Banderas finally enjoying fruits of labor

By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

You could ask Josh Banderas how many tackles he collected against, say, Wisconsin.

He wouldn’t know the answer, but sure, go ahead and ask.

We bring up the Wisconsin game, specifically, because official statisticians in Madison credited Banderas, a Nebraska senior linebacker, with eight tackles in the Huskers’ 23-17 overtime loss on Oct. 29.

Nebraska coaches who watched game film – and who are pretty stingy when giving tackles, mind you – had Banderas with 13 tackles.

“That just happens sometimes,” Nebraska linebackers coach Trent Bray said of the discrepancy. “It’s not the first time. It just happens sometimes. I don’t know why.”

It’s not important, Bray said, because coaches are more concerned about grading players on being active, being around the ball, getting to the ball. Banderas was doing that, and then some.

“He’s played at a really high level,” Bray said. “His tackling, especially against Wisconsin, was the most physical it’s been in a long time. He’s knocking guys back, and those are really good guys.”

Meanwhile, Banderas couldn’t say how many tackles he had against the Badgers, or anyone, for that matter, because he doesn’t keep track, and he doesn’t keep track of those who keep track.

To wit: He’s been rid of Twitter for years.

“It’s better for my heart,” Banderas said. “It’s less stress. Less to worry about.”

He’s only kept Facebook for the sole purpose of birthday reminders.

“I’m not good at that,” Banderas said with a laugh.

Otherwise, Banderas ignores social media and keeps his head down while putting one foot ahead of the other, day by day.

Just like his father told him to do.

Tom Banderas, a former Nebraska tight end who lettered from 1985-87, passed along that advice from his father, who didn’t play football but was most supportive of his son’s career, the same way Tom has been with Josh.

That tight father-son bond has helped Josh Banderas through some tumultuous times, and a long, rough, winding road that’s nearing its end with Nebraska’s Senior Day on Saturday against Maryland.

“You’ve got to be a good man at life,” Tom Banderas said. “You’ve got to get your mind educated and you’ve just got to be a good man in life. The rest of it will take care of itself, I always believed.

“Keep your head down. Keep plowing. You keep putting the right foot in front of the left, then right, then left. It will work itself out, trust me. You just keep plowing along.”

The elder Banderas regularly attends Nebraska’s practices and visits with his son after every one. They talk daily. On Sundays, they go to church, have a meal and then just talk.

Suffice it to say the Banderas duo had a great deal to discuss in Josh’s first two years in the program, when he initially started four games as a true freshman, then was benched and played sparingly the rest of the season.

“His confidence was just down,” Tom said. “It didn’t matter what I said or what he believed. You could physically see he was just down. He just lost his confidence. You know as well as I do that if the six inches between the ears isn’t working right, you’ve got problems.”

Josh’s sophomore season didn’t result in much better stability. Frankly, he didn’t feel he was fitting in, and the possibility of transferring weighed heavily on his mind.

Enter coach Mike Riley and his staff, including Bray and defensive coordinator Mark Banker.

“It’s unbelievable what they’ve been able to do and the coaching,” Josh said. “Not that the other staff was bad, I just didn’t feel like I fit their style. It might work for some others. I’m not knocking them.

“But this staff has been unbelievable, and I think you can see that by our play, you know what I mean? I feel I’ve learned so much more in these last two years than I did in the two years previous.”

Learned what, specifically?

“More about the game,” Josh said. “Just more about the game and angles and maybe it’s the simpler system, but everything’s just clicking and I’ve learned so much more about football and how to do it and how to do it my own way. That’s been the biggest help they’ve given me.”

Josh said he could tell immediately in the first spring that the new staff’s style of coaching would be a much better fit for him, as a player, and as a person.

His father noticed the change in styles, too.

“Coach Riley,” Tom said, “he was a breath of fresh air for number 52.”

In fact, Riley’s calm, even-keeled approached bore a striking resemblance to what Tom had experienced during his playing days at Nebraska.

Yes, Tom Osborne and Mike Riley are different people, Tom Banderas stresses. But the way Riley mimics the Osborne mold, he said, is evident to him.

“Me knowing both of them now, there’s a lot of similar characteristics,” Tom Banderas said. “The patience, the being even-keeled. That’s why Coach Riley loves Josh so much, because he sees a little bit of that steadiness. There’s no ups and downs and crazy.

“These kids are 18, 19, 20 years old, so when they see berserk-ness sometimes going on, they lose it. When they see steadiness, calm, keep working, here’s the game plan, let’s make a little twist here, let’s make a little twist there – the kids understand that. I just really love the professionalism on the sideline.”

When the new staff arrived in Lincoln, Bray said he saw a big kid in Banderas, a Lincoln Southwest graduate, who could move well and run.

“On film, there wasn’t much of him because of what had happened the season before,” Bray said, “but from what we saw in the workouts when we first got here, and then spring ball, we really liked what we saw. Again, it was a guy with the mindset of wanting to learn and get better, so we knew could work with what we had, and he’s done a great job of just improving every day since we’ve been here.”

Bray could sense Josh was embracing a fresh start, making the most of a new opportunity. Yet injuries hampered Banderas his junior season – he missed four of the first six games – before he found a permanent place in the starting lineup.

This season began with Nebraska playing more spread teams, which limited the amount of time Banderas played at linebacker, what with the Huskers sticking with two-linebacker rotations and nickel formations.

No reason to mess up that chemistry, Josh thought. Yet he wanted to find a way back onto the field.

“I went in and I talked to Coach Bray,” Josh said, “and I said, ‘Hey, I’d like to get on special teams, what do you think?’ And he said, ‘Cool, go talk to (Bruce) Read.’ So I talked to Read and he said, ‘Cool, go check with the head man.’ So I went to Coach Riley and he said, ‘Awesome.’ It went bang, bang, bang.”

That was at the beginning of Big Ten Conference play, and Josh has since been a regular contributor on kickoff and punt teams. Special teams is less scheming and more running to the ball and displaying athleticism, which Josh enjoys.

Perhaps it’s another opportunity for NFL scouts to take notice, too.

“That wasn’t my main goal. I just want to help this team,” Josh said. “But obviously for future references it’s good to have special teams.”

“There’s less thinking about stuff and reading stuff and more just run as fast as you can at somebody. It’s fun.”

The addition of special teams has coincided with Josh’s recent tear on defense, too. He’s leading Nebraska with 71 tackles, including 33 solo, and has at least eight tackles in each of the last five games, including double-figure tackle totals against Indiana (11), Purdue (13) and Minnesota (11).

When asked what’s clicked, Josh said it’s everyone else doing his job.

“If you go back and watch that Wisconsin game, most of those tackles, I’m untouched,” he said. “You’ve got Mike (Rose-Ivey) sticking his head in there and taking up two or three blockers and Dedrick (Young) doing the same thing and K-Mo (Kevin Maurice) taking up double teams with Mick (Stoltenberg).

“I go untouched. I just happen to be the benefactor of my guys going their jobs. It’s more of a team thing than it is me, I think. If you find a guy making a play unblocked, then the scheme worked exactly how it was supposed to work. It’s nice for me that it’s been working that way, but that’s the system.”

Tom is most proud of his son’s overall character, and the fact he’s earning his degree in 3 ½ years.

Of course, he’s pleased with the recent stretch of success on the field, too, a product of Josh keeping his head down and plowing nonstop.

“I’m just glad these last five games,” Tom said, “people are really getting to see what this kid has in him.”

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.