Mike Riley - March 2, 2016

Opening statement
“I think, to me, the new season kind of started or began with the completion of the bowl game, which was a positive for us for a lot of reasons. The fact that our team probably played our best football in the last month of the year, in general, and then completed with a nice win against UCLA was a good thing. There has been a good vibe in the weight room with our team, I think we are getting a lot of good work. Everything has basically been kind of uneventful in that way, which is a good thing. The guys have just worked. I think we have made a lot of progress in some areas, we have tried to pay close attention in the offseason program to not only strength and speed development but also injury prevention. We have got to do better with that entry into each phase of the year, every time we enter into spring ball, enter into fall camp, that’s where the muscle injury, the hamstrings, the groin [injuries happen]. I hope we can avoid that or at least try and pay special attention to that.

“We have a foundation of football in on offense, defense and special teams. What we are looking for as a goal is to basically be fundamentally better inside of all those things, the techniques we use, how we play the game; just trying to help the guys with their technique and fundamentals. We can plug all of that stuff into plays, but the key is just helping guys run better routes, get better technique in blocking, get better position to defeat blocks, and then be able to make plays. I have through the years looked into spring practice, what you do that many months before the season. I think if you can come away with good fundamentals and not necessarily a whole volume of what you want do during the season because really how much retention is there? I think that the focus for us is going to be just playing better football within the frame work of what you do. We will have to run plays and all that, we will have to keep installing. I think we have a better idea and direction that we want to go. Our recipe for winning that last game probably can’t be exactly like that for every game, but as far as the format for how we approached it for running the football, to the action passes we used, to the specific limited drop back game that we had, all those parts can be a good vision for what we want to do going forward.”

On the team’s depth
“We have a pretty good depth chart in place. We are looking at 120ish are on the depth chart as we put it forward. Sometimes we are four deep in some spots which is good. We are going to try and practice with two fields as we did a year ago. I see that as being the best way to provide practice and opportunity for guys, so we can both coach and get a good look at more players that way. I love the numbers that we have here at Nebraska, but you have to be a little bit creative if you’re really going to give them an opportunity and get a chance to coach them. So, we are looking to do that same sort of thing a year ago.”

On the beginning of spring practice
“We start out the first two days [and] have to be in only helmets as gear. So you go in only shorts and a jersey and helmets and we have two days like that and then we will get into full gear after that and expand our practices and what we do. It’s kind of funny because you want to establish some things physically that you want to get done, but you are in shorts on the first day. So, it might not necessarily look like that picture as you see it as what we want to establish, but it is just the nature of the deal and probably a good rule that they have in place to break into spring practice.”

On how the staff will split reps for Nebraska’s quarterbacks
“That is probably the No. 1 question that we talk about in a staff meeting is how we do rotations and personnel in practice, particularly early in fall camp and always during spring practice. The quarterback deal is, Tommy [Armstrong] is going to obviously be with the ‘A’ group, and he will take the first turns and we will team him with Ryker [Fyfe] a lot, right away, those guys will alternate with their group. The other group will probably alternate the other three quarterbacks, AJ Bush, Zack Darlington, and of course our freshman Patrick O’Brien. Now, we also have the option to be able to bring one of those guys over to rotate with Ryker and Tommy when we want to. We haven’t really talked about when or how that is going to occur, but that is the hardest position. There is one spot and that is why it is very important and kind of a residual bonus to be able to practice with two teams because otherwise you are talking about five quarterbacks and getting them adequate work with one field and one team [which] would be hard to do. So we are looking at being able to provide five guys a pretty good number of turns that way.

“I think generally [five quarterbacks] it is, and probably that would be what we would always try to keep it at. When you get a little bit smaller you might feel a little bit nervous at some times or you might be lacking in some part of the development phase of quarterbacks being able to take over whenever you give them the opportunity to do that. The other part is, I have really been guilty of this, is having too many guys, I think I might have told you before that, that room was full. They don’t get to do enough and it kind of waters down what you want to do with the quarterbacks that need to get ready to play in the games, and you really don’t get a chance to develop the people like that. Five, I don’t know if it is a magic number, but it’s close to what we have been shooting for.”

