Rob Dvoracek joined the Huskers Radio Network on Thursday night to offer some thoughts and analysis to his linebackers room at Nebraska.
Like many of the assistants have done with their own positions, Dvoracek said his group is competitive. And that goes for on and off the field. Recently, Dvoracek took his linebackers out for a night of bowling, and the want to win a competition carried over to the lanes.
Grant Buda, a walk-on linebacker, even brought his own bowling ball in an effort to come out on top against his teammates.
“We just had a good time,” Dvoracek said. “Just to spend time together, a little relaxing before we get into fall camp here shortly. It was a good time.”
Nebraska will have three linebacker positions, Dvoracek said: a Jack (outside linebacker), a Will (weak side 'backer) and a Mike (middle 'backer).
“The outside guys, but really all three of them, kind of do very similar things,” Dvoracek said. “Just based on the skillset of the players, we may ask some to do a little more of one thing than another, but the Jack, Will and Mike are the three positions. We ask a lot of each one, so whatever their skillset is, we’ll try to put them in that avenue and make sure they’re doing their best.”
Don’t be surprised to see the linebackers playing different positions. Dvoracek wants his guys to be comfortable playing all three spots.
“In the spring we had guys work at all three positions and move around. I think that was really good for them to learn the system and see their skillsets and see the things they can do well,” Dvoracek said. “You’ll see guys lined up at Jack, you’ll see guys lined up at Will, you’ll see them at Mike. It’s going to be hard to say who’s where and who’s what, because of how the system is designed and also the skillsets of the players we have in the room.”
Dvoracek touched on several members of his room. Here are the highlights:
>> Nebraska returns both starting inside linebackers from the past two seasons in Luke Reimer and Nick Henrich. Last season Reimer led the team in tackles with 86 while missing two games due to injury. He claimed honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in both 2022 and 2021.
Dvoracek has high expectations for Reimer, who on paper fits the mold of an under-sized but fast and aggressive linebacker who excels in a 3-3-5 defense. Dvoracek praised Reimer for his work ethic.
“He’s doing a lot of good things for us,” Dvoracek said. “In the winter, he busted his tail, was in a black jersey. In the spring time he was always up in the room studying. Really smart football player, really high IQ. He works hard, he can move, he can run, is instinctual.”
Reimer was limited some during the spring, but only as a precaution.
>> Henrich suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fifth game of the season last year at Purdue. The Omaha Burke product was held out of spring ball while he finished his rehab and is ready to practice full-go at fall camp.
“Nick’s doing well. He’s healthy, he’s back,” Dvoracek said. “He’s worked his butt off as well. He’s another really smart guy, really high football IQ. Obviously he didn’t get to do anything this spring, but he was always up in the room helping the younger guys, he’s learning the new system, I think he’s becoming more comfortable. I’m encouraged to see the progress he’s made. He’s had a knee injury he’s done a great job of coming back from.”
>> Jimari Butler is now entering his fourth year in the program. The Alabama native is one of the more versatile guys in Dvoracek’s room and is being trained to play both on the line of scrimmage and off the ball as a second-level inside linebacker.
Keen-eyed fans will remember it was Butler who lined up next to John Bullock at inside ‘backer with the first-team defense in the spring game. Though Reimer and Henrich weren’t available for the scrimmage, it’s still notable Butler was working at both inside linebacker and Jack.
“We’ve done a lot with him in the spring. He played on the line of scrimmage a good amount, he played off the ball a good amount. Jimari has done a nice job as well,” Dvoracek said. “He hasn’t done a lot previously off the ball, so that’s been a little bit of a transition for him, but he enjoys it and has a lot of fun doing it. I’m proud of the work he’s put in.”
>> There will be three transfers from SEC country who will push for starting roles with the defense, including two former Florida Gators in linebacker Chief Borders and safety Corey Collier and former Georgia Bulldog linebacker MJ Sherman.
Sherman and Borders bring competitiveness and energy to the field and their own room, Dvoracek said. Like Butler, Sherman and Borders are players who can be used at the line of scrimmage or at the second level with the inside linebackers.
“Those are both guys who we’ve done a lot of things in the spring with as well,” Dvoracek said. “We’ve bounced them around at all the positions to see what skillsets they have and where they’re most comfortable. Just trying to find the best fit and they’ve done a really nice job. Both work really hard and have gotten bigger and stronger through the offseason and summer.”
>> Bullock, who went from walk-on to scholarship linebacker this spring, is a “blue collar, hard-working guy,” Dvoracek said.
“He’s tough, works hard, he’s competitive, is a physical player who will play downhill and do whatever you ask him to do. He has the athletic ability,” Dvoracek said. “I have really high expectations for him and he has high standards of himself and the room. The future is up for him.”
