get the word out about the book, and help out a great cause that is close to home.
On a side note, have you thought about taking donations with purchases to help out Team Jack? Kind of a way to help get the word out about the book, and help out a great cause that is close to home.
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
Funny...I recently spoke with T.O. about doing that exact thing. LOL Whether it's helping out his Teammates Mentoring program, Team Jack, the Husker Greats Foundation, etc., I'm unsure who I'd like to bless as of yet. I'm trying to figure out who needs the most assistance right now, to be honest with you. Kind of a tough call at this point. I have a few more phone calls to make. That being said, I just might contribute personally rather than link up the sale of each book to a particular organization. There's also Apraxia Kids, an organization that means a lot to a good friend of mine here on Huskerboard and hits pretty close to home. In any regard, GBR!
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
Here is a little bit of conversation with former walk-on RB Damon Schmadeke talking about Frank Solich's tough-as-nails running back coaching and Cory Schlesinger...
"DS: What I liked about Coach Solich was that when we went through the plays and if you didn’t run it to the exact place where he wanted you -either outside shoulder of the tackle or the inside shoulder- he was very precise on his routes and the techniques, of running down hill and catching that option. Fine-tuning that option? He was a master at that. When you’d get that ball you wanted to be going downhill when you crossed that line of scrimmage. He was a very good coach and I enjoyed playing for him and working with him as a coach.
I always remember Coach Solich saying that when you ran the ball you had to “speed through the hole.” He wanted us to accelerate through the line of scrimmage on each play, but he was very precise on where he wanted the route to be on the play call. But “speed through the hole’ was something he really repeated all the time. I sure learned a lot of things, a lot of techniques, compared to what I knew at the high school level. At the high school level you just run over people, but at the college level you had to put your shoulder down, make them move, run over them, drive through their chest and not take the brunt of hits that you did in high school. You wanted to deliver the punishment and not take the punishment, let’s put it that way.
Q: I heard somewhere that Tom Rathman once broke an Oklahoma guy’s jaw?
DS: Yeah, I heard about that. That’s one of the things Coach Solich wanted to infuse in us running backs: “You guys do the punishment to the people. Don’t take it. Take your fist and drive through their sternum. Then pop your fist through and drive through them.” Cory Schlesinger, too, he was good at that. Everybody called him “Blockhead.” He would hit you so hard and it wouldn’t phase him. I would be, ‘Wow, that was a hit! Are you okay?’ And he’d be, “Oh, I’m fine.” (laughs) Cory could sure hit hard. Very tough player. A tough kid."
"DS: What I liked about Coach Solich was that when we went through the plays and if you didn’t run it to the exact place where he wanted you -either outside shoulder of the tackle or the inside shoulder- he was very precise on his routes and the techniques, of running down hill and catching that option. Fine-tuning that option? He was a master at that. When you’d get that ball you wanted to be going downhill when you crossed that line of scrimmage. He was a very good coach and I enjoyed playing for him and working with him as a coach.
I always remember Coach Solich saying that when you ran the ball you had to “speed through the hole.” He wanted us to accelerate through the line of scrimmage on each play, but he was very precise on where he wanted the route to be on the play call. But “speed through the hole’ was something he really repeated all the time. I sure learned a lot of things, a lot of techniques, compared to what I knew at the high school level. At the high school level you just run over people, but at the college level you had to put your shoulder down, make them move, run over them, drive through their chest and not take the brunt of hits that you did in high school. You wanted to deliver the punishment and not take the punishment, let’s put it that way.
Q: I heard somewhere that Tom Rathman once broke an Oklahoma guy’s jaw?
DS: Yeah, I heard about that. That’s one of the things Coach Solich wanted to infuse in us running backs: “You guys do the punishment to the people. Don’t take it. Take your fist and drive through their sternum. Then pop your fist through and drive through them.” Cory Schlesinger, too, he was good at that. Everybody called him “Blockhead.” He would hit you so hard and it wouldn’t phase him. I would be, ‘Wow, that was a hit! Are you okay?’ And he’d be, “Oh, I’m fine.” (laughs) Cory could sure hit hard. Very tough player. A tough kid."
