Senior Offensive Lineman Jerald Foster

Nebraska Football
Pre-Spring Press Conference
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)

Senior Offensive Lineman Jerald Foster

On the off-season workouts:
“Tough. This off-season has been challenging. There have been times when we need to push ourselves to be better, but I’ve enjoyed it. We’ve been bringing the positivity, the aggression to these workouts. Yes, they have been tough, but that is what our strength staff is there for. They’re there to push us, they’re there to get us ready to play. I’ve enjoyed myself. I feel like the seniors and all the other leaders have been able to showcase themselves out there. Saying ‘come on guys let’s keep going’, pulling each other over that line, whatever it is, I do feel like we’ve come together as a team through this offseason and I’m happy to see the results.”

On how the intensity will take a step up when hitting the field Friday:
“Definitely. The coaches are really excited and I know the players are too. We are all happy to see spring ball is finally here. We are really excited to get the playbook out as an offense and I’m guessing the same for the defense. Being able to actually do the plays we’ve been talking about through the winter is just going to be fun. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun to be out there again. I don’t know about you guys, but we’ve been away from it for a while now, not being in a bowl game. I’ve never been away from football this long, so I’m itching to put on some pads and do something worthwhile. The way the new coaching staff has been pushing us and turning the key on us and doing everything you possibly can to be better, I feel like we are going to be setting ourselves up for a good spring ball.” 

On adjusting from pro-style offense to no huddle:
“For right now, it hasn’t been too hard. I did the same thing when I went from high school to college, coming from a pro-style to a no huddle. I don’t think it’s too big of a difference. For the defense, they’re going to have to get ready for that. I feel like it’s going to hit them harder than it hits the offense. When you know what’s going on and you know exactly what you need to do, it’s just the same as you being in the huddle and coming out of it. Hopefully, it will take away more pressures coming from the defense because they won’t have as much time to get that relayed. I always loved that when we did red ball and got into that package of our offense from the old staff. Being able to have that whole time and being able to be pushing ourselves and the defense at the same time I think it is going to open up run lanes, open up passing lanes, and just allow us to move the ball well.”

On the toughest change with the new system:
“The toughest change, I don’t know. It’s all football to me. I don’t know what a tough change would be. Again, going back on me saying that I’ve already done this whole change from a different kind of offense to another kind of offense now to another kind of offense. I’ve done this before and the toughest part would be being able to get the calls and getting used to the different kind of way that you talk and the way that you signal. Not only just keeping in our mind the old way, but being able to understand the new way that much more in depth. Just being able to get it off of paper and onto the field I would say is maybe the toughest part of this.”

On what stuck out in early interactions with Coach (Greg) Austin:
“He’s a player. He’s one of us  He’s done this and you can tell in the way that he runs our drills  He’s active through our drills and he is the one who shows us what to do. If we do it wrong, it’s not only going to be him teaching you, but he’s going to be showing you completely the foot patterns  With him being a younger guy, you can have him showcase exactly what he wants to see. I feel like that goes and benefits a guy that can see it and then they can do it kind of guys, not only the guys that hear it and can learn that way. I think Coach Austin really has a good push on this offensive line. He’s allowed us to figure out who are the leaders on it, but again know that we’re all going to be working together and Coach Austin is going to be on our side.”

On Coach Austin’s saying “connections before corrections”:
“He’s definitely been talking about allowing us to be a unit together and knowing each other. He’s worked since day one to be able to get names, be able to get relationships, and personal aspects of life down before we got all of our technique, fundamentals, and things like that. It’s not like we aren’t doing it, because we are. We’re out on the field, we’re still working. He is definitely pushing to get to know us well and more in depth than when we started. I’m happy to see exactly where we are going with this. Coach Austin is a great guy and even better coach, so I’m happy to see him here and have his shining moment.  He said he is so happy to be back at the University.”

On the biggest part of Coach Austin’s coaching and biggest emphasis:
“I would say for everybody, our biggest emphasis as a team is the leaders are the ones that are going to be pushing the rest of the team. The coaches always talk about how a good team has great coaches pushing the players forward, a great team has great players pushing everybody else forward. The way they have been working us throughout this off-season and the way they have been talking to us and preaching to us is if you want to be a leader, you not only have to be able to do your part, but you have to be able to push everyone else in that right way. I feel like that’s something that we have been doing and I’m happy to see guys step up to the plate who didn’t have that stage before because we had other guys who were here. Now being an old guy I guess, I am happy to see my class working hard because we know this is our last time. We’re really excited to be able to put ourselves out there.”

On being from Lincoln and having a great senior year with the new program:
“Being from Lincoln, first of all, ‘Go Knights, Southeast you know how that is.’ This being my last year, I am happy to be able to take this program and build the foundation and I know the rest of the leaders are on this team. Not only for us to be able to build this program and be able to make the foundation for the Frost era, but we’re happy and we’re ready to go forward and have a good season this year. I’m not only going to be here just to make it work out for everyone else. Not saying I’m selfish, but I’m a little selfish here. I’m not going to go out as a bad team and I’m going to push and do everything I can to see that come through. We’ve been working, the leaders and the rest of the seniors, I feel like we’re all on the same page as this. We want to do all the work we possibly can do now, so when we get through the season and it gets to November we’ll be happy about the result of the year.”