On changing positions on the offensive line
“Those guys [tackles] get used to playing on one side, so it is a big deal. Probably because of Nick’s [Gate] experience and his ability and with what we do we are going to move him to left tackle and then [David] Knevel will actually line up as a right tackle on the first day. [At center], well that is going to be fluid a little bit, we are actually going to work [Dylan] Utter in there. We have got some issues with non-injury situations and availability for practice and the explanation there is that [Paul] Thurston has got an issue with a class as a senior he has to take to graduate and the timing with our practices and his class is not good. So, we have to be able to compensate for that a little bit, so Utter is going to play center, [Michael] Decker is going to play center and Zach Hannon is going to play center. So we’ll start out like that. The way we do it, we hope that with older guys, a guy like Utter, we kind of teach in total in there technically, and we want them to have knowledge of the big picture, so if he moves back to guard we will be okay, but that is how we will start.

“We have got [Corey] Whitaker and [Tanner] Farmer lined up at right guard. We have Jerald Foster and Jailin Barnett [at left guard]. Right tackle is Knevel and [Sam] Hahn and [Cole] Conrad. In left tackle is Nick [Gates], Christian Gaylord and Dwayne Johnson. It is like we said off the top, that offensive line deal is going to be that both the practice reps and development of that group are going to be a key, key component to our success. There is no sense in being nervous about it yet, we just have to go to work and get these guys going. Knevel is an outstanding prospect to play, athletic ability, size, all that stuff that goes with it so we just got to help him be prepared to play.”

On Nebraska’s running backs
“We certainly liked how [Terrell] Newby and [Devine] Ozigbo finished the season. Those guys, I think, if they continue to work hard and grow and develop they should continue to be players for us. We have liked the rotation that we have used that last game. You know, we have done it, mostly in my career, we have had a tailback that was the starting tailback, and we gave the ball to him 30-35 times a game and that is what we did. One other time before I came here we actually had a rotation, both guys were good, they both contributed and we needed both to play and they earned that. What we got into last year with a good picture was a rotation that felt good. When you run the ball effectively you really feel good about the rotation. They all go in, they run the ball, they do a good job and you feel good about putting them in and they stay fresh and sometimes you provide a little bit different change of pace in the back. Newby is going to be different then Devine in some ways, so that would be a good combination for us.

“Now we are looking for other players. If indeed those guys have worked hard and continued to progress they should be better this year, if that is a stable factor than we are looking for other guys now. Really looking to see what [Mikale] Wilbon does. Wilbon has the ability, showed some spark last year, he is a real good kid. I think he has been working real hard, we’re just looking forward him to stepping up and seeing what he can do. He should be in that mix athletically, so we’ll see where he can go. The other guy I think is a wonderful guy, good worker, good teammate, has recovered now from an injury over a long period of time. We will see what Adam Taylor can do and how he can fit in. We can develop and do some real good depth of that position if those other guys step forward and come along. That will actually be exciting and I am anticipating that, that being right now, relatively thin should not be if these guys come along and play like that can.”

On top three in rushing goal
“Hopefully we won’t have to run it a lot more than that. We just want to be more productive. We had our moments in big games. One of the reasons we beat Michigan State is we ran the ball well in that game, so we have to find continuity in running the ball. We don’t want to be in that game where we are throwing 45 times. It’s probably not for a good reason, so we don’t want to get there. I think that with that whole idea - whatever the stats are - that consistent, reliable running is really what we are looking for. This is what we are going to be week to week and we can count on being this no matter the opponent." 

On the running plan against Michigan State
"Well I think that we had a really good plan about what we wanted to do against that team. That is what we are always shooting for. We did not necessarily invent any new plays. Our variety in what we did was great because the tailback played a part in the running game. The receivers had some fly stuff in the fly sweep in the round game and the quarterback ran the ball. That versatility made that game so much better. Tommy (Armstrong Jr.) was effective. Our runners were effective. We got some stuff to the receivers. We even got the tight end around on the running play. We want to have a tailback-oriented running game, but it is awfully nice when you have a quarterback like we do that can do that to the defense like that from time to time. Because we give the ball so much to the tailback, we would love the receiver to be a factor and that is what the fly sweep has done for us through the years - just giving us the versatility in the game that has been good for us.”

