Saturday notebook: Chinander looking for more from defense

While there have been plenty of reports of some separation starting to occur within Nebraska’s offensive depth chart, the same can’t be said for the other side of the ball three weeks into spring practices.

Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander didn’t sugarcoat the fact that he needs to see more from his unit, specifically in terms of consistent effort and execution at all three levels each day.

“To be honest, when you ask me who are the guys that are really playing good, nobody,” Chinander said. “Everybody’s got to improve. There’s some guys that are playing OK, but we’ve got to get better all across the board.

“So I’m not ready to say that anybody’s taken a job yet, that anybody’s stuck out yet, because we all need to get better right now.”

Chinander said his defense had a strong practice on Tuesday but took a noticeable step back on Thursday. Even though he said Saturday’s session was an improvement, the up-and-down performances couldn’t continue in a very important first offseason.

“Right now I’m trying to get some consistency out of everybody, out of the whole unit,” Chinander said. “A little more fight when it’s tough. We were (practicing) outside and it got a little cold, and I think both sides of the ball went down a little bit until we moved practice inside. We need to see a little more fight when things get rough.”

Another area that Chinander said must improve was the on-field leadership from the defensive players in practice.

He said Mick Stoltenberg has been good in that regard, but a knee injury has sidelined the senior nose tackle for the majority of the spring. As of Saturday, Chinander said no other Husker had stepped up to provide that leadership between the lines.

“Once again, nobody’s been good enough,” Chinander said of the vocal leaders on defense. “I wouldn’t say right now we have a bell cow, that we have a guy we can rally around…

“Sometimes that’s a byproduct of they don’t know their job well enough. They’re trying to swim in deep water right now, but that part of it has to improve.”

Chinander hoped that summer conditioning would help some of those players the staff thinks could be strong leaders “say enough is enough” and take ownership of the unit. But that was anything but a guarantee to happen.

“You can’t make leaders,” Chinander said. “A lion’s a lion and a zebra’s a zebra, and you don’t change sometimes. That’s why they hired us. That’s why we’re here. If we don’t have a leader, that’s got to be our job.”

- Robin Washut

A year ago, Avery Roberts was an early-enrollee true freshman making a surge up Nebraska’s linebacker depth chart.

Now, the sophomore is finding himself in a much different situation.

Inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud made it very clear following Saturday’s practice that Roberts, who played in all 12 games and posted four total tackles in 2017, had a long way to go to get himself physically ready to contribute this season.

“He’s got to get in shape and he’s got to get his movements a lot better,” Ruud said. “He’s a smart kid, he’s worked hard at it, but his movements aren’t where they need to be and his conditioning is not where it needs to be. So summer’s going to be huge for him.

“I think he needs to lose a little bit of weight, and I think he needs to really, really buy into what Coach (Zach) Duval’s going to have him do in the summer. If he can get his movements up, he is a smart kid and I think he’ll be OK. But we need a big summer from him.”

Roberts entered the spring listed at 6-1, 230, the same weight he was on last year’s roster. But Ruud said the Wilmington, Del., native seemed to be carrying some extra pounds that were holding him back from playing up to his full potential.

“Like I said, a lot of it’s going to be up to him,” Ruud said. “If you’re in shape and you can move, all of sudden he’s a different player. If he doesn’t reach that point, then we’re stuck where we’re at right now.

“So summer’s going to be big for us as a whole team, and specifically for him. It’s really going to be a difference maker for him, I think.”

- Robin Washut

Interceptions have been few and far between for Nebraska’s secondary over the years, and that’s something new defensive backs coach Travis Fisher is determined to change.

Dating back to 2011, the Huskers have averaged just over 12 interceptions forced per year, including only nine last season, the lowest total during that stretch.

Earlier this spring Fisher said he thought his group played a little “soft” last year when it came to making plays on the football in the air. He said NU’s new offense had been valuable in forcing the secondary to be more aggressive in press coverage and giving it lots of different looks.

But now the challenge was getting his players to make the game-changing plays with interceptions when they had the chance.

“Not enough. Not enough at all,” Fisher said of the number of interceptions this spring. “That’s one thing I’m not very pleased with, is the amount of hands we’re getting on the ball. We’re getting a fair share of PBUs (pass breakups), but PBUs don’t win ball games. We need turnovers, we need picks, and right now we don’t have enough picks in the secondary.”

- Robin Washut

More than 700 area high school coaches were in Lincoln this weekend for head coach Scott Frost’s first Nebraska coaches clinic.

The event began Friday afternoon with in-depth sessions from the NU staff that went from 1-7:30 pm, and it concluded with an open spring practice session on Saturday morning.

“I felt good about it, because a lot of (the coaches) said they really got a lot out of this clinic,” Ruud said. “We wanted to make sure we gave them enough where it wasn’t just a way for them to get down and have a couple of beers downtown. I think they took a lot from it.

“They were here, and they were eager to learn. It was awesome. I thought it was well run. We knocked off all the coaching points and were able to meet a lot of guys too. I think they enjoyed it from what I heard. We were really excited about the turnout, too.”

