As Travis Fisher would watch his defensive backs go through practice each day last season, it got harder and harder for him to stick to the plan with Myles Farmer.
Though he was only a true freshman adjusting to his first year of college football, Fisher knew Farmer was more than ready to help Nebraska’s secondary from Day 1.
“Did I want to play Myles Farmer?” the NU defensive backs coach said. “Yeah, I sure did. A whole bunch.”
But Fisher and Nebraska’s coaching staff stayed the course and preserved Farmer’s redshirt, playing him only in his allotted four games both at safety and on special teams. He also traveled to four of the team’s five road games in 2019.
Now, the Huskers are chomping at the bit to reap the rewards of their patience with Farmer firmly in the mix in the safety competition.
While Nebraska has veteran returning starters at both safety spots in seniors Deontai Williams and Marquel Dismuke, Fisher said the 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of Atlanta was well on his way to becoming a fixture for the Blackshirts.
“Myles Farmer is one of the top guys, I think, on the team,” Fisher said. “A guy like that, you really want to make sure he has everything he needs before he touches the field. Because if you’re struggling with this or you’re struggling with that or you’re struggling with weight, you just don’t want to throw a guy out there just because he’s Myles Farmer. You want to make sure he’s ready.”
A former three-star recruit out of Westlake (Ga.), Farmer was rated as one of the top-50 safeties in the country in the 2019 class. He chose Nebraska over other schools like Minnesota, Louisville Oregon, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, and West Virginia.
But Farmer only visited Lincoln before pledging to the Huskers shortly after, and now his trust in NU – and the staff’s self-control to put him in the best position for success – looks ready to pay off in a big way.
“He’s very physical, he can run, he’s great to have in the room,” Fisher said. “Ever since he committed, he’s been all about this place, and he’s still the same way… He does it the right way off the field. He’s in the classroom doing what he’s supposed to be doing. I’m just very happy with Myles.”