On process and transition
“The transition is a big thing and we stated that at the beginning of the year. It is hard on the players. They have new coaches. No one is around that really recruited them necessarily. We had the chance to learn about each other through adversity. We didn’t necessarily want that like that, but as we look back on it, what I am most proud of is the fact that everyone kept going. Everyone kind of went to work and I think I told somebody the other day that no one lost their minds. With all the adversity that we had in a transition year, it could have been a real catastrophe. We played our best ball in the last month and I like that. It says a lot about the players and a lot about the coaching staff, so it gives us a chance to be better and grow and build that thing that is most important in a day to day world that we live in and that is trust.”

On player mindset
“I feel like every day we have a chance to think about going forward instead of thinking back about everything. It feels like that to me. It feels like that part of it has taken over in the weight room and in the vibe of the football team. A lot of the questions had about who these people are and for us, who the players are - I think all of those are just kind of disappearing into life and that feels much more comfortable.”

On the linebackers
“I am proud to single them out and I’m proud of the work they did. I really think that Trent Bray did an outstanding job with this group in an area that we talked about as not being very deep and not very experienced. I thought there was a lot of good football play and as we went through it, guys developed more into playing. I look at a guy like Chris Weber who just stepped in when Josh (Banderas) was hurt and played like he did and earned a scholarship through the course of the time doing that. You look at a guy like Marcus Newby that we didn’t know where he was going to fit in. Michael Rose-Ivey improved as he went. A group that looked thin a year ago looks a lot better today. Then you look at a guy like Dedrick Young that was a true freshmen and played more snaps at linebacker than any other guy on our team and had a really, really solid year. He is now kind of a grizzled vet coming back having played a lot of football and he is a good player. He provides you some stability immediately that you did not know you had a year ago going in. I think Luke Gifford is getting healthy there. The front line - Michael Rose-Ivey, Banderas, Dedrick Young, and then you have Gifford, Weber and Newby - and then you have a linebacker that did not redshirt and played all over special teams that I think has a lot of ability. Tyrin Ferguson is lined up there. Mohamed Barry is there. Then you have a number of other guys like Brad Simpson that played a lot for us on special teams. I’m proud of what he did. He should grow into a better player this spring with more opportunity. Then there are some young guys like Jacob Weinmaster that is a kid from Colorado - he’s looked good as a scout team player. I would not be surprised if he found his way on to some of the special teams initially, then we’ll see what he can do with the football. So our depth there, it is like four or five deep right now for spring ball, including some of the guys that redshirted, the guys that played and some of the guys that have walked on.”

On Luke Gifford
“Luke Gifford is going day to day. He is not going to be in any full speed tackling drills, but he can actually go into pass skeleton and into team as long as we are not tackling right now. We are going to keep an eye on him, but he is basically cleared for all that other stuff and we will be able to head toward maybe playing in the spring game or maybe not. We will make a decison with him on that.” 

On not tackling in practice during the regular season
“I think that is always good for a conversation. I mean in our world that we live in, I think that is all fair game. There are going to be more and more rules surrounding that as we go forward and that is not bad. We don’t tackle during the season. Very rarely do we say let’s go full speed tackling here once we get into the year, so it would not be a drastic change for us, nor would it be for the majority of people I think. Actually taking people to the ground during the week of practice preparation that would not be a drastic change. I think it would just be a definition of what most people already do. We are not close to being done with this conversation of how this is going to go. The NFL has been the lead in this. They have surrounded their practices with lots of rules. I don’t know what they are specifically so I won’t speak to them, but because of that, there is a lot of information out there. We have got to go about ways about making this game safer. We are making a big move in tackling. To look at us, we would say is a better way to do it and a safer way to do it. We are just part of that picture actually.” 

On Nate Gerry
“I don’t think it will have to affect anything about how Nate necessarily approaches the game. We want to help him technically and I actually think, and I think most people in here would agree that, that last call on him was really one of those that is now a national topic and being used for referee’s everywhere. I mean it is. When we had the Big Ten meetings, they discussed two hits. They had it up there on the video and Nate’s was one of them. That was really what is hard about this right now. I think we have to - not talking about Nate - we have to help define for players what is legal and not legal because 10 years ago, you would cut that up on a video and say that this is good form tackling right here. And it actually was safe too. His head was not in the picture. I think they just missed the call. That is the kind of thing we will be discussing. With Nate, he is a physical player and likes to play. We are studying this. We have people from an outside source that are basically working with us on both better ways to tackle and safer ways to tackle, so that would include every player on our team, which of course would be Nate. I am not worried about Nate. Nate as far as his approach to the game or how that might affect him. I think what we need to do, is like what we are going to do with everybody, is to just teach him a little better way to do it.” 

