Media Day Player Quotes

Jay Moore
Senior, Defensive End
On being excited for the season
"You bet. Last night I was just laying in bed thinking about the opportunity that we have this year and thinking that it all starts today. I’m a little bit anxious and a little bit nervous just because it’s my last go-around year. It’s all going to be good."

On what he likes most about this team
"All of our experience. There are a lot of veterans on this team. A lot of guys who have been here a lot of years. A lot of guys that have been here years in Callahan’s system and guys that were here the year before him. A lot of age and a lot of experience."

On what that experience does for this team
"Just being calm. Every game you’re going to have some sort of commotion or something is going to go wrong. Just knowing that you’ve been there before. We’ve had a lot of things go wrong, especially a couple years ago. We just know how to handle it now. Before we panicked and this year we’ll stay calm and keep battling and keep fighting and press on through the troubles."

On what his expectations are for this team
"We have tons of talent. We have opportunities to really go out and get this program back to where it could be. It’s going to be a lot of hard work. Right now everyone’s at the same spot but time will tell through this training camp. Just getting everybody acclimated to this season. If we have a good training camp there’s no telling what could happen this year."

On the progress made since Coach Callahan began coaching
"I think the one main thing that I noticed and feel about Coach Callahan and the staff he’s brought in is how comfortable everyone is. His first year and even last year a little bit guys were kind of walking on eggshells ? afraid to make certain remarks or moves just because we didn’t know what his expectations were and how he was going to react. I know this year everyone can joke around with coaches. Everyone is so much more relaxed. That can play a huge factor especially on the practice field and even during games, you can relax and just have fun. In the past we couldn’t do that because we didn’t know if we could have fun because if they’d get mad. As far as the talent level, they have brought some talented guys in here with the receivers we’ve brought in and some of the defensive guys. It’s impressive what these young guys can do. And they’re all going to contribute. It’s been impressive who they’ve brought in."

On how the familiarity with the third year of the system could make a difference
"Last year we were coming off 5-6. That was also a big factor. But this year, with the way we finished it takes a lot of pressure off everyone knowing we’ve got the confidence. We have the ability to compete with Michigan, and they were ranked preseason No. 3 last year. Knowing we have the ability to do those types of things it takes a lot of pressure off and gets us a little more confidence. And that we can relax and have more fun because we know that we can compete with those top caliber teams."

On the responsibility of competing for the Huskers as a Nebraskan
"It’s not an issue or conversation. But for me being here my whole life, I feel it is a responsibility to get this team back to where it needs to be. I grew up during the hay days with national championships in the 90’s and all that stuff. It would be huge for us to get back playing in the Big 12 Championship Game because we haven’t been back there in I don’t know how many years it’s been. It would be a great sense of pride and a good feeling just to get back there and get back to where it used to be."

Andrew Shanle
Senior, Safety
On how important training camp is for the secondary
"The secondary position just seems like kind of a position where you kind of put guys in there if you don’t know what to do with them, or if they don’t have a whole lot of experience. But this year with our incoming freshmen such as Major Culbert we have a lot of guys with a great potential to play ? free or strong safety. The great thing about our system is you can interchange our defensive guys. It’s going to be valuable just to get the experience and that’s obvious. We’re not exactly deep at that position, either strong or free. But it’s going to be good just to get guys out there and get reps, learn the system, see where they fall into place and see who can get the playing time."

On how excited he is about being in the secondary
"Other than it being my final year I’m just excited to help the new guys come in. I know a lot of our younger guys like Ben Eisenhart are doing a great job stepping up knowing that time is running down for everyone. We know where Nebraska is going to be heading, so the only thing you can do is enjoy the year, whether you have one, two or three years left. Just come in and enjoy it and realize where you’re at and what you’re playing for."

On who will be the standout players on defense
"Defensively I think we’re stacked. We have a great defensive line. We’re deep at linebacker. At the corners everyone is able to make plays. Everyone’s willing to go through the fight and struggle and what it takes to become a great defense. Other than the experience at secondary I think we’ll be fine. It’s the one thing people like to put their finger on, but I think we’ll be fine with the experience we have with learning more this fall and getting ready to play."

On the new locker room and facility
"The new facility is absolutely amazing. Coming from what we had before it just kind of felt like a new place. It’s great to get a little more life and energy into the team. The locker room is amazing. The coaches and builders tried to include the things that the players want and things that make is easy for the players. Easy access to get to class, get to meetings. That’s one thing that they want us to know is that they built this for the players. That’s definitely helped out a lot just moving around the building."

On anything specific he likes about the locker room
"Space. Any time you move some guys away from you so you’re not so crowded shoulder-to-shoulder (is good). The lockers are extremely nice and from what I’ve heard they are going to improve in the future."

On if the defense improves over time
"It’s not only experience. You’re not only going to learn on the field but a big part of it is that we are guys that are willing to group up and study the game off the field. And so if want to take time and experience, you can say it’s that, but it’s just kind of maturing as a defense. If it’s coming in and playing with lack of experience, you have to come in and overcome the failures and learn from them. To improving the defense, it’s all about getting your reps, learning how to learn from your failures and that’s the biggest thing."

