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Football

Huskers Set for First Spring Under Callahan

Lincoln -- The Huskers begin full-scale preparations for the 2004 season on Wednesday, March 24 with the first of 15 NCAA-allowed spring practices. Nebraska will be guided by first-year head coach Bill Callahan, who was named Nebraska's coach on Jan. 9, after spending the past two seasons with the Oakland Raiders.

Nebraska returns 15 starters from last year's team that finished with a 10-3 record and culminated with a 17-3 victory over Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl. The Huskers welcome back eight players with at least five starts on offense, another six starters on defense and their starting place-kicker. Five starters were lost on each side of the football, in addition to All-America punter Kyle Larson.

Callahan has stated that spring practice will be a crucial learning period in the development of the 2004 Cornhuskers. Callahan said the most important element of spring practice will be acclimating the current Huskers to the systems of the new coaching staff.

"First and foremost, we have to implement our structure and style of football," Callahan said. "To do that, we will devote an hour a day from a unit standpoint implementing the structures of our defense and our offense and special teams in all three phases. That is paramount."

Other goals Callahan mentioned for spring practice include, practicing harder, smarter and faster; teaching the core fundamentals and techniques of the new systems; and a focus on winning the turnover battle on both sides of the football. Callahan said becoming sound in pass protection and establishing rush systems on both sides of the football will also be areas of emphasis this spring.

Callahan has been pleased with his team's attitude through off-season conditioning and individual meetings and expects the same professional approach throughout spring practice.

"As a team, we have worked very hard in the off-season. Our players are very well-motivated with a high work ethic. We have definitely taxed our players for the rigors of spring football. Again, our team has paid a tremendous price in the off-season and as I've told them, it doesn't guarantee them anything. It just allows us to compete with the other teams in the conference."

2004 Spring Preview Information

The Red/White Spring game is
Saturday, April 17th
at 12:30 p.m. (Order Tickets)

Nebraska will cap spring ball with the Red-White Spring Game on April 17, with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers open their 2003 regular season with a Sept. 4 home game against Western Illinois, beginning a schedule that includes games against six 2003 bowl teams.

Spring Practice to Culminate with Red-White Contest on Saturday, April 17
Nebraska completed its winter conditioning under new head football strength coach Dave Kennedy on Friday, March 12. During the final two weeks of conditioning, the team went through 6 a.m. conditioning sessions each day. The Huskers took a week off for spring break before resuming class on Monday, March 22.

The Huskers will go through the first of their 15 practices this spring on Wednesday, March 24, and conclude with the spring game on Saturday, April 17. Leading up to the spring game, the Huskers will practice four times each the first two weeks of spring ball, three times the week of April 5 before taking Easter weekend off, and four times the final week of practice.

Nebraska will generally practice on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday during spring ball, with a few exceptions. Nebraska will not practice on Monday in week one, with a Thursday practice instead. Nebraska will not practice on Saturday, April 10.

Callahan noted that the regulations regarding spring practice have changed dramatically since he was last at the college level 10 seasons ago.

"This is really an abbreviated period of time in which we have to get a lot done," Callahan said. "The coaches have done an excellent job of preparing for what we need to get done from a system standpoint in terms of implementing offense, scheduling installation days and meeting times."

The spring game will be held on Saturday, April 17, at 12:30 p.m. in Memorial Stadium. The spring game will once again feature the Drug Free pledge at halftime. All students willing to take the pledge will be admitted free, but adults accompanying students will be asked to buy a $5 ticket ($3 for youth and senior citizens). Tickets are available through the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-8 BIG RED or by logging onto to Huskers.com.

Callahan, New Husker Coaching Staff Hit Field for First Time this Spring
Callahan has assembled a coaching staff with a wide range of background and experiences. The 2004 Husker staff includes coaches who spent last season in six different collegiate conferences, including the Big 12 (Downing, Gill), Big Ten (Cosgrove, Elmassian), SEC (Blake), Mountain West (Busch), Western Athletic (Wagner) and Big East (Kennedy). In addition to Callahan, Randy Jordan and Jay Norvell also joined the NU staff after coaching in the NFL last season.