On the Billy Devaney hire
“We were actually talking about a hire like this - the hire of Billy Devaney. We were talking about it months ago - Shawn Eichorst and Steve Waterfield, who I work close within the football world. Really the birth of it was their idea, about a veteran football person that could help in a number of areas, focusing on the evaluation and recruiting of athletes. But also a big help to me in any part of the football world we are talking about and actually every part of our office. As we looked at it and drew it up, not a lot of people necessarily qualified for the broad range of things that we wanted from this position, but you talk about someone who has been a general manager, played a part in operations, played a part in evaluation of personnel, played a part in football, played a part in staffing - looking at the big picture of an organization and being kind of an on-time/full-time consultant in a lot of these areas. There are a lot of different projects in football too that we don’t even necessarily talk about much in here. One of my concerns is 11 o’clock kickoffs. I am going to have to talk to Billy about this and say this is an issue that I think we have failed in. 11 o’clock kickoff games - what can we do differently during the week and on the morning of the game? I have always thought that more heads that are involved in something and really truly studying it, when the ideas are put together and you have a good relationship involved in that, you have a better chance of coming up with a better idea. We talked about it for a long time before we actually put the idea of the job in motion. Then we started talking about people from there and then it narrowed down to Billy in the end.”

On Aaron Williams
“That is where we are going to be thin. With Aaron being gone and Keyan Williams over there and then we will have a group of guys, we are actually going to play with Nate (Gerry) and Avery Anderson is going to play safety. He played at corner a lot on the scout team. Body-wise, ability-wise, we think he might be better inside. Then you have a group of guys like Creighton Koley, a freshman Reid Karel, who we were impressed with during the fall on the scout teams. You can almost look at those scout teams, watch these guys play all year long and just get a glimpse of this guy and this guy might have the opportunity to be a player. A guy like Reid is a good athlete and he is an aware athlete. He was an outstanding quarterback in high school, so he has that kind of football awareness that is special for him. That is an area of players that haven’t played much with both Antonio and Aaron out initially that is going to look thin.”

On Patrick O’Brien
“The first thing that Patrick O’Brien will get is just more knowledge of what we are doing and that includes just the plays themselves, but also what we expect out of each, like pass pattern. Learning what that pattern looks like along with what the protection is about and learning progression, that is always a process. The earlier you get into the process, the better you should be able to learn it by the time you are asked to perform. So it gives him an extra half a year to do that. It can be a bonus. Most of the guys that can come in early, in my lifetime, have been quarterbacks. One of the reasons they like to do that is they can get a jump on all that part of the learning. Physically he gets to play with our team and our receivers and he also gets to train during that time. You can have a kid from a really good high school with really good coaches, but they can get the best training in their life here. On the outside, we have to help contain that a little bit with the work that Keith does. We will not be able to control the attention that gets. I think it is somewhat natural for your interest, for the fans’ interest, but as far as inside him going to get the normal attention that all of our guys get it doesn’t play a big part in our day to day way of how we function. He is going to be in the room. He is going to be learning. He is going to be expected to go out and practice and perform - that’s no different. He can get that extra hype from everybody else, but he won’t get any extra from us.”

On injuries
“Aaron Williams and Antonio Reed are out for a while. Luke Gifford, as we mentioned, is going to be limited. Mick Stoltenberg is out for this spring. Kevin Williams is out for this spring with that wrist deal. I think that is it defensively. Offensively, Brady Pelzer is limited to get started. Lavan Alston you should see him practicing, but he will be limited to all the full speed stuff and the interaction stuff and pass skeletons that we do. Of course De’Mornay Pierson-El will be out and Paul Thurston will be missing from time to time because of school.” 

On Greg McMullen
“Greg is going to play inside and probably continue to take his spot to the outside. I think that probably our need is inside, but I think we need to maintain his versatility on the outside too.”