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Brian Rosenthal: Husker seniors are survivors
Thursday, Nov 23, 2006 - 12:07:27 am CST
It’s hard to look at this year’s group of 19 seniors on the Nebraska football team without looking a little deeper.
At the risk of segregating certain members of this class ... well, I’m going to segregate certain members of this class.
For they deserve some extra credit.
We know Greg Austin’s courageous story and Zac Taylor’s program-changing contributions.
Nebraskans should give special thanks, though, to 11 players who’ve been through everything. They’re the last Nebraska football players to have experienced all coaching changes, dating to the retirements of Milt Tenopir and Dan Young and the firings of Craig Bohl, George Darlington and Nelson Barnes.
Seem like a lifetime ago? Just ask those 11 players who were on Nebraska’s team when the aforementioned coaches were still with the Huskers in 2002.
“Shoot, when I came here, we’d just played in the national championship the year before,” said senior defensive end Jay Moore, an Elkhorn native. “We were thinking everything was good.”
We need not go into details. Suffice to say, these guys — Moore, Stewart Bradley, Adam Carriker, Isaiah Fluellen, Matt Herian, Andy Kadavy, Newt Lingenfelter, Kurt Mann, Brandon Rigoni, Andrew Shanle and Dane Todd — have stuck through five years of major overhaul.
All but Herian redshirted in 2002. Bradley, Kadavy, Rigoni and Lingenfelter came to Nebraska as walk-ons and eventually earned scholarships.
“The seniors have been through so much, going through different coaching staffs, dealing with players who didn’t want to be here, with the coaching situation,” junior running back Brandon Jackson said.
“The ones who are here now, I feel dedicated in winning this game (Friday against Colorado) for them. Most of them taught me so much. It’s an honor to play for them.”
Of course, we shouldn’t ignore the contributions of Austin and Lane Kelly, four-year seniors, or the junior college transfers. But the 11 five-year seniors are really the last of their kind.
Not only are they the last ones to have experienced all coaching changes, many have overcome obstacles, or have unique stories.
Kadavy, a Seward native, is blind in one eye. He walked on as a fullback in 2002 and was told in the spring of 2003 he was no longer needed. He didn’t listen, and resurfaced that fall playing linebacker, with encouragement from former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
Fluellen, who battled hamstrings throughout his career as a wide receiver, made a bold position change to cornerback this season, then suffered a season-ending knee injury. Mann has been relegated to backup status at center after a bout with mononucleosis this fall.
Herian, who set a then-freshman record for receiving yardage in 2002, came back from a broken leg. Rigoni, supposedly too short to play Division I-A football, is perhaps Nebraska’s most ferocious hitter.
Speaking of hard-hitting, that’s how Bradley initially made his name known, with some helmet-rattling tackles one spring. He, too, has overcome injury, an ACL tear last season.
Carriker and Moore are bookends on a defensive line that, over the past two years, has arguably been better than any Nebraska’s had since its last Big 12 North title.
Shanle, a St. Edward native, kept alive a Nebraska tradition of small-town, eight-man players making their way into the starting lineup. Lingenfelter, whose father, Bob, played at Nebraska from 1974-76, made his first Husker appearance in last year’s Colorado game.
Todd became Nebraska’s premier fullback at precisely the time fullbacks began to no longer carry the football at Nebraska. That didn’t bother Todd, who referenced the letter of intent he signed as one reason he’s stuck around.
“It doesn’t say who I’m going to play for or what (position) I’m going to play or what kind of system I’m going to play in,” Todd said. “It says I’m going to be here committed to Nebraska. That’s the way I’ve approached it, regardless of who’s coaching or what the coaching was.”
As is the case with every class, not everyone from the original group of recruits four and five years ago made it this far. Moore said he’s still in contact with a couple of those departed guys, most notably Fabian Washington, who declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season. Washington, Moore said, offered his congratulations to Nebraska for winning the Big 12 North.
Moore said he has no hard feelings toward those who didn’t stick around, saying each person has to do what’s best for himself. That’s fair enough.
But let’s not forget those, either, that hung around for the bad, the ugly, and now, the good.