Callahan will call his own offensive plays on game day, but Jay Norvell will coach the Husker quarterbacks and serve as offensive coordinator. Norvell spent the past six seasons in the NFL, including the 2002 and 2003 seasons on Callahan's Oakland staff. Norvell coached for 10 seasons on the collegiate level (1988-97), including stops at Wisconsin, Iowa State and Northern Iowa.

The remainder of the Husker offensive staff is as follows...

  • Turner Gill, Receivers, 13th season at Nebraska?Gill is one of two holdovers from the 2003 NU staff and will tutor the NU receivers this season. He has coached the quarterbacks at Nebraska for the past 12 seasons.
  • Scott Downing, Tight Ends/Specialists, Second season?Downing is the other assistant remaining from last year's staff. He is entering his 18th season as a Division I assistant, also serving at Wyoming and Purdue.
  • Randy Jordan, Running backs, First season?Jordan played under Callahan in Oakland and was a special teams assistant on the Raiders' 2003 coaching staff.
  • Dennis Wagner, Offensive Line, First season?Wagner comes to Nebraska after seven years at Fresno State. He also has Nebraska ties, having been the head coach at Wayne State College from 1989 to 1996.
  • Kevin Cosgrove takes over as Nebraska's defensive coordinator, after serving in the same role at the University of Wisconsin. Cosgrove was on the Badger staff under Barry Alvarez for the past 14 seasons, including each of the last nine years as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator. He also has previous collegiate experience at Colorado State, Southeast Missouri State and Illinois. Cosgrove will guide a veteran defensive staff that also includes...
  • John Blake, Defensive Line, First season?Blake spent the 2003 campaign as Mississippi State's defensive line coach. He has experience at both the collegiate and NFL levels, helping the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl and serving as Oklahoma's head coach from 1996 to 1998.
  • Bill Busch, Outside Linebackers, First season?A Nebraska native, Busch served as an NU graduate assistant in the early 1990s. Busch comes to NU after three seasons at Utah and also had stops at New Mexico State and Northern Arizona.
  • Phil Elmassian, Secondary, First season?A veteran collegiate assistant, Elmassian comes to Nebraska after one season at Purdue. He has 20 years of Division I experience, and has been a part of league titles in four different conferences.

Dan McLaughlin remains a graduate assistant coach with the Husker offense, while a defensive graduate assistant has yet to be named. Tim Cassidy will serve as Associate A.D./Football after filling a similar role at Texas A&M, while Lance Leipold remains as NU's administrative assistant.

Dave Kennedy joined the Husker staff in January as Nebraska's head football strength coach. He spent the past two seasons in the same position at the University of Pittsburgh. Dave Langworthy followed Kennedy from Pittsburgh and will be an assistant strength coach, while Bryan Bailey will continue to work with the Husker football strength staff.

NU Staff Has Championship Background, Strong Recruiting Reputation
Callahan's Nebraska staff features four coaches who have either played or coached in the Super Bowl. Callahan and Norvell coached in Super Bowl XXXVII, and running backs coach Randy Jordan was a player on that team. John Blake was part of the Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl championship teams in both 1993 and 1995.

In addition to the NFL success of the above-mentioned coaches, Callahan's staff has a history of winning championships at the collegiate level. Members of the Nebraska coaching staff have been part of teams that have captured league titles in each of the following conferences?Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10 and Western Athletic.

The staff also has recruiting ties in nearly every part of the United States. ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Lemming compiled a list of the 10 best recruiters in college history in 2001. Callahan was included on the list although he had been out of the college ranks for six years at that time. Husker Associate A.D. Tim Cassidy was on Lemming's Top 10 recruiters (current college coaches) in 1999, and Kevin Cosgrove and Turner Gill were listed as "other big-time recruiting names."

