Husker Corners, Safety Helped Launch 'Lockdown U'

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Nebraska cornerback coach Brian Stewart remembers an intimate conversation he had with junior corners Joshua Kalu and Chris Jones and sophomore safety Aaron Williams the week before the Huskers beat UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif.

In the aftermath of a 5-7 regular season, those three players sat down and discussed the possibilities that could take them from struggling to good and on to great with the right mindset.

Blessed with a number of coaching opportunities that includes serving as the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, Stewart enjoyed leading a spirited impromptu four-man discussion. Virtually everything they analyzed and debated in an unscheduled meeting became part of the primer for the Blackshirts reeling off a 6-0 start to a more productive season.

Redirecting the Energy of Frustration Can Transform into Something Better

Positive possibilities require redirecting the energy of your frustration and transforming it into something bigger, better, and in this case, a commitment that can only be described as unstoppable determination.

Tackling old problems from new angles isn’t easy, especially when you experience what Nebraska did in Mike Riley’s first season in Lincoln. Losing four games at the very end almost begs for accepting responsibility, assigning blame and creating possibilities that inspire you to clear the obstacles and encourage each other.      

Stewart remembers the respect and responsible conversation in vivid detail. “If we did our footwork correctly and tackled well, what are the possibilities?” he asked. “Chris Jones really took it personally. Going through the summer, he just said ‘Coach, make sure we’re getting together on all those things we talked about before the bowl.’”

Junior cornerback Chris Jones has three interceptions this fall and five interceptions in his last nine games, dating back to last year.

Coaches, Defenders Talked Relentlessly about Footwork and Hand Placement

“That’s what we did over and over and over,” Stewart said. “We talked about footwork and hand placement. We talked about not just covering a guy, but how to cover him and how important it is to do things consistently right.”

Leadership is never lonely when you share your thoughts, dig deep into your heart and encourage others to do everything the right way. “We just really bought into what we discussed and had a little contest at the end of the summer,” Stewart said.

That’s where accountability became part of the solution. “If we had a certain amount of interceptions, a certain amount of pass breakups and a certain amount of tackles, we would call ourselves Lockdown U, and that’s how it all kind of started,” Stewart said.

Lockdown U Became a Battle Cry, an Inspirational Goal and a Quick Hitter

Lockdown U became a battle cry, an inspirational goal and a quick-hitting mindset that popped up in heads, hearts, corner rooms and on the field.

“We talked about Lockdown U when we were going seven-on-seven, which is 100-percent pass,” Stewart said. “We told each other we needed to get three interceptions in one practice, and then we’d go out and get three interceptions.”

Team goals were the mantra, and everyone bought in. “That’s us,” Stewart said. “We play as a team and make sure we don’t have mental errors. When we were putting in new defenses, we only allowed two mental errors from our group and boom, we won, and that’s how we came up locking people down. This is us. We strive to be Lockdown U. That’s our marker, our goal.”

At this point, I ask Stewart who came up with the two-word description. “We won’t say who said it, but collectively we believe in it,” he said.

Junior Joshua Kalu has 29 tackles, including 23 solo stops. He also has four breakups and a game-clinching interception at Northwestern.

Stewart Always Felt Like You Have to Be a Group and Feel a Part of Something

Reluctantly, Stewart finally confessed the name traces its roots to Wade Phillips and the Dallas Cowboys. “We always felt like you have to be a group and feel a part of something,” Stewart said. “You have to have a criteria and if you have that criteria, you can be known for sacks, for attacking the quarterback and for attacking receivers.”

Since Keith “Dub” Williams calls his receivers wideouts, “I wanted to have a moniker, too,” Stewart said, “but we weren’t going to call ourselves anything until we had criteria. We went to the guys and asked what’s fair, what’s real and what can we do as a unit?”

Great expectations became realistic criteria describing where Nebraska wants to be and how they want people to view them. “It started with those three guys," Stewart said, "and when we got into our room, it was embraced by all of our corners.”

That hard-working group of corners also includes Lamar Jackson, Eric Lee Jr. and Boaz Joseph. Other safeties embracing Lockdown U include Kieron Williams, Nathan Gerry, Aaron Williams, Antonio Reed, Avery Anderson, JoJo Domann and Reid Karel.

You Don't Let the Scout Team Catch the Ball on You and You Don't Miss Tackles

Lockdown U is designed to reflect rigor in practice, discipline in games and toughness by nature. “You don’t let the scout team catch the ball on you, and you don’t miss tackles,” Stewart said. “We’re tagging off, but if you’re in bad positions to tag off, you better just tackle the guy. That’s what we talked about, and they’re doing a great job of holding each other to that standard.”

Lockdown U helped “the kids go after a different style,” Stewart said. “They went from fire-and-brimstone to calm, cool, collected and ‘let’s do this thing right.’ When you make that change, you’re looking to get pushed or yelled at, but it wasn’t anything like that. It was a collectively calm, ‘let’s go, you need to do this, you need to stay outside, you need to go to the ball, you need to do this consistently without yelling.’

“It’s just a different style,” Stewart said. “I like both, I don’t have anything against it. I just think those kids had to understand that different style, and I think the second half of the season, they say ‘hey, this is what Coach Riley is about, this is what this staff is about, this is how he coaches us and he’s right. We don’t need to be yelled at to get fired up. We need to play and finish. Tough things didn’t slow us down. It sped us up, I think, because of Coach Riley’s consistency.”

Sophomore Aaron Williams serves as the nickel back and is tied for the team lead in interceptions, including the clincher at Indiana.

Lockdown U Has Helped Jones, Kalu Improve Their Overall Performance

Junior corner Jones is tied for the team lead with three interceptions, including a 33-yard return for a touchdown at Indiana. He leads the team with six pass breakups and has 15 tackles. Jones also has five career interceptions, and get this – all five have come in the past nine games since he bought into the Lockdown U mindset.

Junior corner Kalu has 29 tackles this season, including 23 solo stops. He’s tied for second on the team with four pass breakups, and who can forget his game-clinching interception in the fourth quarter at Northwestern?

Purdue Boilermakers Lead Big Ten in Passing with 305.5-Yards Per Game

Purdue beat Nebraska, 55-45, last year without facing an injured Tommy Armstrong Jr. This year, the Boilermakers lead the league in passing with an average of 305.5 yards per game.

Don't underestimate the value of momentum. The Huskers have won nine of their past 10 games. The last time Nebraska started 6-0 was 15 years ago, so the Huskers are on a roll and determined to intensify their performance before traveling to Wisconsin and Ohio State on back-to-back nationally prominent road games.

With a schedule like that, how can any serious-minded team not have a stretch goal? That's why the Huskers embrace the right mental approach and the motivation it takes to win, especially when they want to make a statement in what may be the toughest conference in college football.

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