Nebraska Defensive Coordinator John Butler Pre-Akron Quotes

On the defensive line
"The defensive line is not a thinking man's position, it's a get off the ball, create a new line of scrimmage, get off blocks, make tackles, be disruptive. I think sometimes, at times, we were a little bit too fit-oriented, am I in the right place? Maybe the processing wasn’t going as fast. Your d-line has to be a bunch of guys that just freaking go and think about things later. I don’t mean play reckless, I’m just thinking about getting off the ball, creating a new line of scrimmage and I think that’s something we’re going to be preaching with all of our guys from now until the final game of the season.”

On Donovan Jones’ versatility
“When we are evaluating players in each position, we want big, fast, physical, and tough. And that's what he is. He’s a 200-pound corner, he tackles like a linebacker. He’s got a processing element to him. He plays fast, he plays well in games. You’re able to play a kid like that at corner for however many snaps he played, then at dime, he’s covering the best receiver in the slot. I just think that when we’re evaluating players we want to put on the field – coach (Matt Rhule) has talked about finding the winners and getting them on the field. We feel like we have two pretty good corners in Ceyair (Wright) and (Andrew) Marshall. We think Donny (Jones) is one of those guys that is a winner, just like Marshall and Ceyair. I think they’re three of our better players on defense. So if you only have two positions, it’s your job as a coach to get that guy on the field. We’re going to constantly be trying to figure out whoever those players are that play well and practice well week to week, the system is going to evolve, and it's going to be built around the players that are playing hard, that are playing physical, that are executing at a high level, that are doing it for their teammates. Our system is going to be built around them. It’s not going to be pigeonholed into ‘this is what we do.’ We’re going to evolve to having who we think are the best 11 players on the field. And that’s a process that we’re still working through. Donny has shown to be capable of being one of those players.” 

On Malcolm Hartzog Jr.’s “next play” mindset
“I think it is, in that you have the penalty. He got beat on a cover five early in that drive and you just have to keep playing. Winning is hard, no matter what. Everyone thinks winning is about magic and there’s always a certain team that should beat this team. That’s just not how college football works, especially when you’ve had the whole offseason to prepare for a ball game. You have to play each play as it is for that play. Knowing that you’re just going to put yourself in position. He did a great job of disguising them, I don’t want to say baiting, but forcing the quarterback to throw the ball where he didn’t want to. Then he did that, and you still have to go make the play. How many times have you seen it where guys put themselves in position over the weekend to make the play and the ball dropped? The outcome totally changes. I think yes, that’s a great testament that at the end of the day, once that play is over, you move onto the next one. We can learn from that too. I can definitely learn from that. Sometimes I hang onto a call that I didn’t like that I made or the result of a play sometimes irritates me. It’s just in my nature. We all have to keep working on that next play and remaining neutral and putting ourselves in position to win the next play.”