Media Day Player Quotes

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."