Callahan Looks to Continue Recent Tradition of Success for First-Year Husker Coaches
The Nebraska football program has a history of success under first-year head coaches. Bill Callahan is the 27th coach in the 115-year history of the program, but just the fourth head coach since the start of the 1962 season.

Each of Nebraska's past three head coaches have began their Husker coaching career with nine-win campaigns. Bob Devaney posted a 9-2 record and led NU to the Gotham Bowl in 1962, following six consecutive losing seasons; Tom Osborne guided the Huskers to a 9-2-1 record and Cotton Bowl bid in 1973, and Frank Solich's first squad in 1998, finished 9-4 and played in the Holiday Bowl.

Injury Update
Nebraska enters spring practice with the usual round of off-season bumps, bruises and surgeries. Sophomore offensive guard Greg Austin will miss spring practice, while recovering from surgery on his right knee. Reserve offensive lineman Jake Chalupsky and reserve receiver Brandon Biodrowski have also been ruled out of spring ball because of injuries.

Senior offensive guard Mike Erickson has been hampered by a hip injury, but is probable for spring practice. Defensive tackle Brandon Teamer (toe) is also probable for spring ball, while receiver Andy Birkel could miss part of spring practice with mononucleosis.

West Coast Offense Hits Heartland
Nebraska will sport a different look on the offensive side of the football this spring. Callahan and his staff will install the West Coast Offense at Nebraska, a system Callahan employed in Oakland in leading the Raiders to Super Bowl XXVII. The system promises to give the Huskers a more balanced attack in 2004, and allows for a multiple offense. Callahan's offenses in Oakland had outstanding success and diversity, including....

  • In 2000, the Oakland Raiders led the NFL in rushing by averaging 154.4 yards per game with Coach Callahan as offensive coordinator. Two seasons later, the flexibility of the West Coast Offense allowed the Raiders to lead the NFL in passing at 279.7 yards per game.
  • In 2002, Oakland became the first team to win games in the same season while rushing at least 60 times and passing at least 60 times.
  • Coach Callahan’s 2002 Raiders completed better than 67 percent of their pass attempts en route to an AFC Championship.
  • The Raiders averaged nearly 4.5 yards per rush in 2002, and scored 21 rushing touchdowns,while ranking second in the NFL in scoring at more than 28 points per game.

Position, Terminology Changes
While the Huskers will make a significant change in their offensive system, the positions on the depth chart will look very similar to last season. Callahan will continue a long-standing Nebraska tradition by labeling the feature back in the Husker offense as the "I-back." The fullback also remains a fixture in the backfield and like last season, receivers will again be labeled X and Z.

Defensively, Nebraska's base defense will continue to be a 4-3. The defensive staff will use the terms, defensive end and defensive tackle for the front four; Mike, Sam and Will for the linebacking corps and free and strong safeties in the secondary.

Several players have changed positions during the off-season. Three defenders have joined the offensive line before the start of spring practice. Juniors Seppo Evwaraye and Jared Helming have moved to the offensive line, after playing defensive tackle their first three seasons. Both Helming and Evwaraye have battled injuries throughout their career. Redshirt freshman Chris Patrick also joins the offensive line after lining up at defensive end during his redshirt season. All three players are listed second at their respective positions entering spring ball.

Redshirt freshman Kade Pittman will move to I-back this spring after practicing with the receiving corps throughout the 2003 campaign. The receivers will gain fifth-year senior Willie Amos, who switches from the secondary. Amos started parts of his first two seasons with the Huskers, but suffered a knee injury during spring practice in 2002 and saw limited action in 2003.

Nebraska will also have a couple position switches on defense. Junior Titus Adams played defensive tackle in 2002, before splitting time between the inside and end last fall. He will move back inside to tackle in 2004. Sophomore Stewart Bradley had a standout spring in 2003 as a middle linebacker, but played defensive end during the season. He has been moved back to linebacker for the start of spring practice.

Bullocks, Ruud Leaving Mark in NU Record Book
A pair of Nebraska defenders had record-setting 2003 campaigns and are poised to make a permanent mark on the Husker career chart.