For Ruud, it was also good to spend time with so many different local area coaches since he’ll be handling the state of Nebraska for NU in recruiting.

“I was just glad that they came down, and hopefully it’s a win-win for us,” Ruud said. “If they can take some stuff from this clinic and help their teams, that’s going to help us in the long run.

"Because the more they can help players, the better players we have a chance to get too. We are trying to be as welcoming as we can for all high school coaches, but specifically for these high school coaches in Nebraska.”

- Sean Callahan

A new rule was announced on Friday that will forever change the kickoff as we know it.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a change for kickoffs that will allow fair catches anywhere inside the 25-yard line, automatically moving the ball to the 25 as if it were a touchback.

“Now I’m starting to wonder if we even need a special teams coordinator if it’s going to eliminate kickoffs,” special teams coach Jovan DeWitt joked.

With that said, DeWitt added it was going to make things a whole lot different for how kickoffs are played going forward.

“I think it does change a lot of things,” DeWitt said. “It takes a little bit of the old strategy out of the game where you are trying to get the ball to land on the 1 or the 2-yard line. Having just been presented with that, we haven’t fully been able to figure out what kind of strategy we want to use.

“You may have to change the type of kicks you give now. Unless you are guaranteed with a kicker to be able to create a touchback, you may now go to a long, hard squib. It kind of changes your philosophy with having a kickoff guy, no doubt.”

- Sean Callahan

It's usually a fairly good sign when your new coach has already assigned you a nickname after just a handful of months working together.

Such is the case for Dewitt and junior outside linebacker Alex Davis.

“Ace? Ace is doing a good job,” Dewitt said of Davis. “I think it’s still a little bit new for him being an outside linebacker. So sometimes there’s still an occasional twitchy spot in terms of him being able to move in space that he’s not quite sure of, but he’s doing a really good job.

“If you look at his notebook from meetings and it’s filled and chalk full of notes so I’m excited about that. I know that when I have a guy that’s taking a lot of notes he’s really embracing the learning process.”

Aside from learning a new defensive system, Davis said the biggest difference for him in this defense compared to last year has been the mentality one must play with. He’s become more aggressive under the new scheme, which suits him well.

“I’d say it’s more of a mentality,” Davis said. “You’ve got to have a killer mentality when you’re out there. You’ve got to want to make every play and that’s what can make you successful in this defense.”

Davis is far from a finished product in the Huskers’ new scheme, but Dewitt likes the effort Davis has been displaying on the practice field.

“I think anybody that wants to play football doesn’t want to be held back,” Dewitt said. “One of the rules we have in the meeting room is make me say ‘Whoa’, not ‘Giddy up.’ We want those guys getting after it, making a decision and getting after it.

"We can solve a lot of issues with aggression. So let’s go attack what we need to attack. Attack with the appropriate leverage and figure it out from there.”

- Nate Clouse

***Chinander said he doesn’t expect to blitz much in the spring game, but added that if the game was on the line and the defense needed a stop, he won’t be afraid to dial up some pressure.

***The lack of depth at cornerback remains a concern for Chinander and defensive backs coach Travis Fisher. While they’ll add some more pieces in the fall, NU is having to “cross train” its defense backs by having some safeties take reps at corner. Fisher said Aaron Williams and Deontai Williams were two safeties who have been repping some at cornerback this week.

***Running back Jaylin Bradley said Nebraska’s new offense is almost exactly what he ran at Bellevue West, where he was a first-team Super State player and posted a record-breaking senior season. Bradley said this system was definitely a much better fit for his skill set because it allows him to use his “shiftiness” and athleticism in space.

***Bradley said he’s made big gains in his strength and conditioning under Duval, saying he’s up to 205 pounds from the 189 he weighed at this time last year. Even more, Bradley said he’s really improved his speed, which was something he asked Duvall specifically to help him with this winter.

***Jack Stoll said he knew he had to step up as a vocal leader within the tight end room, even though it was something he wasn’t used to doing much in his career.

***Dewitt said not only was Caleb Lightbourn an exciting punter because of his leg strength, Lightbourn is also emerging as a weapon as a kickoff specialist. Dewitt also said Cole Frahm as impressed both as a placekicker and on kickoffs.

***Dewitt said ideally they don’t want to recruit long snappers out of high school, rather groom long snappers from guys already on the roster to where there’s always a couple ready to go every season.

***Dewitt said former UCF linebacker Shaquem Griffin asked him to join him in Dallas for the 2018 NFL Draft on April 26-28. Dewitt will meet Griffin on Wednesday before the draft and spend the weekend with his former star pupil.

***Carlos Davis said one of the main differences with this defense is that the defensive line is “engaging” far more than “reacting”, which was the opposite under the previous staff. Davis said they also don’t bull rush nearly as much as they did last year, instead allowing the d-line to use more rushing techniques and athleticism.

***2019 defensive end Isaac Townsend of Arvada (Colo.) Ralston Valley is visiting Nebraska today with his mother and 2018 signee Cameron Jurgens was also at practice today.