Head Coach Bill Callahan

Opening Statement
We are excited to get back and get on the field. It was great to see our players yesterday. I wanted to bring you up-to-date as to what the team does when they report for orientation and what transpired yesterday. We gave our players extensive exposure in what to expect throughout the year. We enlightened our players about things both on and off the field.

The first thing we did was introduce everyone in our program. That includes our entire support staff, from the football secretaries to the trainers to the doctors, to the equipment managers and video staff.

Next, we had several presentations, the first from the top female police officer from the Lincoln Police Department. She talked about the responsibilities our players had to the community. We also had a member of the media come in and address our players about the media, because many of our new players have never seen something like this (press conference). We did that to educate our players on what to expect and so they have the background of knowing who the media is and where they are from.

We also had a presentation on sexual responsibility from a member of the Douglas County Health Department that was very enlightening so that our players understand that aspect of society.

Our nutritionist, James Harris, talked to our team at length about supplements, steroids, hydration, heat stroke and things of that nature that affect the athlete in this day and age. We had a presentation from our compliance office, led by Josh White, to educate our players on the rules. It’s a constant reminder to them about the key rules and what’s important to them and the rules that they have to abide by.

Tim Cassidy, our associate athletic director for football, educated our players on our player manual. We have an expansive player manual that we give to our players. We also sent one home so that they understand how we function. We review certain segments of it on a daily basis, things like hazing, tickets or things they would have to encounter on a daily basis or a seasonal basis.

It’s an important day, with a lot of information for our players. They have to take their mugshot, sign NCAA compliance forms, get fitted for their equipment and eat. It’s a long and tightly packed day for our players. They didn’t leave until 9:45 last night."

On awarding three walk-ons with a scholarship
"We gave three former walk-ons scholarships. They are all three from the state of Nebraska and are deserving, core special teams players who had a big role on our special teams last year and we hope they do again. The first is Brandon Rigoni, from Lincoln Southeast. He’s the heart and soul of our special teams and is a great kid. He has a great attitude, it’s infectious, and he’s great to be around. Our players went crazy when we announced that last night.

The second is Andy Kadavy, from Seward. He’s a important player, a selfless player. He’s hard-nosed, tough, and a good guy to build our special teams around. He has sacrificed a lot at Nebraska. I hope you get a chance to talk to him, because he has a great story in perseverance, in what he’s had to do to be a player here at Nebraska.

The third is Ben Eisenhart, from Culbertson. He plays on every special teams unit. He’s upbeat, positive and a very hard worker. He came up to the offices every day during the summer to watch film on other teams’ special teams units. His diligence to preparation is exemplary.

We have now placed 16 former walk-ons on scholarship since I came to Nebraska. Of those, 12 are from the state of Nebraska and nine are from Class B schools or smaller. That gives credence to the fact that a player can come here, walk-on, and be rewarded for his efforts. This should provide motivation for our walk-ons."

On Brandon Johnson
"Johnson is finishing summer school right now at Compton Junior College in California. He will arrive later in camp. How much later, we don’t know."

On Ricky Thenarse
"We are anticipating that he’ll be in camp, provided that the NCAA Clearinghouse will release him. We’re hopeful he makes it (to camp)."

On Maurice Purify
"Purify is finalizing his paperwork today. From what I understand, he’s cleared and ready to go; it’s just that his paperwork needs to be rubber-stamped before he’s cleared to go."

On the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex
"It’s a phenomenal building, in every respect. There are a lot of blue-collar guys that busted their tails to get us in there early. We can’t thank them enough. They did a fabulous job and took a lot of pride in their work over there. We’re deeply appreciative of their efforts.

The complex represents a gateway to the next generation of Huskers. It’s remarkable and creates an entirely new perception and mindset for our players. It emphasizes that excellence is required every day you walk into that building. It has a championship aura about itself. It creates the mindset that we are here to win championships. That vision should be credited to Steve Pederson and his staff.

The logistics in how it’s laid out and the technology in the football offices is representative of the commitment of Nebraska Football and the state of Nebraska. It creates a championship mindset and energizes you every day that you’re in there. It has energized our staff and players. You couldn’t find a better facility in the country. If you find one, let me know, because I can’t imagine any facility than the one we have currently built.

The administration is in the final stages of moving. Our equipment staff had to make a big move to their new offices in the last couple of days, the training room is being moved right now. We’re in the final stages of our move. It’s a great place, extraordinary in every way, and symbolizes a championship opportunity for all of us."

On the progress of the program since Callahan arrived at Nebraska
"We’re in a natural progression. We’ve done a good job that the process is beginning to improve. We’re seeing improvement on a daily basis. That’s how you get better as a football team. The improvement is incremental, whether it’s offense, defense or special teams. The improvement is all coming together, and the main goal is to be the best you can be, and to maximize your performance every practice and game opportunity."

On the difference in practice since Callahan arrived
"The comparison (between practices in Callahan’s first year to practices now) is not fair in a sense because when you’re installing a new system of football, it catches everyone off-guard and there’s a period of adaptation. Now, things are much quicker and faster in terms of adapting and understanding how to practice, prepare, watch tape, get ready in the offseason and to study. Those things grow on a daily basis from our football team."

