Normally, Nebraska football defensive coordinator Tony White wouldn't have been in the rotation this early for the Huskers Radio Network and its annual string of summer interviews with the team's position coaches.

Donovan Raiola (OL), Garret McGuire (WR) and E.J. Barthel (RB) have each taken their turns on the 1s and 2s for the offensive side. Terrance Knighton (DL) and Rob Dvoracek (LB) already knocked out their appearances for the defense.

Next up would have gone to the defensive backs coach. Given that freshly hired John Butler is just two weeks into his tenure as the Huskers' secondary coach and pass game coordinator, however, it was deemed a tad too early (and rightfully so) for his first interview with Husker Media.

“I tell you what, if you would have invited him to this deal, he would have gone gung ho," White said. "He's gung ho all the way. He's an older guy, but he's got a lot of energy to him. He's got a lot of knowledge. Every time you you sit down in the room, you kind of sit up in your chair and you get your pen ready because there's little nuggets of experience that he has from playing it, not only at the highest levels, but his time being in college and being a defensive coordinator himself.

"So it's really refreshing for me to be able to lean on him with ideas as well as all the other guys in the room, but to hear how he's going to help advance the game and really help develop those guys and start the relationship building with those guys. He’s first class. So it's good. Like I said, it's time to get in the room with everybody and go at it.”

Still, who better than White to step up to the plate and discuss the Huskers' massive DB room? Given his 11 years of experience as an FBS cornerbacks coach, the answer to that would be, well, no one.

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White shared some good news for Husker fans and all other fans of safety DeShon Singleton, cornerback Dwight Bootle and cornerback Blye Hill.

Singleton and Bootle are both back in the swing of football activities, fully cleared and ready to practice for the start of fall camp after recovering from a knee injury (Singleton) and shoulder injury (Bootle) that kept each of them out for more than half of the 2023 season.

DESHON SINGLETON

“DeShon, I mean, the crazy thing is, you play so much of the season without him, and then you go back and watch the cut ups," White said. "And when you see him in the game, you feel his presence. You feel his range, you feel his physicality when he fills in on the run. You see a calm presence out there, a playmaker. So it was awesome to, first, get the diagnosis that he's going to be able to make a full recovery, go after it, and then to see him work through the spring, the summer, and now getting ready to fall camp. He's full go. He's running around looking like his old self.

“He used his time wisely. He wasn't a guy who was injured and then was just out in a different world. He was in tune. He's locked in trying to see different things of the game. Matter of fact, he was here (Wednesday) by himself, and he's like, Coach, can I come in the staff room and watch the (individual drills)? And that was awesome. That's just how locked in he is right now. So it's gonna be be fun to have him back and watch him run around.”

DWIGHT BOOTLE

“Bootle's back," White said. "He's back running around, and he’s a guy who’s got really good instincts. It's gonna be interesting to see. You kind of have this gap, right? You have the guys who have played and who have lined up and put on film (to show) what's there. And then you have a really big gap between all the other guys like the Bootles, (D’Andre) Barnes. Those incoming guys like Mario Buford. Kobe Bretz is a guy who played on special teams. He did some special teams, and he played.

"So you have this group of guys here who are waiting to show everybody what they can do on the grass. All of them are, thanks to Corey (head strength coach Corey Campbell) and his staff, strong and explosive, can run, can flip their hips. We had really good leadership this summer with those guys, and it's just a matter of having them get on the grass, having them just go out there and execute day in and day out.”

BLYE HILL

Hill, meanwhile, is trending in a good direction as well. A great direction, in fact, given the timetable that Matt Rhule had initially expected.

"He’s trending in a really good spot, much better than I thought he would be. I thought it would be three games into the season (when Hill would return)," Rhule said at Big Ten Media Days.

Rather than a timetable stretching into at least mid-September as initially believed, Hill is projected to return about two weeks after the rest of the team when they kick off fall camp on Wednesday (July 31), which marks Hill's return to the field coming in approximately mid-August.

“That's great news," White said. "Everybody talks process, development and all that stuff. He's a guy who, no lie, when I first watched this film, I said, ‘I don't know if he can play at Nebraska. I just don't know.’ And we take a chance on him, take a chance on the skillset, really hone him in with his strength, conditioning and his explosiveness through Corey and all them. His nutrition through Kristin (assistant AD for performance nutrition Kristin Coggin). You knew he was gonna be a great student and learn just by his habits with his classes with Dennis (deputy AD for student services Dennis Leblanc) and all those guys.

"So it was just a matter of getting around in the right system, in the right process for development. He's just a guy who showed up every day. He's a guy who really takes to heart the coaching, trying to apply it on the grass. And not just listening to you but actually trying to apply what he's learning. Sure enough, by the end of spring, he's a guy who ended up with a Blackshirt for the spring game. So it'll be a welcomed addition when he comes back and a lot of competition when he comes back as well.”

MARQUES BUFORD JR.

There is also the refresher to keep in mind on veteran starting safety Marques Buford Jr., who played in the season's final four games last year and being able to take advantage of the four-game redshirt rule.

Buford suffered a devastating knee injury on the first drive of the Huskers' 11th game of the 2022 season. He worked his way back to the field, though, for the games against Michigan State, Maryland, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Buford made his presence felt in those games, beginning with the matchup in East Lansing as a multi-faceted defensive weapon used all over the field.