Brian Rosenthal: Husker seniors are survivors
Thursday, Nov 23, 2006 - 12:07:27 am CST
It’s hard to look at this year’s group of 19 seniors on the Nebraska football team without looking a little deeper.
At the risk of segregating certain members of this class ... well, I’m going to segregate certain members of this class.
For they deserve some extra credit.
We know Greg Austin’s courageous story and Zac Taylor’s program-changing contributions.
Nebraskans should give special thanks, though, to 11 players who’ve been through everything. They’re the last Nebraska football players to have experienced all coaching changes, dating to the retirements of Milt Tenopir and Dan Young and the firings of Craig Bohl, George Darlington and Nelson Barnes.
Seem like a lifetime ago? Just ask those 11 players who were on Nebraska’s team when the aforementioned coaches were still with the Huskers in 2002.
“Shoot, when I came here, we’d just played in the national championship the year before,” said senior defensive end Jay Moore, an Elkhorn native. “We were thinking everything was good.”
We need not go into details. Suffice to say, these guys — Moore, Stewart Bradley, Adam Carriker, Isaiah Fluellen, Matt Herian, Andy Kadavy, Newt Lingenfelter, Kurt Mann, Brandon Rigoni, Andrew Shanle and Dane Todd — have stuck through five years of major overhaul.
All but Herian redshirted in 2002. Bradley, Kadavy, Rigoni and Lingenfelter came to Nebraska as walk-ons and eventually earned scholarships.
“The seniors have been through so much, going through different coaching staffs, dealing with players who didn’t want to be here, with the coaching situation,” junior running back Brandon Jackson said.
“The ones who are here now, I feel dedicated in winning this game (Friday against Colorado) for them. Most of them taught me so much. It’s an honor to play for them.”
Of course, we shouldn’t ignore the contributions of Austin and Lane Kelly, four-year seniors, or the junior college transfers. But the 11 five-year seniors are really the last of their kind.
Not only are they the last ones to have experienced all coaching changes, many have overcome obstacles, or have unique stories.
Kadavy, a Seward native, is blind in one eye. He walked on as a fullback in 2002 and was told in the spring of 2003 he was no longer needed. He didn’t listen, and resurfaced that fall playing linebacker, with encouragement from former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
Fluellen, who battled hamstrings throughout his career as a wide receiver, made a bold position change to cornerback this season, then suffered a season-ending knee injury. Mann has been relegated to backup status at center after a bout with mononucleosis this fall.
Herian, who set a then-freshman record for receiving yardage in 2002, came back from a broken leg. Rigoni, supposedly too short to play Division I-A football, is perhaps Nebraska’s most ferocious hitter.
Speaking of hard-hitting, that’s how Bradley initially made his name known, with some helmet-rattling tackles one spring. He, too, has overcome injury, an ACL tear last season.
Carriker and Moore are bookends on a defensive line that, over the past two years, has arguably been better than any Nebraska’s had since its last Big 12 North title.
Shanle, a St. Edward native, kept alive a Nebraska tradition of small-town, eight-man players making their way into the starting lineup. Lingenfelter, whose father, Bob, played at Nebraska from 1974-76, made his first Husker appearance in last year’s Colorado game.
Todd became Nebraska’s premier fullback at precisely the time fullbacks began to no longer carry the football at Nebraska. That didn’t bother Todd, who referenced the letter of intent he signed as one reason he’s stuck around.
“It doesn’t say who I’m going to play for or what (position) I’m going to play or what kind of system I’m going to play in,” Todd said. “It says I’m going to be here committed to Nebraska. That’s the way I’ve approached it, regardless of who’s coaching or what the coaching was.”
As is the case with every class, not everyone from the original group of recruits four and five years ago made it this far. Moore said he’s still in contact with a couple of those departed guys, most notably Fabian Washington, who declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season. Washington, Moore said, offered his congratulations to Nebraska for winning the Big 12 North.
Moore said he has no hard feelings toward those who didn’t stick around, saying each person has to do what’s best for himself. That’s fair enough.
But let’s not forget those, either, that hung around for the bad, the ugly, and now, the good.