Senior linebacker Barrett Ruud established a new single-season tackles record last season with 149 stops, including 78 solo stops and 13 tackles for loss. A two-year starter at Mike linebacker, Ruud enters the 2004 season with 289 career tackles, just 53 shy of the Nebraska career record of 342, held by Jerry Murtaugh (1968-70). Ruud has 31 career tackles for loss, just one TFL from the top 10 on that career list and seven tackles for loss from moving into the top five.

Free safety Josh Bullocks earned All-America honors last season when he intercepted a Nebraska and Big 12 record 10 passes. Bullocks finished the season ranked second nationally in interceptions per game. Entering his junior season, Bullocks is tied for third at Nebraska with11 career interceptions, just three picks shy of the Nebraska record of 14, set by Dana Stephenson from 1967 to 1969.

Nebraska Head Coach Bill Callahan
Coach Bill Callahan (Illinois Benedictine, 1978) became the 27th head coach in Nebraska history on Jan. 9, 2004. He came to Nebraska after two seasons as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, and six years in the Raider organization. Callahan compiled a 17-18 record as the Raiders' head coach, and led the Silver and Black to an AFC Championship in his rookie season. Callahan has spent the past nine years in the National Football League, beginning his pro coaching career with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1995 to 1997.

Callahan has extensive experience at the collegiate level. Before moving into the professional ranks, Callahan served as the offensive line coach at Wisconsin for five seasons and also had assistant coaching stints at Illinois, Northern Arizona and Southern Illinois. A native of Chicago, Callahan earned his bachelor's degree from Illinois Benedictine in 1978. He was an NAIA honorable-mention selection as a quarterback in each of his final two seasons.

The Huskers in 2003 Season Recap...
Nebraska extended its NCAA record of consecutive bowl appearances to 35 in 2003, with a trip to the MasterCard Alamo Bowl. The Huskers culminated their season with a 17-3 victory over Michigan State in the contest, giving Nebraska its 24th season in school history with 10 or more victories.

Nebraska has now posted 42 consecutive winning regular seasons and has finished at .500 or better in each of those 42 years. After missing the final polls in 2002, the Huskers were ranked 18th in the final coaches poll and 19th in the Associated Press Poll, marking the 34th time in the past 35 seasons NU has finished ranked in the national polls.

Nebraska finished second in the Big 12's North Division with a 5-3 record, losing road contests at Missouri and Texas, and falling to Kansas State at home in their only setback of the year at Memorial Stadium.

Nebraska relied on a dominant defense to carry the team throughout the season. The Blackshirts wasted little time making their presence known, forcing five turnovers and holding Oklahoma State to less than 200 total yards in a 17-7 win in the season opener. NU posted a pair of shutouts in 2003, blanking Troy State and Iowa State, and allowed both Kansas and Michigan State only a field goal.

The Blackshirts forced 47 turnovers in 13 games, helping NU to the national crown in turnover margin at +1.77 per game. Nebraska also led the nation in pass efficiency defense (88.7 points), was second in scoring defense (14.5 ppg) and ranked 11th in the country in total defense (297.2 ypg).

Senior linebacker Demorrio Williams was the catalyst of the NU defense, racking up 21 tackles for loss and 11 sacks on the season. Williams was a Butkus Award semifinalist and first-team all-league pick. His running mate at linebacker, junior Barrett Ruud, set a Nebraska single-season record with 149 tackles en route to earning second-team all-conference honors. Sophomore free safety Josh Bullocks snared a school-record 10 interceptions, was named a first-team All-American and was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.

Offensively, dual-threat quarterback Jammal Lord rushed for more than 900 yards and passed for more than 1,300 yards. He finished third at Nebraska in total offense and helped the Huskers to a No. 7 national ranking in rushing offense.

The Huskers continued their tradition of excellent special teams play, led by senior punter Kyle Larson, who averaged an NU single-season record 45.1 yards per punt. He was a first-team All-America pick and a Ray Guy Award finalist.