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
A "No Place Like Nebraska" Book Update: Really looking fwd to this Saturday! A good friend/poker buddy is gonna be doing some shots for me. Never before in the history of humankind has one man been so excited about taking pictures of old Astroturf. LOL (You'll understand why in a month or two)
Speaking of the old playing surface, here's a little "No Place Like Nebraska" book tidbit from old Equipment Room Assistant Mike Mason that you might find amusing:
"MM: Back then we had Astroturf, so you had two sets of shoes for that. You had the ‘dry turf’ shoe, which was basically like a basketball- bottom shoe, and if the turf was wet you had a ‘rain shoe’ with little cleats on it. When we were with Converse we had a lot of problems: the trainers thought the shoes had a little too much grip. At that time they actually didn’t really have a dry turf shoe, that’s why we had to shave off half of those cleats with grinders…
Q: You did what?!
MM: (laughing) Yeah, you want to talk about a pain in the butt, man? You’d have rubber in your ears, your nose. That was not good.
Q: So you and a few other student assistants had grinders in hand?
MM: Walt (Johnson) did most of that. We’d go outside, out back of Shep’s area out there and Walt had a little grinder. He’d grind ‘em off and we’d put ‘em back into a box and mark them ‘dry turf’ or whatever. And we’d do hundreds and hundreds of pairs of shoes. It was crazy. And after we did that for a couple of years they finally started making a shoe with a flat bottom on it, so we didn’t have to keep doing that.
A few guys, like Steve Taylor, he’d want a new pair of shoes every week. I know that the guys at the South End would take his old shoes, put them in a box, and they’d just rotate about three different pairs of shoes. He’d think he was getting a new pair, but he wasn’t. (laughs) There were always ways to trick guys, because nobody liked to grind those shoes down."
Speaking of the old playing surface, here's a little "No Place Like Nebraska" book tidbit from old Equipment Room Assistant Mike Mason that you might find amusing:
"MM: Back then we had Astroturf, so you had two sets of shoes for that. You had the ‘dry turf’ shoe, which was basically like a basketball- bottom shoe, and if the turf was wet you had a ‘rain shoe’ with little cleats on it. When we were with Converse we had a lot of problems: the trainers thought the shoes had a little too much grip. At that time they actually didn’t really have a dry turf shoe, that’s why we had to shave off half of those cleats with grinders…
Q: You did what?!
MM: (laughing) Yeah, you want to talk about a pain in the butt, man? You’d have rubber in your ears, your nose. That was not good.
Q: So you and a few other student assistants had grinders in hand?
MM: Walt (Johnson) did most of that. We’d go outside, out back of Shep’s area out there and Walt had a little grinder. He’d grind ‘em off and we’d put ‘em back into a box and mark them ‘dry turf’ or whatever. And we’d do hundreds and hundreds of pairs of shoes. It was crazy. And after we did that for a couple of years they finally started making a shoe with a flat bottom on it, so we didn’t have to keep doing that.
A few guys, like Steve Taylor, he’d want a new pair of shoes every week. I know that the guys at the South End would take his old shoes, put them in a box, and they’d just rotate about three different pairs of shoes. He’d think he was getting a new pair, but he wasn’t. (laughs) There were always ways to trick guys, because nobody liked to grind those shoes down."
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
From present day author/ motivational speaker and former NU WR Aaron Davis, Tommie Frazier's roommate: "AD: The thing about it was that if you were an all-star or just walking on there and looking for a chance to compete, you felt like you were part of a family.