Terrence Nunn
Junior, Wide Receiver
On how big of part he wants to play in the offense
"I want to be a big part. I want to contribute to the offense as much as I can. I want to help in any way I can."

On how the value experience can help this year
"It can mean a lot. Having that experience builds confidence and knowing the offense can help you be more successful."

On the talent at the wide receiver position
"We have a lot of talent at the wide receiver position. We have a lot of good recruits that came in plus the players that were already here, so we have good talent across the board."

On how much improvement he has noticed with the wide receivers
"Coach (Ted) Gilmore has helped us a lot with patterns and helped with getting off the press. He’s helping us to do a lot of things better than the way we did."

On how this summer is different than last summer
"We did the tennis ball drills again. We ran a lot more routes. We call Zac (Taylor) up and just go run routes on our own. We would do towel drills where you hang from the towels just to get your hands stronger. We would just do multiple drills every day. I feel a lot better because it just helps you out in the long run."

On how bringing in taller receivers helps that position
"It’s really good because it’s always good to have big receivers. It’s always a good asset to have more talent."

On his reaction to being named preseason All-Big 12
"I was pretty excited. My mom told me the other night. She printed it off. She was very excited, her and my dad. It felt good."

On if he feels more relaxed this year
"I do. I feel a lot more relaxed because I know the offense. I know my role and I understand it. I just feel really confident."

Corey McKeon
Junior, Linebacker
On if he’s ready to get this season going
"Yes sir. I’m waiting, relaxing. Now it’s time to get down to work as they say."

On getting to the Big 12 Championship Game
"That’s a long ways away. We have a lot of games to play and a lot of work to do this summer. We’re going to define our roles now and we’re going to have to worry about the Big 12 Championship Game when we get to it. Game-by-game. All week we have to take it game-by-game. People picking us to be the favorites doesn’t matter. Before we even get to the conference (games) we have three big teams to beat."

On how much looser the team is now with the new coaches
"A lot. It’s the same story with a lot of coaches. When you’re winning everyone is happy and when you’re losing no one is happy. Coming off the streak we came off of at the end of last season, I’m sure everyone talks about that. There’s been a lot of smiles but a lot of the smiles are fading when we realize it’s 102 degrees outside and we’re about to practice. It’s momentum is what that is. It’s carrying over from last season. Everyone has their feet in the dirt for a change. Everyone knows what’s going on. It’s different now. Last year there were a lot of guys confused adjusting to the system. Now that’s all been done. We can base things off personalities and things like that instead of being ?okay, it’s all business.’ Now the business part is taken care of and it’s more of the relationship part."

On how fragile the three-game winning streak to end last season is and higher goals
"We’re passed it. Talking about that, the momentum and everything, everyone is passed that. Everyone’s ready to get to work. Everyone is excited to start practice just to see how good our team can actually be. We’ve got the talent. We’ve got everything. We’re just excited to see how we turn out. Everyone’s working hard. For a change, people aren’t like ?oh man, we have to practice.’ People are like, ?we get to practice because we want to be better and see how good we can be.’ Momentum is over. Two-a-days kills momentum."

On what having Stewart Bradley alongside is like
"I don’t know, he’s kind of a distraction, a hassle. He’s a nice guy. I love him. It’s fun. Stew’s a great player and he’s enthusiastic. He helps bring a little understanding to our defense. It’s fun having him out there. When the summer heat hits you and you have to think how bad you have it, then you have to look at Stew and see his long hair and realize how much he’s sweating."

On his expectations for the defense
"We could set our expectations as high as we want because we have the talent. We have the guys to do so. We have the coaching, everything. It’s just the fact of going out and doing it. We could say ?oh we’re going to be the best defense in the world, ever.’ Well I guess I did say that. But unless you go out and put the work in and do it there isn’t a point. That’s the great thing about our defense. We’re talented. We’ve got the size. We’ve got the speed. Now we have the determination. We have the want and the will. I think that’s the most dangerous thing about our defense. We want to be the best. We want to go out and do all that."

On Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar's situation
"Any news like that you hear about is famous. It happens with the most popular player and the lowest player. It’s unfortunate what happened to him to slip up and make a mistake. Everyone makes them but at the same time it’s a big hurt to their team and it opens up a lot of eyes across the country. It would have been great to play against him and their squad full-strength. Seeing that with him being such a great player is very unfortunate."

On if a situation like Bomar’s is more likely to happen
"You never think about it. We get the three-hour meetings about it saying you can’t gamble, you can’t do all this and all that. But it just takes a small conversation with someone to be able to break a rule like that. I don’t know about Rhett Bomar’s situation, but I’m sure he didn’t think anything was going wrong. I don’t know how much money he got but I hope it was a lot for sitting out a year. It’s unfortunate but you don’t realize that stuff until it happens to you."

