The 3-2-1: Turning the page to 2021

Nebraska has turned the page to 2021 and the off-season program is getting ready to be ramped up. We discuss that and more in this week's 3-2-1 column.

1 - Huskers getting ready to begin 2021 off-season preparations

Nebraska has officially turned the page to 2021. Nearly all of NU's players are now in Lincoln.

The team has begun their COVID-19 testing and quarantining process, before officially kicking off winter conditioning on Monday.

What will be unique about this year is how late spring ball will start. Frost will put his team through eight weeks of winter conditioning before taking a week off before spring practice begins.

The Huskers are set to start spring practice on Mar. 30, with the Red-White spring game scheduled for May 1.

Of all the bad things COVID-19 has brought to the football calendar, I think slowing things down over the winter may be one of the good things.

It was getting to the point where winter conditioning was a shell of what it used to be, because there was such a mad rush to get spring practice done by mid-April so coaches could go on the road to recruit the maximum allowed six weeks.

Well, this year, there probably won't be any spring recruiting. There isn't a week-long UNL spring break either.

Instead, it's eight weeks of winter conditioning, followed by one week off, and then five weeks of spring practice. The May 1 spring game will take NU right into finals week before the players can get some downtime again in May.

This is a really good schedule for Frost to work with. It's going to be 14 straight weeks of winter conditioning and spring practice, but it should get this team better heading into the summer break.

2 - No official movement yet on the special teams front

Make no bones about it. One of Scott Frost's No. 1 priorities is improving on the special teams front in 2021.

NU parted ways with senior special teams analyst Jonathan Rutledge last week. I expect Frost to figure out a way to rework his coaching staff and hire a full-time coach to manage special teams in 2021.

Frost addressed his special teams opening publicly on Wednesday night for the first time on the Husker Sports Network.

“I want to get the right guy in here that’s going to help us turn the page on special teams and improve there,” Frost said. “I think if we were better on special teams, we probably would’ve won a few more games the last year or two.

"I’m looking forward to trying to identify the right guy to try and come in and really get our guys bought into special teams and improve in some of the areas we haven’t been good enough. I’m really thankful for (Rutledge) for what he came in and helped us with, and I wish him nothing but the best. We are in the process of right now of trying to find the right guy to come in and pick up where he left off.”

For this group to take the next step, I believe hiring a full-time dedicated special teams coordinator is how you get there.

3 - Canceling the Combine makes draft all-star games that much more important

The cancelation of the NFL Combine is a crushing blow to many prospects. The NFL announced this week that the focus for evaluating the 2021 NFL Draft will be on pro days at campus sites.

This is going to put much more attention now on the Senior Bowl and other draft all-star games. Those will be some of the only live draft evaluations NFL teams will get to make before the draft.

I think this also probably makes guys like JoJo Domann even feel that much better about their decisions to come back for another season.

For some players, they needed the stage of the NFL Combine to solidify their draft stock.

Pro Days are a good evaluation tool, but anyone will tell you it's much better having every single prospect test out at the same place at the same time.

Something else a lot of people don't know is seniors technically have until Mar. 1 to officially declare for the draft. It will be interesting to see if any seniors around the country change their minds or make a late decision to come back before Mar. 1.

1 - How have you seen Nebraska's recruiting approach change in the last few months?

What's the slogan now for the state of Nebraska? "Nebraska, it's not for everyone."

As Scott Frost and his coaching staff begin their fourth season at NU, I think they have learned that on the recruiting trail. There have been several elite level type athletes that have come to Lincoln and not worked out.

Typically, these are athletes from places like Florida and California. Frost and his staff have learned that fitting in culturally may be the most important aspect when looking for players around the nation. Nobody is saying pull out of states like Florida, but I do think you are seeing more of a focus in the 500-mile radius already for the class of 2022.

Making offers to a 5.6 three-star from Hays, Kan. makes a lot more sense than trying to find that same type of player 1500 miles away. I think you are going to see NU once again try to build the foundation of this class with local area recruits.

2 - How should Nebraska manage their last transfer portal spot?

Nebraska has just two spots remaining to use for the class of 2021. It's assumed one is being held for Omaha Westside cornerback Avante Dickerson. The other remains a wildcard.

Frost brought up a good point on Wednesday night that maybe it makes sense to hold that spot and study the junior college landscape this spring? JUCO teams will play games in March, April and May.

You also don't know at this point what your quarterback room is going to look like in the coming months, as there's lots of chatter surrounding the future of Luke McCaffrey.

The key, Frost said, is you have to be flexible and ready to react to anything. I don't think the Huskers can afford to be dead set on using that spot for a specific position. Their needs could change by the day.

Now that we know the Red-White spring game will be on May 1, what exactly will it look like in Memorial Stadium?

I predict today we will see at least 20,000 fans in Memorial Stadium, which will be well under 25 percent capacity of Memorial Stadium.

It could very well be more than 20,000, but I think 20,000 is a safe estimate by that point for an outdoor event. Consider this, Arrowhead Stadium will allow 17,000 fans this weekend for the AFC title game in Kansas City. You have to think Lancaster County will allow more than that by May 1. The decision on spring game attendance will be made by Lancaster County and not the Big Ten Conference.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Tuesday's at 7 pm.