The way things were done were very systematic. Things were done with excellence: the way you carried yourself, the way you practiced, the way that you prepared. There was a culture of excellence, a culture of high expectations, a culture that mediocrity would not be tolerated. And you know as a strength coach in the weightroom, in the meeting room or on the practice field, there was a way to get things done. You were not only accountable to your coaches, but you were accountable to your teammates. So there was accountability on all levels. And to get to the level where you could wear that ‘N’ on your helmet, that came with a great deal of pride. And I’ve said it many times before: we didn’t just play at Nebraska, we worked and toiled for the opportunity to play for Nebraska. So when you put on that helmet you were putting on something and representing more than a million people in that state that had supported that program and loved that program so much, and you didn’t take that lightly. All the sweat and the blood and the tears and the toil that went on that field before you? You not only wanted to not let your teammates down, but you didn’t want to let all the players who came before you down, either. Because they played such a huge part in the dominance that we enjoyed for many years. That’s one reason the name ‘Nebraska’ resonates around the country." Amen to that. GBR!
The way things were done were very systematic. Things were done with excellence: the way you carried yourself, the way you practiced, the way that you prepared. There was a culture of excellence, a culture of high expectations, a culture that mediocrity would not be tolerated. And you know as a strength coach in the weightroom, in the meeting room or on the practice field, there was a way to get things done. You were not only accountable to your coaches, but you were accountable to your teammates. So there was accountability on all levels. And to get to the level where you could wear that ‘N’ on your helmet, that came with a great deal of pride. And I’ve said it many times before: we didn’t just play at Nebraska, we worked and toiled for the opportunity to play for Nebraska. So when you put on that helmet you were putting on something and representing more than a million people in that state that had supported that program and loved that program so much, and you didn’t take that lightly. All the sweat and the blood and the tears and the toil that went on that field before you? You not only wanted to not let your teammates down, but you didn’t want to let all the players who came before you down, either. Because they played such a huge part in the dominance that we enjoyed for many years. That’s one reason the name ‘Nebraska’ resonates around the country." Amen to that. GBR!
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch
Four-Star Recruit
My book "No Place Like Nebraska" is absolutely HUGE, guys, so I don't mind posting snippets like this about every day...there is more than enough to go around without my fearing that I'll have blown my wad by the time it comes out. LOL Following up on yesterday's post, here is a little bit more from Aaron Davis, a guy who really learned some lasting lessons from those days as it concerns leadership: "AD: I would say with Coach Brown -and I’d echo it with Coach Osborne- they cared more about you as a man than as a player. And I say this about both of them: they cared more about your first four years after college than they did your four years in college when you were eligible. And we knew that: we knew they cared more about our next forty years in life than our 40 yard dash, whether we were being good citizens, good husbands and fathers, good business leaders in the community, contributing to society. The championships were nice, but they were more concerned with the four and a half, five years to develop the young man into a grown man and give him lessons and strategies to be successful off the field.
Because eventually the applause stops, and it’s a tragedy for a lot of athletes, especially like a place like Nebraska where it’s at a high level of competition. There’s many who don’t know how to respond when the crowd applause stops for them. And they were interested in helping us find ways to live, to be productive and successful off the field. So it was like they said, “Hey, I have five years to develop this young man to the best of my ability. And after five years he goes away.“ So for them it seemed like they had a sense of urgency. They had to instill a purpose into us as much as they could, and if you were an All-American and went on to the next level, that was just gravy on it, but their main purpose was to give us a solid foundation for life after we left there. So I think that’s what separates that Nebraska staff from a lot of great coaches. And to me, that’s why guys would run through a wall for those coaches, because we knew they loved us and they cared about us regardless of football games on Saturdays."
Because eventually the applause stops, and it’s a tragedy for a lot of athletes, especially like a place like Nebraska where it’s at a high level of competition. There’s many who don’t know how to respond when the crowd applause stops for them. And they were interested in helping us find ways to live, to be productive and successful off the field. So it was like they said, “Hey, I have five years to develop this young man to the best of my ability. And after five years he goes away.“ So for them it seemed like they had a sense of urgency. They had to instill a purpose into us as much as they could, and if you were an All-American and went on to the next level, that was just gravy on it, but their main purpose was to give us a solid foundation for life after we left there. So I think that’s what separates that Nebraska staff from a lot of great coaches. And to me, that’s why guys would run through a wall for those coaches, because we knew they loved us and they cared about us regardless of football games on Saturdays."