http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=38&u_sid=2133653
LINCOLN - Brandon Rigoni has no problem with anyone wanting to call him the poster boy for the Nebraska football walk-on program. Rigoni plays with that chip on his shoulder. At 5-foot-6 and maybe 175 pounds, he competes with an abandon he deems necessary to somehow get on the field.
"I think there's a slightly different attitude, especially with us getting some of the bigger recruits coming in now," Rigoni said. "Not to say it's bad, but these kids are recruited by everyone, and they know how good they are coming in. But the walk-ons . . . we haven't been told how good we are. We know we're going to have to work for every second of playing time we get."
With that comment, Rigoni tries to back up what Bill Callahan is saying about the walk-on mentality being alive and well at Nebraska, even if the coach has tweaked things slightly in his two-plus years in Lincoln.
Callahan said he likes and wants players like Rigoni, Andy Kadavy and Dan Erickson. In fact, Tim Cassidy, NU's associate athletic director for football, said the Huskers need five to 10 of those players on the roster who might have turned down an NCAA Division I-A or I-AA offer to be a walk-on.
"Truth be told," Cassidy said, "they're the heart and soul of our program."
Nebraska carried 41 walk-ons last season and lists 30 on its roster for spring practice, which begins March 22. That's roughly half as many walk-ons as NU carried in past years. Cassidy said NU coaches have spent recent weeks trying to educate state high school coaches about how they now recruit those players and how they determine those spots, and why they consider it impractical to carry many more.
"I know a lot of people were worried that the walk-on program would lose its luster here at Nebraska, when it had so much respect," said Rigoni, a senior-to-be from Lincoln Southeast. "When the roster was cut down, I don't think that was really the intent. It was just a lot of dead weight they wanted to get rid of.
"It's harder to be a walk-on now, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing."
In essence, Cassidy said Callahan has only raised the bar and expectations for walk-ons. The Huskers have asked high school coaches to recommend only players they believe can play at NU. Then Husker coaches request film so they can see for themselves.
"We don't want guys to look like Tim Cassidy," Cassidy said, "but to look like guys we've already got here."
Gary Hartman of Scottsbluff is among those coaches who liked it the old way, when Nebraska accepted about anybody who seriously wanted to give it a try. "I'm a little old school that way," Hartman said.
Greg Welch of Seward is with those who understand why there's been a reduction. "Obviously it's changed a ton from where it used to be, from the 1970s and 1980s," said Welch, who recently has sent Kadavy and punter Sam Koch to Lincoln.
As more Division I-A and I-AA schools start recruiting Nebraska, Cassidy said the NU staff has heard in-state coaches saying that other programs pay more attention to their players than the Huskers do. But Husker coaches' hands are tied, Cassidy said, by the amount of contact they can have with some prospective walk-ons.
If an athlete is brought in for an official visit, receives more than one phone call or is visited off-campus by a school, he becomes a "recruited walk-on." If that player later appears in a game and is receiving any other form of institutional aid or scholarship money, he would then count against the team's 85-scholarship limit. And if he played within his first two years, he would count against the initial scholarships, which annually can be up to 25 - as happened with receiver Todd Peterson last season and Ryan Goodman the year before.
"That's why we're making as few 'recruitable walk-ons' as possible," Cassidy said, "because we don't want to have to be restricted in their playing."
Last season, Cassidy said, several walk-ons helped NU on special teams. The Huskers' kickoff coverage team for the Alamo Bowl included nine Nebraskans, a mix of scholarship and walk-on players.
"I'd be willing to challenge anybody from a state the size of Nebraska to be starting nine players from its own state," Cassidy said. "With Florida, Texas and California, that would be a possibility, but I bet you Kansas and Oklahoma and Missouri and Minnesota aren't starting nine players from their state."
Cassidy repeats several reasons Callahan previously has cited for limiting his roster.
Carrying 180 players doesn't work in a locker room built for 135. It's too many players for 10 coaches. It increases the number you have to monitor off the field.
When the current staff took over in 2004 and Turner Gill and Scott Downing were retained, Cassidy said, the two assistant coaches didn't know every player in the program.
"That's like a red flag," Cassidy said.
Of NU's current walk-ons, Cassidy said, "As the No. 1 administrator for football, I can tell you every one of these kids is getting treated the same" in terms of medical care, academic help and coaching. "The only difference is your family is paying for your schooling."
Cassidy also said Callahan is sympathetic to being a walk-on because his son, Brian, is a non-scholarship quarterback at UCLA.
Since taking over at Nebraska, Callahan has awarded scholarships to 11 walk-ons, nine of whom have been in-state players.
"I want the walk-ons in the state of Nebraska to understand completely and thoroughly that we do want you here," Callahan said. "You get what you emphasize in this business."
