Gifford getting his 'sea legs' back

The new Nebraska coaching staff had never worked with linebacker Luke Gifford on the football field, so until this week they didn't entirely know what type of player they were going to get.

The fifth-year senior from Lincoln Southeast played in the first seven games last season before being sidelined with a hip injury that kept him out the final five contests and the entire spring.

As the Huskers wrapped up their fourth fall camp practice on Monday, it didn't take very long to figure out Gifford has some instincts you can't coach.

“I can tell exactly what kind of player Luke is, I can tell what kind of asset he’s going to be; he just needs to get his legs underneath him a little bit,” NU defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said. “He did the strength and conditioning all summer, which is good, but that’s not football. He just needs to do a little football.

"He’s showed some signs though of being a good football player, and I kind of see what everybody is talking about right now.”

The players on the team refer to Gifford as an "old man," as he's seemingly been around forever.

Gifford committed to NU back in March of 2013 as an athlete who played both safety and quarterback in high school.

He's seen his body grow considerably since then, adding more than 40 pounds, and now looks to be comfortable at outside linebacker.

“I think he had a fumble recovery last practice and picked that up for a touchdown,” junior inside linebacker Mohamed Barry said. “Then he had an interception (Monday), so Luke is doing Luke Gifford things.

"He's an ex-DB turned into a linebacker. You can see it: he’s raw and he’s natural at it. He’s been removed from the game, and now he’s coming back, and when you see him doing the same things he was doing before, I’m happy for him.”

Still, outside linebackers coach Jovan DeWitt is going to take it slow with Gifford.

There's no reason to rush him back, as his injury history is well documented.

“What we are doing with Luke is we aren’t giving him the full body of reps yet,” DeWitt said. “He’s got to get his sea legs back. We call him the old man, and you could tell early on with the first couple of reps he had to get his sea legs back.

"He’s starting to get the flow and the feel back and the football movements. Obviously, he trained for it all summer and did a great job in the weight room and strength and conditioning all summer long, but some of those sudden movements left to right he had to get his sea legs back. I think he’s doing a really good job adapting to it.”

Dewitt said one thing already has jumped out to him about Gifford that he wasn't expecting.

“Luke Gifford has a better ability to pass rush than I initially anticipated,” DeWitt said. “He’s shown up quite a bit.”