Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Kurt Mann
LINCOLN -- The Nebraska football team practiced in full pads for the first time this spring on Saturday. And that was fine with Kurt Mann, who could have used some shoulder pads on Wednesday.
His right shoulder was wrapped in ice following that first practice, as a result of its having been hit by a facemask.
"I get beat up these first two days every year," Mann said with a smile. "Spring ball and fall camp, the first two days (without pads) are brutal."
The spring before last was especially brutal, even after he put on pads. He was learning to play center, and going against nose tackle Ryon Bingham, who "just beat the tar out of me," he said.
After a couple of practices doing that, he was ready to move back to tackle or guard, any line position except center.
"It was tough," he said. "I wouldn't want to go through that again."
Still, "it was good for me," the junior-to-be from Grand Island said.
Last spring was better, after getting through the non-pad practices, although Mann, like everyone else, had to adjust to a new head coach, a third position coach in as many seasons and a new offense, dramatically different from the one for which he had been recruited.
He began last spring atop the depth chart at left tackle. In addition to tackle, he played some guard. And he finished as the No. 2 center, behind converted tackle Richie Incognito.
By the end of spring, he was most comfortable at center. But during two-a-days, he still spent time at tackle, too. Then came the suspension of Incognito, and his settling in at center.
Even if Incognito had returned to the team, "I knew I wasn't going back (to tackle)," said Mann. "We had so many guys at tackle anyway, I still would have stayed at center."
Besides, "the more I play it, the more I realize that's where I need to be."
So does offensive line coach Dennis Wagner, who describes Mann's development last season as dramatic.
"No question. You'd have to say Kurt was one of the bigger surprises," said Wagner. "Making the position move and doing the things that he did was exceptional."
Wagner is quick to point out, however, that Mann is a work in progress.
"Now the expectation is even higher for him," Wagner said following Friday's practice. "He has improved his physical strength and size. Along with that, he's got to understand his body's got to catch up to it, and so he'd be the first one to tell you that he's got to keep moving.
"The pace at which he went the first day is not as good as we want it to be."
Mann understands that, just as he understands the offense so much better than he did last spring, or even early last season. That was apparent in Wednesday's first practice.
"The pace we were running plays, if I hadn't been running them for a year, I would have been lost. We were running them so fast," he said. "We were flying through them.
"That's good. It makes us think. We just know the offense now. It's 100 times better. You can't even describe the difference. You just understand what everybody else is doing, instead of just yourself. If you don't understand what everybody else is doing, it's going to be tough for you."
An offensive lineman has to know not only what the other linemen are doing but also what the backs are doing.
That's "very important," said Wagner. "You need to understand on the running scheme who's taking the play-side backer; is it the line or do you have a lead blocker?"
The lead blocker could be the fullback or a "movement" tight end.
Likewise in pass protection, a lineman needs to know "are backs there to help or are there no backs? If you have a back to help, you need to know how to set because you want the back to be able to 'chip' his way out into his route. So it's important you know what everyone does," Wagner said.
Such understanding also is essential to Nebraska's system of interchangeable offensive linemen, tackles who can play guard and guards who can play tackle, either side, right or left.
Center is the exception "because you don't want the exchange to be different," said Wagner. "That's why it's hard to sub centers. You usually only sub centers in a clean-up role."
That's why Mann isn't likely to be moved around. He has established himself at center, a position he never imagined himself playing when he signed a letter-of-intent three years ago. Back then, he figured he would be playing tackle or guard and "we'd be running the option," he said.
He didn't realize what he was getting into when he moved to center as a redshirt freshman.
When "you just watch it, 'Boy, it can't be that hard,' " Mann said. "Then you try it and 'Oooh.' It's real easy to snap the ball with nobody on you. But when there's somebody on you, it's a different story."
So, does he miss playing tackle or guard now?
"Naw," he said.
As long as he's wearing full pads, not just a helmet, he's fine.
