Honas takes a no-nonsense approach to the field

Nebraska brought in their biggest group of early enrollees in history this past January.

When you count transfers Noah Vedral (UCF) and Breon Dixon (Ole Miss), the Huskers added 10 scholarship players to their spring roster in January.

Of that group of 10, several have a legitimate shot to win a starting job, and you can argue that no player's chances are better than linebacker Will Honas.

The Wichita (Kan.) Bishop Carroll product came from El Dorado (Kan.) Butler C.C. where he was regarded as the nation's top junior college linebacker. First-year position coach Barrett Ruud referred to Honas as his "hand-picked" guy on signing day. For Honas, now it's just a matter of proving it on the field.

“It’s been good,” Honas said. “I’m just trying to get a feel for everything, with school and football. I’m just trying to get into a groove and starting to get into a routine.

“I wouldn’t say it’s been overwhelming. I’d say it’s been a pretty smooth process. We’ve had a lot of help academically with football and all our coaches.”

The first thing you'll probably notice about Honas is he's not going to draw a lot of attention to himself.

He goes about doing things in a no-nonsense fashion, and even as a recruit he preferred not to do a lot of interviews. Head coach Scott Frost likes what he's seen from Honas thus far, but one of the things he'd like to see from him is becoming more of a vocal leader on the field.

“We’re lucky to have Will Honas. I love him as a kid and as a player,” Frost said. “His biggest challenge I think is talking louder. He’s kind of quiet guy, and he’ll hit you, but we’ve got to get him running the defense and speaking up and barking commands to everybody and being a field general. Everything else is going to come really naturally for him.”

Honas came to Nebraska to learn from a coach like Ruud. Thus far he's been impressed with what the former Husker and NFL linebacker has shown him.

“Coach Ruud is a really good coach,” Honas said. “He knows his stuff, he’s got all the experience, all the knowledge and he’s so detailed. He’s just a great coach that I can learn from and get better

“He definitely knows what we are going through. He has first-hand experience. He’s been through it all here and after. He’s definitely somebody to look to and get advice from.”

As for becoming a more vocal leader, that will come over time.

“I definitely think just by working hard and showing people how to work, I think I can try to lead by example and do a good job of that,” Honas said. “We’ve got a lot of good leaders, just by example. Damion Jackson, Ben Stille and Mick Stoltenberg on defense. There’s a lot of guys that are good leaders.”