On comparing talent from Callahan’s arrival to the present
"I don’t think that’s fair. We’ve tried to improve our talent, not just our starters, but I’m huge on building the bottom of the roster and making sure that we have players down there who have a role and understand their role. The most important players at practice are the scout-team players because of the look they have to provide to the starters. If they don’t provide a good look, it hinders our opportunity to be effective on Saturday. Every role and everyone is important. We’re always trying to improve our roster and talent base."

On potential areas of improvement
"We want to continue to improve and maintain what we’ve done well, and continue to improve other areas. We’ll always take the approach that we’ll do what it takes to win football games. Part of that is to improve every aspect of our team. To single out one facet of our squad would not be fair. When we get to the games, it’s not about trying to find a way to improve, it’s about trying to find ways to win. It could be by running, by throwing, by blitzing more, by playing more zone. We do have some areas we want to work on. We are putting more emphasis on our special teams, because we see what it can do in terms of the hidden yards involved and the big play opportunities."

On the Oklahoma situation
"That was brought out by our compliance presentation yesterday. Our compliance staff does as good a job as anyone in educating our players. It’s a process where you educate your players and make them understand what goes on.

"Character counts. In the quest to win a championship, the focus and maturity of your football team has a lot to do with that. We don’t want off-field distractions or baggage. We don’t want guys on our football team that are going to take away from what we want accomplished. We emphasize to our players that they should be on time, go to class and appointments and be efficient on the field. We try to get our players to understand that, to get great chemistry as a football team, everyone has to sacrifice."

On Matt Herian
"Herian has been cleared and will be ready to go. We’ll have to wait and see. It’s a day-to-day process with Matt. We’re very hopeful and excited for his opportunity. I hope he has the greatest year of any tight end in the country. He has put so much hard work into his rehab that you root for guys like Matt. He’s a small-town guy from Pierce that just got married and is a mature, young man who wants to play for Nebraska and has a desire to do well. He has had setbacks in his rehabilitation that he has overcome. You could see that there were times where he was frustrated, but he’s persevered and done an extraordinary job of maintaining a positive attitude and focus and a determination to get back on the field. I hope the best for Matt, and that he doesn’t have any setbacks."

On Nebraska’s receiving corps
"I feel good about our receivers. We have a good, experienced base that has a pretty good knowledge of what they’re doing. We’re going to try to challenge them more in fall camp and feature them more, especially in match-up situations. We’ll try to put as many on the field as we can to feature their ability. This receiving corps has depth and a profile I like in terms of size-they’re bigger and run better. Guys like Terrence Nunn, Nate Swift, Todd Peterson and Frantz Hardy have worked hard in the offseason and have improved their speed and agility. In addition to their required drills, this group has taken it upon themselves to get better, through 7-on-7 drills and by working individually. I like their work ethic and preparation. I’m excited to get on the field with them."

On the quarterback situation in fall camp
"Fall camp is important for everyone. All of our quarterbacks need to have a great camp. Our team needs to have a great camp if we want to get to where we want to go."

On offensive line flexibility
"I almost drove Coach (Dennis) Wagner crazy when I got here. We always try to mix and match. Every guard has to learn to snap a football and learn to play center. We tell every tackle that they need to learn to play guard. We tell our right-side guys to learn left-side footwork and vice versa. We always mix and match, especially during this training camp."

On the I-Back race
"All the I-Backs are great competitors. It will be fun to see these guys compete for a role. We told the team yesterday that competition is wide open. There is no spot guaranteed on this team. Everyone is competing and earning their role. The I-Back race will be heated and it should be fun. We have a talented group there. All of them have unique traits and abilities."

On overall depth
"You’re always hopeful entering fall camp. I was asked earlier what my concerns were entering the season, and I said, ?depth’. You can never have enough depth. As you go through camp, you watch a lot of guys go down fast if you’re not careful. We’ll try to monitor that as we go through camp."

On the level of contact in preseason drills
"Our camp will definitely be physical. We want a physical football team. We always look to be physical in our camps and have drills that highlight tough, physical play. There’s always a lot of talk that physical play starts up front, but you also have to be physical on the edge at tight end, with your backs in picking up guys and on the perimeter in terms of downfield blocking and open-field tackling."

On team chemistry
"We have good senior leadership. During the summer, the coaches aren’t there, which I think has a positive effect on our players because your team chemistry shapes itself. You can’t just say that your team will have chemistry. Your players have to get to know each other, get a feel for one another, appreciate the sacrifices that each have made. When guys begin to respect the hard work that they put into a practice, you begin to see the team get closer. When you see four to six guys hanging out, going to the movies together, eating together, coming to the office, hanging out in the locker room together, that dynamic (of team chemistry) begins to take place. We educated our seniors on leadership. We offered a leadership course for our seniors, just to give our guys a deeper education of leadership and so they understand their leadership role. We’ll proceed to educate our team on the topic."