LINCOLN -- The Nebraska football team practiced in full pads for the first time this spring on Saturday. And that was fine with Kurt Mann, who could have used some shoulder pads on Wednesday.
His right shoulder was wrapped in ice following that first practice, as a result of its having been hit by a facemask.
"I get beat up these first two days every year," Mann said with a smile. "Spring ball and fall camp, the first two days (without pads) are brutal."
The spring before last was especially brutal, even after he put on pads. He was learning to play center, and going against nose tackle Ryon Bingham, who "just beat the tar out of me," he said.
After a couple of practices doing that, he was ready to move back to tackle or guard, any line position except center.
"It was tough," he said. "I wouldn't want to go through that again."
Still, "it was good for me," the junior-to-be from Grand Island said.
Last spring was better, after getting through the non-pad practices, although Mann, like everyone else, had to adjust to a new head coach, a third position coach in as many seasons and a new offense, dramatically different from the one for which he had been recruited.
He began last spring atop the depth chart at left tackle. In addition to tackle, he played some guard. And he finished as the No. 2 center, behind converted tackle Richie Incognito.
By the end of spring, he was most comfortable at center. But during two-a-days, he still spent time at tackle, too. Then came the suspension of Incognito, and his settling in at center.
Even if Incognito had returned to the team, "I knew I wasn't going back (to tackle)," said Mann. "We had so many guys at tackle anyway, I still would have stayed at center."
Besides, "the more I play it, the more I realize that's where I need to be."
So does offensive line coach Dennis Wagner, who describes Mann's development last season as dramatic.
"No question. You'd have to say Kurt was one of the bigger surprises," said Wagner. "Making the position move and doing the things that he did was exceptional."
Wagner is quick to point out, however, that Mann is a work in progress.
"Now the expectation is even higher for him," Wagner said following Friday's practice. "He has improved his physical strength and size. Along with that, he's got to understand his body's got to catch up to it, and so he'd be the first one to tell you that he's got to keep moving.
"The pace at which he went the first day is not as good as we want it to be."
Mann understands that, just as he understands the offense so much better than he did last spring, or even early last season. That was apparent in Wednesday's first practice.
"The pace we were running plays, if I hadn't been running them for a year, I would have been lost. We were running them so fast," he said. "We were flying through them.
"That's good. It makes us think. We just know the offense now. It's 100 times better. You can't even describe the difference. You just understand what everybody else is doing, instead of just yourself. If you don't understand what everybody else is doing, it's going to be tough for you."
An offensive lineman has to know not only what the other linemen are doing but also what the backs are doing.
That's "very important," said Wagner. "You need to understand on the running scheme who's taking the play-side backer; is it the line or do you have a lead blocker?"
The lead blocker could be the fullback or a "movement" tight end.
Likewise in pass protection, a lineman needs to know "are backs there to help or are there no backs? If you have a back to help, you need to know how to set because you want the back to be able to 'chip' his way out into his route. So it's important you know what everyone does," Wagner said.
Such understanding also is essential to Nebraska's system of interchangeable offensive linemen, tackles who can play guard and guards who can play tackle, either side, right or left.
Center is the exception "because you don't want the exchange to be different," said Wagner. "That's why it's hard to sub centers. You usually only sub centers in a clean-up role."
That's why Mann isn't likely to be moved around. He has established himself at center, a position he never imagined himself playing when he signed a letter-of-intent three years ago. Back then, he figured he would be playing tackle or guard and "we'd be running the option," he said.
He didn't realize what he was getting into when he moved to center as a redshirt freshman.
When "you just watch it, 'Boy, it can't be that hard,' " Mann said. "Then you try it and 'Oooh.' It's real easy to snap the ball with nobody on you. But when there's somebody on you, it's a different story."
So, does he miss playing tackle or guard now?
"Naw," he said.
As long as he's wearing full pads, not just a helmet, he's fine.