'Toughness' at the forefront of NU's off-season

While it remains to be seen when Nebraska will return to the football field in 2020, it was apparent from the first spring practice that a new team mentality was being hammered home.

Toughness.

It’s a fairly broad term, especially in the sports world. But it’s something the Huskers feel like they’ve lacked for far too long.

Head coach Scott Frost said preaching the importance of being “tough” was nothing new for his staff or any other program in the country. But the difference, he said, was when that message was being conveyed beyond just the coaches.

Frost recalled back to his days as a Husker player in the mid-1990s when NU’s locker room had no shortage of leaders, both vocally and through example. While he stressed that his current team still had a lot of work to do in that regard, he’d already seen notable progress after just one spring practice.

"I think coaches need to demand toughness, but it better come out of the locker room or you're not really going to have a tough team,” Frost said. “I was with a couple of my (former NU) teammates this past weekend. Two of the toughest guys on our whole team, and guys like them didn't need anybody from the coaches office to tell them to be tough.

“That's just the way that they were. They expected it of themselves and expected it of one another. I think we've been getting better and better at that and I saw more of it out here on the field (on Day 1) than I've seen in a while."

Few units embraced that need to get tougher more than Nebraska’s offensive line. A group that returned all five starters from last season and as much depth as it’s had in years, the o-line helped set the tone for that shift in toughness from the start of winter conditioning.

"It's an 'every play, every day' type of mentality you have to have,” senior lineman Matt Farniok said. “You have to be tough to play o-line. You have to be tough to make a play. When you start to crack and start to get weak, that's when the mistakes happen. That's when the details start to not matter as much.

“If we live by the true toughness and continue to strive to make others tough, all-around play from everyone is going to get better. From offense to defense to special teams, it doesn't matter. If you're truly tough, you're going to be a lot better of a football player."

Senior inside linebacker Collin Miller said another way the Huskers tried to toughen up was through a vigorous and round of winter conditioning in the weight room with a much more specific goal in mind.

Led by strength coach Zach Duval, Miller said the emphasis wasn’t just getting bigger, strong, and faster as a team, but more so being able to match and surpass the physicality they’ve seen in the Big Ten Conference

“I think we really keyed on just being Big Ten strong,” Miller said. “A lot of the guys that redshirted wanted to play. A lot of Nebraska guys wanted to come in here and contribute, and I think they busted their butts to make sure they make a name for themselves here…

"The Big Ten is very physical. Iowa, Wisconsin; you know them. Minnesota. Very physical. The Big Ten, in my opinion, is the best conference. I think you come in and you redshirt a little bit because you got some guys some can come in and play right away. It's a lot to adapt to."