The Big 12 once again sent eight teams to bowl games, including North Division representatives Kansas State, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas, with Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech reaching the postseason from the South. The Big 12 struggled to a 2-6 record in bowl competition. Four conference teams were ranked in the final national polls including Oklahoma (3 AP/3 Coaches), Texas (12/11), Kansas State (14/13) and Nebraska (19/18).

Two Huskers Earn All-America Honors; Five Named First-Team All-Big 12
Senior punter Kyle Larson and sophomore free safety Josh Bullocks continued Nebraska's All-America tradition in 2003. Larson set a Nebraska single-season punting record and was named a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association. He was also one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award, and was a consensus first-team all-conference selection.

Bullocks shattered the Husker season record for interceptions with 10 picks last fall and was a first-team All-America selection by The Sporting News. Like Larson, Bullocks was a first-team all-conference pick by every source and was the only sophomore among the semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award.

In addition to Bullocks and Larson, three other Huskers earned first-team all-league honors. Offensively, tight end Matt Herian was a first-team all-league pick by the league's coaches and The Dallas Morning News. Herian averaged 22 yards per catch on a team-high 22 receptions. He was also one of eight semifinalists for the John Mackey Award, given annually to the nation's top tight end.

Sophomore offensive tackle Richie Incognito was a first-team all-conference selection by the Associated Press and Dallas Morning News. Incognito was also on watch lists for both the Outland and Lombardi awards.

NU's final first-team all-league pick was senior outside linebacker Demorrio Williams, who led the team in tackles for loss, sacks and fumbles recovered. Williams was a first-team All-Big 12 pick by the Associated Press. He was also a semfinalist for the Butkus Award.

2003 Huskers Continue Academic Tradition
Nebraska seniors Judd Davies and Pat Ricketts were both named second-team CoSIDA Academic All-Americans last season and were academic All-District VII selections for the third straight year. Davies graduated with a 3.901 cumulative grade-point average in pre-medicine, while Ricketts graduated in August with a 3.52 grade-point average in business administration. The selection of Davies and Ricketts as academic All-Americans pushed Nebraska's nation-leading number of football honorees to 81. Nebraska also leads the nation in academic All-Americans across all teams and all sports with 211 honorees.

In addition to Ricketts and Davies, two other Huskers were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VII team and were on the academic All-America ballot.

  • Junior linebacker Chad Sievers carries a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average in business administration and was a first-team honoree after earning second-team all-district honors last season. Junior strong safety Philip Bland also earned second-team honors in 2002, and moved up to first-team accolades last fall. Twenty Huskers were named to the first-team academic All-Big 12 team, the most of any school in the conference. Sievers was the only Big 12 football student-athlete with a cumulative 4.0 grade-point average. Six other Huskers were named second-team academic All-Big 12.

Nebraska also placed 84 players on the Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Academic Honor Roll last semester. The honor roll recognizes all student-athletes who earned a 3.0 grade-point average or better in the previous semester. Nine members of the football team produced 4.0 grade-point averages last fall, including Sievers, offensive lineman Kurt Mann and fullback Dane Todd who boast cumulative 4.0 grade-point averages.

Nebraska Tops Elite Programs in Consistency
Nebraska ranks third among Division I-A schools in all-time football victories with 781 wins. The Huskers have the nation’s best record since 1962, posting a 415-88-5 record in the last 42 seasons. In that period, Nebraska has easily been the most consistent program in the nation. That is evident when comparing the Huskers’ record to the other nine programs among the top 10 in all-time victories.

The Huskers have had just three seasons since 1962 with eight or fewer victories. Eight of the other nine schools in the top 10 have had at least 15 seasons with eight or fewer wins in that span. Nebraska’s last losing season occurred in 1961. Michigan has not had a losing record since 1967, but the other eight schools on the all-time top 10 wins list have all had losing seasons since 1988, including six programs with losing campaigns in the past seven seasons.

