8/1/2023 football Edit

Fall Practice No. 2 – Quick Hits from DC Tony White

Steve Marik • InsideNebraska

Staff Writer

Steve Marik is a staff writer covering football and men's basketball for Inside Nebraska. After covering prep sports for seven years, he made the transition to college and hasn't looked back.

The second day of fall camp for the Huskers has come and gone. You can find all the info from Monday right here, and there was a lot to sift through, including the status of defensive back Myles Farmer, defensive lineman Brodie Tagaloa, receiver Josh Fleeks and offensive lineman Jacob Hood.

But today is a new day, and Tuesday brought defensive coordinator Tony White to the podium. Here are the quick hits.

>> There was a common theme from everyone who spoke to the media on Tuesday: one-percent better every day.

That might sound like coach speak you hear at just about every post-practice or post-game session, but it's a real way of thinking for coaches and players. What's it mean for White?

"Everything, and I'm talking from myself, to the assistant coaches down to the player on how we're watching film and how we're trying to get reps in — mental reps for the guys who are standing in the back," White said. "Schematics-wise, are we teaching it the right way, are we doing too much, too little? Are guys absorbing the language, do we need to change something? Right now in camp, and I keep talking about the operation, we need to make sure we're giving the guys the best chance to know what to do, know how to do it, so they can do it on the grass."

>> What does White think about his defensive backfield? It's a backfield that returns starting corners Quinton Newsome, Malcolm Hartzog, Tommi Hill and safeties Marques Buford Jr. (though he's not practicing as he rehabs knee surgery) and Isaac Gifford. White did not touch on Myles Farmer, an 11-game starter at safety last year who Matt Rhule said he suspended this summer.

"Athletic. Moving guys around. You have some of the old guys around, Omar (Brown), Corey (Collier), Malcolm, Tommi, Q, Giff is doing a good job," White said. "Now you're starting to see those other guys, Eric Fields show up a little bit, Dwight Bootle showing up. We're trying to move guys around and see them. They're getting a lot of reps and we're throwing a lot at them to see what they can absorb."

>> White said he has a lot of respect for Hill, who "embraces the process" and "improves."

"That's what you're supposed to reward, improvement and the buy-in. If they believe in you, you need to believe in them back," White said. "When they do good things on and off the grass, when they're a good teammate, when you see the change, when you see, 'Hey, he was like this over here, now he's totally like this,' you want to reward that kind of stuff."

>> White said true freshman Eric Fields is playing "everywhere" but "right now, he's at the Rover and he's doing a good job."

>> There's been an ongoing battle at practice where players are trying to be too correct opposed to not playing fast. White said he's been harping on his guys to play fast and not think too much.

If you make a mistake, make it going 100 miles per hour. Don't make a mistake playing slow.

"We had an incident where a guy was trying to be too correct versus playing fast," White said. "I yelled him because I was like, 'Hey, I'm not worried about that right now. I just care that you let loose and you go and you play with Husker speed.' That's the way we're going to play here — Husker speed. Full-go, full-tilt, I'm not worried about making a mistake and I'm going to play my butt off."

>> White mentioned in the spring he wanted to throw a lot at the players to see if it stuck. He also mentioned later in the spring that he thought he needed to hold some of it back.

What's the update? Who how of the defense is White installing?

"We're throwing a lot at them. Coach made the point — this is what it's about, right? Practices are everything. Games are everything. So we're throwing a lot at them, especially early on so we can see what they're absorbing," White said. "I'd rather cut it back than not have enough. So right now, it's full installs for the first couple days. Then we'll see where they're at, reassess, and go from there."

>> Defensive lineman Ru'Quan Buckley was brought up to White. The coach said Buckley, who's now listed on the updated roster at 6-foot-5 and 295 pounds, has done an excellent job of reshaping his body, which will help him move like White's defense needs him to move.

White gave a shout out to strength coach Corey Campbell, football nutritionist Kristin Coggin and Mitch Cholewinski, the coordinator of football sports science.

"That is truly what represents the process of what coach Rhule has brought here," White said. "You talk about a guy like Buck. We identified, 'Hey, he needs to be closer to this weight.' That's Corey, Kristin in nutrition, that's Mitch over in sports science, that's everybody included constantly giving him the resources he needed in order to get himself in the best shape he's been in.

"He's flying around, he's happy, he's being a leader out there. I'm really excited for what he's been able to do, and that's representative of what's here now."

Discuss Tony White's comments from Tuesday with Husker fans at the Insider's Board.