LINCOLN - Brandon Rigoni has no problem with anyone wanting to call him the poster boy for the Nebraska football walk-on program. Rigoni plays with that chip on his shoulder. At 5-foot-6 and maybe 175 pounds, he competes with an abandon he deems necessary to somehow get on the field.
"I think there's a slightly different attitude, especially with us getting some of the bigger recruits coming in now," Rigoni said. "Not to say it's bad, but these kids are recruited by everyone, and they know how good they are coming in. But the walk-ons . . . we haven't been told how good we are. We know we're going to have to work for every second of playing time we get."
With that comment, Rigoni tries to back up what Bill Callahan is saying about the walk-on mentality being alive and well at Nebraska, even if the coach has tweaked things slightly in his two-plus years in Lincoln.
Callahan said he likes and wants players like Rigoni, Andy Kadavy and Dan Erickson. In fact, Tim Cassidy, NU's associate athletic director for football, said the Huskers need five to 10 of those players on the roster who might have turned down an NCAA Division I-A or I-AA offer to be a walk-on.
"Truth be told," Cassidy said, "they're the heart and soul of our program."
Nebraska carried 41 walk-ons last season and lists 30 on its roster for spring practice, which begins March 22. That's roughly half as many walk-ons as NU carried in past years. Cassidy said NU coaches have spent recent weeks trying to educate state high school coaches about how they now recruit those players and how they determine those spots, and why they consider it impractical to carry many more.
"I know a lot of people were worried that the walk-on program would lose its luster here at Nebraska, when it had so much respect," said Rigoni, a senior-to-be from Lincoln Southeast. "When the roster was cut down, I don't think that was really the intent. It was just a lot of dead weight they wanted to get rid of.
"It's harder to be a walk-on now, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing."
In essence, Cassidy said Callahan has only raised the bar and expectations for walk-ons. The Huskers have asked high school coaches to recommend only players they believe can play at NU. Then Husker coaches request film so they can see for themselves.
"We don't want guys to look like Tim Cassidy," Cassidy said, "but to look like guys we've already got here."
Gary Hartman of Scottsbluff is among those coaches who liked it the old way, when Nebraska accepted about anybody who seriously wanted to give it a try. "I'm a little old school that way," Hartman said.
Greg Welch of Seward is with those who understand why there's been a reduction. "Obviously it's changed a ton from where it used to be, from the 1970s and 1980s," said Welch, who recently has sent Kadavy and punter Sam Koch to Lincoln.
As more Division I-A and I-AA schools start recruiting Nebraska, Cassidy said the NU staff has heard in-state coaches saying that other programs pay more attention to their players than the Huskers do. But Husker coaches' hands are tied, Cassidy said, by the amount of contact they can have with some prospective walk-ons.
If an athlete is brought in for an official visit, receives more than one phone call or is visited off-campus by a school, he becomes a "recruited walk-on." If that player later appears in a game and is receiving any other form of institutional aid or scholarship money, he would then count against the team's 85-scholarship limit. And if he played within his first two years, he would count against the initial scholarships, which annually can be up to 25 - as happened with receiver Todd Peterson last season and Ryan Goodman the year before.
"That's why we're making as few 'recruitable walk-ons' as possible," Cassidy said, "because we don't want to have to be restricted in their playing."
Last season, Cassidy said, several walk-ons helped NU on special teams. The Huskers' kickoff coverage team for the Alamo Bowl included nine Nebraskans, a mix of scholarship and walk-on players.
"I'd be willing to challenge anybody from a state the size of Nebraska to be starting nine players from its own state," Cassidy said. "With Florida, Texas and California, that would be a possibility, but I bet you Kansas and Oklahoma and Missouri and Minnesota aren't starting nine players from their state."
Cassidy repeats several reasons Callahan previously has cited for limiting his roster.
Carrying 180 players doesn't work in a locker room built for 135. It's too many players for 10 coaches. It increases the number you have to monitor off the field.
When the current staff took over in 2004 and Turner Gill and Scott Downing were retained, Cassidy said, the two assistant coaches didn't know every player in the program.
"That's like a red flag," Cassidy said.
Of NU's current walk-ons, Cassidy said, "As the No. 1 administrator for football, I can tell you every one of these kids is getting treated the same" in terms of medical care, academic help and coaching. "The only difference is your family is paying for your schooling."
Cassidy also said Callahan is sympathetic to being a walk-on because his son, Brian, is a non-scholarship quarterback at UCLA.
Since taking over at Nebraska, Callahan has awarded scholarships to 11 walk-ons, nine of whom have been in-state players.
"I want the walk-ons in the state of Nebraska to understand completely and thoroughly that we do want you here," Callahan said. "You get what you emphasize in this business."