Nebraska finished 10-3 last fall and was one of seven of the nation's top 10 all-time programs that finished the season nationally ranked.

Unprecedented Winning Tradition Continues
Nebraska, the nation's third-winningest program all time (fourth by percentage), boasts a 781-311-40 record in 1,132 games (.708) in 114 years of football. In the last 35 years, NU is tops, posting a record of 347-70-5 for an .828 winning percentage (422 games), an average of nearly 10 wins per year.

NU has won 10-or-more games 24 times since 1962, has gone undefeated and untied through the regular season seven times, played in 13 national title games (for at least one of the teams) and won the championship five times. Since the first Nebraska season in 1890, Husker teams have won 11 or more games 12 times, including seven of the last 11 years. NU has won 12 or more games seven times, and 13 games three times (1971, 1994 and 1997).

Nebraska (702), Michigan (705), Alabama (728) and Notre Dame (736) were the only four programs to win 700 games in the 1900s. NU became the first Division I team to win 100 or more games in consecutive decades, ranking first in the 1980s (103-20-0, .837) and second in the 1990s (108-16-1, .890) and posted a nation’s best 309-56-5 record in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

NCAA Record 262 Consecutive Sellouts
Nebraska boasts an incredible NCAA-record 262 consecutive sellouts at Memorial Stadium. The sellout streak dates back to Hall of Fame Coach Bob Devaney's first year in 1962 (vs. Missouri on Nov. 3). Notre Dame is second in all-time consecutive sellouts with 173, 89 fewer than Nebraska. The Huskers are 233-29 during the 262 sellouts. The mark includes a 38-20 record against ranked teams. Nebraska is 5-0 in the five milestone sellouts during that period (50th, 100th, 150th, 200th and 250th sellouts), including a 24-7 win over No. 2 Colorado on Oct. 29, 1994 (No. 200) and a 44-13 victory over Utah State on Sept. 7, 2002 (No. 250).

The fan support at Memorial Stadium has led to a dominant home advantage for the Huskers in Lincoln. Nebraska has won at least six home games in each of the past 17 seasons and is a remarkable 145-13 at Memorial Stadium since 1981, with eight of those losses coming against teams that finished the season ranked in the top eight of the Associated Press poll.

The 2004 Schedule
Nebraska completed its 2004 schedule in early February when Western Illinois was added to the non-conference slate. The Huskers will open the Bill Callahan era against Western Illinois on Sept. 4 at Memorial Stadium. The Leathernecks are a Division I-AA power, having been to the playoffs in three of the past five seasons.

The remainder of Nebraska's non-league schedule includes a pair of 2003 bowl participants. The Huskers will complete a three-game contract with Southern Mississippi when the Golden Eagles travel to Lincoln on Sept. 11. The Huskers won 38-14 last season in Hattiesburg, but the Eagles rebounded to capture the Conference USA title and played in the Liberty Bowl. A trip to Pittsburgh will complete the 2004 non-conference schedule. Nebraska will visit Heinz Field on Sept. 18 to take on the Panthers, who played in the Continental Tire Bowl last fall. Pittsburgh is scheduled to travel to Lincoln on Sept. 17, 2005.

Nebraska will open Big 12 Conference action against Kansas on Oct. 2 in Lincoln. Other conference home games include Baylor (Oct. 16), Missouri (Oct. 30, Homecoming) and Colorado (Nov. 26). The Huskers face a difficult league road slate, traveling to Texas Tech (Oct. 9), defending league champion Kansas State (Oct. 23), Iowa State (Nov. 6) and 2003 South Division champ Oklahoma (Nov. 13). Texas Tech, Baylor and Oklahoma rotated onto the Huskers' schedule this fall, while Nebraska will not face Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State this season.

In all, the Huskers will face seven teams that participated in a bowl game last season, with four of those contests away from Lincoln. With six home games this fall, Nebraska expects to extend its NCAA-record sellout streak to 268 games by the close of the season.