Senior Wide Receiver Nate Swift

Nebraska Football
Preseason Press Conference
Monday, Aug. 4, 2008
Memorial Stadium

 

Nate Swift

Senior, Wide Receiver

 

On what coaches are telling players going into fall camp<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

"(Coach Bo) Pelini talked about it last night in our meeting, being physical on every play, every down and every practice and camp. Everybody is just trying to get in the mindset of being physical and going out there and giving it everything you’ve got on every play."

 

On the absence of departed senior wide receiver Maurice Purify

"Last year, we had five or six guys playing every game and catching balls. Mo had a great year and did a great job for us. I don’t think there will ever be one go-to guy. There will always be guys on each side of the ball or each side of the field that Joe (Ganz) can go to. I think it’s going to be interesting to see who steps up and has a good year. There’s definitely going to be four or five, maybe six guys playing each game."

 

On improved receivers

"A lot of guys had good springs, even the younger guys that didn’t get a lot of reps in the spring still did good in the summer. Curenski (Gilleylen) and Niles (Paul), Niles played a little bit last year and Curenski redshirted so he definitely made strides in the spring; both of them made their game better. I think even the young guys like Will (Henry) and Ben Lester are looking good. If they can stay healthy, I know they’ve both had some health issues, but I think they’ll be fine in camp. The older guys, like Chris Brooks and Menelik (Holt) are coming along real good, too. It’ll be a fight to see who can find their role on the team and step up to get some playing time."

 

On his chance of becoming the school’s all-time leading receiver

"I don’t know if anyone ever expects anything like that. I just wanted to come in here and play and contribute as soon as I could. It just so happened that my redshirt freshman year I got to get in and make a couple plays and got a couple catches that year. It just turned out this way. I didn’t really expect it to happen like that."

 

On his hopes for his senior year

"Coach (Ted) Gilmore talked about it, I just really want to be consistent. Every game, game in and game out, every play, be consistent, do the right thing. Whatever happens happens; if you have a ton of catches or a couple catches here or there, as long as we’re winning games I don’t really care what happens with me."

 

On having eight home games this year

"Especially with the five games in a row to start off the year, two years ago we had four in a row and that really helps out a lot. Everybody was really looking forward to it that year, and I think everyone is really looking forward to it this year. Being home five games and having the home crowd here, especially when we have those last two games that are huge. I think hopefully we can have a good homestand and win all five. Right now we’re just concentrating on camp and we’ll see what happens."

 

On the mindset of the team from last year to now

"At the end of last year, no one really knew what was going to happen, if their coach was going to leave or stay and what was going to happen. I think the way it turned out was the best case scenario as to what could happen. We kept our offense and (Coach) Pelini came in, who’s going to be a great coach. Everyone is looking forward to it. He knows how to deal with players. There’s not one guy on the team that doesn’t like him, everyone loves him. Everybody is just ready to go. I definitely think the attitude has changed, 100 percent."

 

On Coach Bo Pelini

"The biggest thing for me is just how he motivates and gets you ready for things. Beyond that, he’s football smart, ridiculously football smart. Another big thing is how he deals with players; he’s social with everybody, he’s not just talking to the starters. He knows all the younger guys and he’s always coming around saying ?hi’. He just knows how to be a coach."

 

On senior quarterback Joe Ganz

"He’s become the leader. He’s always been vocal, our freshman year we were on the scout team together and there were seniors on there, too and he was leading the offense down there. Even when he’s a backup he’s always a loud kid, he’s always joking around, making everybody laugh and is friends with everybody. Everybody looks up to him, always has, and I think they always will. Especially this year, he’s going to be a great leader for the offense and the team altogether."

 

On being a leader for younger receivers

"We haven’t had too many seniors that could help out with the offense. I’ve been here since Coach (Bill) Callahan was here with this offense so it seems like you’re always helping out younger guys and sometimes older guys figure out the offense and help them along through practice and through camp."

 

On keeping confidence high

"Hopefully it doesn’t go south. I think Pelini will handle that his own way and he’ll do fine. There are some times last year where we would lose a game and there was just nothing there to bring us back up. I think this year, it’s going to be completely different with the coaching staff we have."