On the linebackers
"We had a meeting today and Coach Cosgrove said it best. He said we’re supposed to be one of the best corps and we’ve got everything. Now we become a tighter group. We’ve got the players. We’ve got the depth. I name every single linebacker to come on the field and be able to contribute. The thing is it’s time to be a tight group. We have to take a hold of the defense. The D-line is strong. The safeties are strong. The corners are strong. It’s up to the linebackers to lead. It’s up to us to be the coaches on the field. And that’s what we’re going to do. With the corp we have there are no excuses for slip ups or for not getting things done. We should be able to get it done and we have to learn to push each other. Take a little load off the coaches. Let them do the coaching and let us self-govern ourselves."

Stewart Bradley
Senior, Linebacker
On the new locker room
"It’s sweet. It’s a lot bigger. The lockers are bigger. It’s so convenient because everything is close. It used to be like you had to march all the way to the weight room. Just to get yourself mentally ready for the walk to the weight room was a challenge. Now that it’s so close you can just hop down and get everything done. The training room is right across the hall...Now it’s way better. It’s just a really well-built facility. It’s fun to be in there. We have a lot of excitement coming into the season anyway but throw in a multi-million dollar facility makes it even more exciting. We’re really excited."

On if he’s healthy
"I’ve been healthy for about five months or so. It hasn’t even been an issue for so long. I actually feel like I’m faster now than when I hurt my knee because of all the rehab on my hamstrings and stuff. I feel really good. I’m excited to get on the field."

On what it felt like to miss the end of last season
"It was fun just to be part of the team but it was hard because you want to participate so bad. You put all that work in the preseason and then something like that happens and you’re watching. But you do what you can. It was great to see those guys win those games and come together. It made me proud to be part of the team."

On why it’s important for the linebackers to take a leadership role
"We have a lot of experience and we have so much depth. I think that every position on defense there are a couple of guys that are strong leaders. I think that us being leaders is just as important as every other position. You don’t want to feel like you have a dropoff in leadership and we don’t have that. I think that us coming forward as leaders will definitely be a part of our success this year."

Cody Glenn
On the difference between last season and this season
"It’s not as stressful as it was last season, not knowing what to expect. Coming into this season I know what to expect. Last season, we had Cory (Ross) so we knew pretty much that he was going to be the running back. This year it’s open. Everybody has a chance this year. It’s a lot different."

On how he has changed from last season to this season
"I know a lot more now. Now I can actually play and not worry about messing up and doing this wrong and doing that wrong. I can do just what I do best and play."

On how capable he is as a four-down running back
"Very capable. Last year I wasn’t happy with that but that was my role. You have to play your role on the team so that’s what I did. A lot of you saw the spring game and I’m capable of going outside and stuff like that. I just want to expand and continue to do stuff like that."

On how much pride he takes in restoring the Nebraska running game
"We take a lot of pride in that. This is Nebraska. We’re not used to being last in the Big 12 in rushing. Nebraska’s known for having good running backs and being top in the country in rushing. That’s something we take pride in and something we think about and something we have to get back to."

On competing with Marlon Lucky for the starting job
"Once we’re on the field it’s all about competition. I’m not going to go easy on him because he’s my friend, because I want the starting running back spot. We’re all going to go hard. Whatever happens, happens. That’s why coaches get lots of money to make those kinds of decisions."

Zac Taylor
Senior, Quarterback
On starting fall practice
"I think everybody’s ready to start practicing for real and really excited for the season. We’re excited that day is upon us."

On if he was surprised by Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar's situation
"Yes. They run a good program down there so it is surprising for someone to get in trouble like that. It happens. I’m sure they’ll rebound from it. It’s something (that happened) in the conference so you know everybody’s going to be all over that. But it really doesn’t deal with us too much because we don’t play them this year. We’ll let everybody down there deal with that."

On how much they are taught about NCAA compliance rules
"A ton. We definitely know what’s going on and what you should be doing and shouldn’t be doing. We definitely know what’s right and what’s wrong."

On how playing with Kenny Wilson at Butler County Community College might help him
"I think it might help him progress a little bit because I had a pretty good relationship with him. It might make it a little easier for him to understand the offense if he hears it from me. He’s got a ways to go, a lot of learning. I’ll kind of let Coach Jordan handle all that stuff."

On what advice he would give to a newcomer to get playing time
"Just getting in the playbook every night. That’s the only thing that’s going to help him. Physically, he’s a great athlete, but it’s just all mental for the new guys. They’re going to make mistakes but as long as it’s not the same mistake over and over again the coaches are pretty accepting with that."

On Nebraska's wide receivers
"We’ve got a lot of talent there. We’ve added some new guys and the guys we already had got a lot better in the spring. It’s going to be really exciting. We’ve got eight or nine guys that can all play and they can all contribute this year. It’ll be fun to get out there and throw to them."

On throwing with his teammates this summer
"Guys were really willing. Especially this summer we’d have throwing some nights at 6 or 7 o’clock and we would have 13 or 14 guys show up. That’s good to see guys willing to work. A lot of guys had jobs that they came straight from. We always had great turnouts and guys were willing to stay as long as we wanted to stay. It’s really a positive thing to stay."