>> Garrett Snodgrass, who helped bring a Class B state championship to York in 2017, is back for his fifth year in the Husker program. Snodgrass wasn’t able to see any action in 2022 due to injury, but is aiming to help provide veteran leadership and depth to the inside linebackers.
“He’s an unbelievable young man,” Dvoracek said. “He’s another guy who works really hard, has high standards and spends a lot of time with the young players. He already has a little bit of that coaching in him, which is cool to see. He’s always asking what he can do better, what can be better for the room, how to help the guys. He had a good spring and I’m looking forward to seeing him this fall.”
>> Maverick Noonan was one of the early-enrollee true freshmen who joined the program in the spring. According to Dvoracek, Noonan “hopped right in and you didn’t even know he was a freshman.”
Noonan is a hard worker and Dvoracek can tell he “has football in his blood.” Noonan’s father, Danny, was an All-Big Eight defensive lineman for the Huskers in the 1980s and a first-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys.
“He’s going to be another really talented football player,” Dvoracek said of Maverick. “He has ability, he works really hard, he’s willing to do whatever you ask and fits right into the room. He’s fun to watch, I'm excited to see his career continue to get better and better and I’m excited to see him this fall.”
>> One recruit in the Class of 2023 that many, including Matt Rhule, will have their eye on this fall camp is Eric Fields. The product out of small-town Ardmore, Oklahoma, has the high school film coaches dream of.
On singing day in December, Rhule went out of his way to give Fields a shoutout.
"Eric Fields, I don't want to make promises, everyone here is going to know who he is," Rhule said during his early signing period press conference. "He's an elite player. An excellent talent. Fast. Physical."
There will be a transition period for Fields, though, who just arrived in Lincoln a couple weeks ago and is just now getting his feet wet. He needs to continue developing physically — he’s listed at 6-2 and 195 pounds on the team’s un-updated roster — so he can hold up in the Big Ten.
“Eric is an exceptional athlete. Super explosive,” Dvoracek said. “...There’s a lot of development still, but he’s a special talent. I’m glad he’s here and I’m glad I get to work with him. He’s an explosive guy.”
>> Dylan Rogers is another true freshman linebacker from the 2023 class. The Texan is a summer enrollee like Fields is, so he’s been getting acclimated to Lincoln and the program. Listed at 6-3 and 240 pounds, Rogers has a nice combination of size and movement skills Dvoracek likes.
“I think he’s going to be really good for the system,” Dvoracek said. “He’s a big guy who has really good movement. He’s done a really nice job this summer so far.”
>> Gage Stenger is an in-state product from Millard South who is entering his second season with the program. At the start of spring, Stenger — an excellent athlete who starred at quarterback for the Patriots — was playing the Rover position. He impressed when he dropped down to the tackle box, so the coaching staff decided to put weight on him and turn him into an inside linebacker, which he played during the spring game and had several highlight plays.
“He had some natural skillset down there, so we’re putting some weight on him and we moved him to my room,” Dvoracek said. “He’s another guy who’s a good athlete, a smart young man who has some football in his blood as well. So I’m excited to see what Gage does. I haven’t had him very long, but I’ve got to see him playing in the safety room coming down.”
>> Randolph Kpai has gained much-needed weight this offseason, Dvoracek said. Kpai was around 203 pounds when Dvoracek arrived in Lincoln. Kpai is now “pushing 220,” the coach said.
“He’s putting in the work. Really proud of him. He’s come a long way,” Dvoracek said. “It’s been really good to see him put in the work and put on the weight and focus on the football side of things.”
>> Mikai Gbayor, a third-year player like Kpai, is also battling for a spot in the rotation.
“He’s another guy who’s, ‘Whatever you need me to do, coach. I’ll go play all the positions and go work my tail off,’” Dvoracek said. “He’s another guy who I’m looking forward to seeing him do a lot of things this fall because he hasn’t played a ton, so the spring was really good for him.”
>> Kaine Williams, a former safety who has since moved down a level to inside linebacker, has impressed. At 6-2 and 200 pounds, Williams is quicker than larger linebackers but still has the physicality needed to play closer to the line of scrimmage.
“It was an adjustment for him, because when you play in the box, your vision is different, you’re seeing the game a little bit different,” Dvoracek said. “He’s had some flashes through the spring. You’ve seen him make some plays in the backfield, attack the ball a few times. Just a guy who’s done a nice job in the room and has had some flashes, so I’m excited to see where things go with him.”
>> Seth Malcom, a third-year player from Tabor, Iowa, was briefly discussed.
“Seth had gotten an injury in the spring, so not much from Seth,” Dvoracek said.
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