White noted Buford's playmaking ability in practice throughout last fall before he had even gotten back for live bullets against the Spartans. Then, he saw Buford in action that day, and he sees the same potential heading into 2024.

“He's a playmaker," White said. "He’s twitchy. His personality, he's fun to be around. He's really vocal. He's a guy that ended up being on the elite list during the summertime consistently, a guy who just shows up. From the first time he was cleared to go, made his presence felt in the Michigan State game. Really feel like now that he's kind of broke through and got confidence back on the legs, feeling his strongest since he's been here and all that kind of stuff, really feel like it's gonna be a great year for ‘Ques.

"He's a guy who can go out and go play outside, play inside, blitz. Had a great sack against Maryland coming off the edge over there. Another piece in the puzzle that we expect big things from.”

The returns of both Singleton and Buford, especially, for a full season leads right into one of the themes of the offseason for the Huskers' defense. Their presence as hawks to the ball and defensive playmaking would certainly add to the mission that Rhule, first, marked on Wednesday was a major goal for the defense: Taking the ball away.

White doubled down on how big of an emphasis that has been for Year 2 of the 3-3-5 Blackshirts.

“Number one, (it's the) number one deal," White said. "You can go off all the stats you want, have the numbers and be ranked as high as you can be. But the number one thing that we have to do on defense is take the ball away. I mean, we gotta be able to take the ball away, so that's the biggest emphasis, biggest focus that we've had from the spring ‘til now. Takeaways and third downs, those two elements of the game I thought that I didn't do as good of a job giving the guys a plan and really repping it and using the players to their best strength. So that's something that's been harped on. The guys know, the coaches know. So we'll see.”

The steady rise, fall and rise of Tommi Hill has been nothing short of fascinating, perhaps even spectacular.

That ascension has gone to a new level this offseason, and you can count White among the group who's holding onto his Tommi Hill stock. Big expectations abound.

“Tommi’s a great story, obviously, coming over," White said. "The way the season started off versus the way it ended for him, I don’t think you could have written a better story. And we've used that momentum to carry into the offseason with him being a leader, given a leadership role. Not just what he’s doing on the grass but what he's doing in terms of academics, in terms of just that growth of maturity off the field. You love to see that in them. We expect him to be one of the better DBs in the Big Ten and in the country.”

While the Huskers' No. 1 cornerback is locked up to begin the season, their No. 2 CB spot is entirely up for grabs.

Blye Hill will be competing for the role upon his return as he gets a delayed opportunity to return to the starting spot he earned for the spring game. He will be going up against USC transfer Ceyair Wright, the aforementioned true freshmen Bootle and Mario Buford.

In addition to those three, redshirt freshman Jeremiah Charles and junior safety Malcolm Hartzog – who has been pulled back and forth, back and forth between cornerback and safety – will have a chance to win the job.

MALCOLM HARTZOG:

“Malcolm is, pound-for-pound, one of the most explosive guys on the team," White said. "He’s not gonna be the guy who's rah-rah and real loud, but you're always gonna feel his presence. He's always gonna be where he needs to be. He's really elite in all that he does – academically, in terms of all the tests and quizzes we had over the over the summer and the spring. You just see a list, and he's usually at the top of the list, you know what I mean? As he got more comfortable going from corner to safety, he’s really settling in at the safety spot. He's another versatile guy who can find his way. Improving the takeaways, he's a guy that we expect to be able to, now that he knows what he's doing, he's got some wits about him. In terms of safety, he should be able to be a guy who takes the ball away this fall.”

JEREMIAH CHARLES:

“Tell you what, he's one of those guys who, athletically wise, he can do anything he wants. And the crazy thing is, as he gets more comfortable playing cornerm playing DB and understanding where he fits, even in all of the OTAs and the player-run stuff, I think he was one of the leaders in all of the PBUs, interceptions and stuff. He can naturally the ball and go get the ball, and with his athleticism, his explosion, it's our responsibility to give him a chance to go out there and perform. That's gonna be 100 percent on myself, Coach Butler and all those auxiliary staff guys to really make sure and hone in that he knows he can do anything he really wants to and give him the skills to let him go out there and play.”

Born-and-bred Nebraskan Phalen Sanford will be respected in the Husker facilities for the rest of his life. He went from being a longtime walk-on (after starring in eight-man football in high school), who was known for his work ethic and willingness to do whatever was asked of him by the coaching staff, to earning a scholarship and eventually a significant role as a spot starter at safety.

Sanford even made a couple of the Huskers' most unheralded big plays last fall. (A touchdown-saving tackle against Illinois just before Nebraska's goal-line stand being the most notable.)

So, that being said, who is the next Phalen Sanford on this roster? Is there one? A guy who could emerge from behind the scenes and slowly, methodically work his way up the depth chart into an impact role on the defense?

“We've got Thomas D’Onofrio, a safety who came in. Great pedigree, I know his pops is a coach. He came in and really showed some great things," White said. "I think the development with Derek Branch. He just continues to do his job, he's slowly getting better, and he's slowly just showing up all the time. Blake Closman.

"You love those guys who are kind of in the shadows, and then all of a sudden you put on the film, you see an academic list, you see an elite list, and their names are popping up that way. There's a handful of guys that will give themselves a chance to explode this fall.”