Sam Hahn Press Conference Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Monday, Aug. 29, 2016
Memorial Stadium

Sam Hahn
Senior, Offensive Lineman 

On how sophomore offensive lineman Jerald Foster’s injury played out and who it affected
“Jerald got hurt that day, and Corey [Whitaker] was like four plays later. But he finished practice and the next day, the day after that Coach Cav (Mike Cavanaugh) asked ‘do you want to play some guard?’ and I said ‘that’s fine.’ I played right guard for a while the next few days and the next week he moved me over to left. He just asked me to move, and I said ‘whatever we need to do.’”

On why he thinks Coach Cavanaugh chose him to shift positions
“I have told him constantly I’ll do whatever the team needs. It’s about the team, it’s not about me.”

On how difficult the transition was
“It is not overly hard but it is not overly simple. You slide in, you do some of the same footwork things, there’s some different calls, but the footwork overlaps a little bit. It is a different ballgame inside than it is outside. You’ve got these bigger, stronger, stockier, shorter guys maybe instead of the longer, lankier, athletic guys on the outside, so I just had to focus on some things and assigments but it’s been going okay.”

On how much it helps playing between two good players
“A lot, especially with Dylan [Utter] in there. Dylan knows everything. There’s a couple times where he is just like, ‘yeah, do this’ and I’m like ‘OK’. And (Nick) Gates obviously is good beside me, so it’s a good spot for someone that needs to learn and is inexperienced, to play between those two.”

On what he thought going into camp what his role might be on the team
“Field goal, punt, and be ready at tackle if something goes wrong with the first two.”

On what it was like to make the decision to leave North Dakota State where he was on scholarship to walk on at Nebraska
“It was partial. I wasn’t on full [scholarship] there, but I was partial, but it doesn’t matter. Obviously North Dakota State is a great program. That kind of speaks for itself. The people are great up there, but I missed home and I wanted to play for Nebraska. That was my whole goal my entire childhood and high school career. I wanted to play here, didn’t really matter how I had to do it, it’s what I wanted to do. And now I can go home when I have the availability to and help farm and stuff like that. It tore me up pretty good the first semester at North Dakota State, when I irrigated all summer and put the work into the crop and I didn’t get to see any or reap any of the benefits of it. I’m a pretty home-based, family-based guy and I just wanted to be here like I said. You guys know how special this place is and what it means to some of us that grew up here. (The) 2012 walk-on class, I think we’ve spoke for ourselves I guess with our play. Maybe not me as much as the other guys, but I think you see that.”

On if he still has contact with friends from North Dakota State
“Yeah, my roommate Landon Lechler is the starting left tackle there and we talk every week and we talk about game matchups. He just congratulated me this morning, actually, because he heard the news. I called him Saturday night actually after their game and was giving him some crap on one of the plays he fell down on after I watched the game. I told him that happens to everybody, good job, and I hope they go get six in a row.”

On if he went to North Dakota State because he received a partial scholarship offer
“Yeah, pretty much. And because it was kind of a weird deal. I was recruited I guess as a preferred walk-on, and then it didn’t end up working out just for one reason or the other. And then I was like ‘Oh, I just kind of took that offer and ran with it.’ And then I decided that after that season that I wanted to come back here. Nothing against North Dakota State, like I said it is a fantastic place.”

On how his family responded when he said he wanted to come back to Nebraska
“At first, initially it was hard. They were trying to get me to tough it out and stick with it and stuff like that just like any typical college freshman or anything like that. But they were happy when I came back. It was better for our family, too. Like I said my family is pretty close, so it was good for all of us.”

On if he got a ring when North Dakota State won a national championship and if he ever wears it
“Oh yeah. I got it when I was up there. I mean I wore it a couple times but I haven’t worn it that much. I have the watch and the little mini trophy, and everything, too.”

On how he plans to mentally handle his first start on Saturday
“Just kind of stay away from all the attention I guess that I have been given. Especially like from people back home, because people back home are excited and I just kind of focus on Fresno State and getting ready to block their defense and relying on guys like Dylan [Utter] and Nick [Gates] to keep me grounded. Dylan kind of talks to me every day about things and walks me through things and staying calm but being ready, things like that. I owe a lot to him already.”

On what his mindset will be without Sam Foltz for the first game
“I’ll be pretty focused about the game and stuff like that, I would say. I mean I think about him at random times all the time, but it’s never really caused me to lose focus too much. It did at the beginning of camp a little bit a few days, but I think I’ll be more focused on the game. And I’ll probably think about him before the game a little bit and maybe during that first punt, stuff like that. But at the same time you have a job to do and you have to do it, and that’s what he’d want.”