Last Saturday, Lincoln (Neb.) Southeast athlete Isaac Gifford was presented with a unique opportunity to play football for Nebraska. Less than 48 hours later he could say he was officially going to be a Husker.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Gifford was presented with a blue shirt offer from the Nebraska coaching staff during an unofficial visit last weekend which means, as an early enrollee, he will pay his own way this spring semester and go on scholarship in the fall. It's not something that happens all that often for Nebraska, but it was an opportunity Gifford couldn't pass up.

“I went there on Saturday and I got to talk with Coach [Erik] Chinander first, then with Coach [Barrett] Ruud and Coach [Scott] Frost,” Gifford explained. “We were all just kind of talking about where I would play and then I got to talk with Coach Frost, and he explained the whole blue shirt thing to me. You know, it didn’t sound too bad of a deal to me, so I just decided to take them up on it.”

Gifford said it was a pretty easy decision for him, but joked that it did take one final conversation with Frost to convince his mother.

“We all talked about it and everyone was on board, pretty much everyone was on board,” Gifford said with a laugh. “My mom, she wasn’t quite sure about it all yet so she had to talk to Coach Frost over the phone today. They talked through it and, after that conversation, she was good with it. Everyone was excited, though, and happy for me.”

Of course, one of the first people Isaac called was his older brother, former Husker Luke Gifford. Luke was obviously excited to hear the news, but also remained consistent with his advice.

“I called [Luke], he was one of the first people I talked to about it this morning,” Gifford said. “I told him what I was going to do and stuff like that. He just kind of put it all on me to do the work, you know? You can give all the advice you want, but in the end, it was still my decision and that’s what he has always emphasized with me. Just to do what’s best for me.”

The talented athlete says it's a little bit surreal to know that he will be starting his career as a Husker in just a few short weeks.

Once he gets on campus, he knows he'll be playing defense. However, his exact position could be up in the air.

“It’s a little bit surreal,” Gifford said knowing he'll be on campus in a few weeks. “It’s kind of hard to even think that far ahead even though it’s only a couple of weeks from now. It’s going to come up on my pretty quick, though.

“I think the coaches mainly see me as kind of a multi-purpose kind of a guy. Coach Frost wants me to come in and play safety right away. Coach Ruud wants me to come in and play linebacker at the dime position.

“So, I guess I’m just kind of going to be a wait and see, how big I get type of deal. They pretty much like that I can cover and also be physical in the box.”

Regardless of where Gifford ends up playing, he knows the type of play Nebraska fans can expect to get from him during his career in the Scarlet and Cream.

“They’re getting a tough player,” Gifford said. “I’m going to be physical.”