'Naturally Gifted' Jurgens Making Move Inside

Greg Austin hesitated, unsure of whether he should even make mention.

Then, deciding to give credence to his boss, Austin revealed the name that Nebraska football coach Scott Frost had used to compare to a current player.

But Austin looked both ways before doing so in a whisper.

"Dave Rimington."

Shhh.

“That’s a big name to throw out, but he threw it out,” Austin said. “I was like, ‘C’mon coach, that’s Dave Rimington.’ ”

This also coming from a coach who’s on record several times saying he dislikes drawing such comparisons, and for obvious reasons. Maybe it’s not fair, or in some case, maybe not even entirely accurate.

So for Frost to mention the name of Rimington – a two-time Outland Award winner, and for whom another trophy has since been named – when talking about somebody on today’s roster is pretty significant.

None of this means true freshman Cameron Jurgens will win multiple major awards or have a trophy named in his honor, or that Frost is burdening Jurgens with very lofty standards or unreasonable expectations.

What it does mean is that Frost is extremely excited and encouraged from what he’s seen from an 18-year-old kid from Beatrice, a multi-sport standout who could, with little exaggeration, play any position.

“Cam Jurgens is going to be a phenomenal player for us,” Frost said during preseason practices in August. “I’m not really sure what he is, but I know he’s one of the best athletes we have on the team and maybe the most powerful guy we have on the team.”

The 6-foot-3, 270-pound Jurgens began the season at tight end, and Frost has since seen up close how explosive, quick, powerful, gritty and nasty Jurgens is, or, “all things that you would probably describe of Dave Rimington in his day,” Austin said.

And that’s how the move of Jurgens to the interior offensive line began, roughly a month into the regular season.

“Cam is a unique athlete,” Frost said. “When we recruited him, we didn’t know what he was for sure, whether he was a tight end or a defensive lineman or something else. After evaluating him for a while, he’s as physical and as good of a blocker as we have on our football team, and I really think he’s got potential to be a really good player on the offensive line, either at center or guard.”

Austin, the Nebraska offensive line coach, said the strength and conditioning staff, and most notably coach Zach Duval, excel at determining how much weight the frame and body type of a particular player can hold.

Jurgens, he said, has such a frame to carry extra weight naturally. So, expect a productive winter in the weight room.

“He is, in my opinion, the ideal size, in terms of his height, to specifically play center,” Austin said. “I’m just glad we got him early so now we can train him rather than in the middle of his career making him transition.”

Of course, only days after Frost discussed the position move, Jurgens got his cleat caught in the grass during a practice and broke a metatarsal in his foot. It’s not the same foot in which Jurgens had a plate and nine screws inserted nearly a year ago. Still, it will sideline him until sometime in November, most likely.

Before the injury, Austin had an up-close view of Jurgens and understood why Frost was so high on his move to center.

“He’s tough, he’s physical, he’s explosive,” Austin said. “And he’s a natural at snapping the football. He does a great job snapping and stepping. Some guys we have to teach how to snap and step. They’re just not natural at it, have to hold the ball a different way. I’m not a natural snapper. I found that out early in my career. But with him, he can shotgun snap and step, and he’s as quick out of his stance as anybody on the offensive line.”

Tight ends coach Sean Beckton feared in preseason camp that Jurgens may not be long for his room. He joked about having “a daily battle” with both the offensive and defensive line coaches to keep Jurgens. Turns out, Beckton had reason to worry.

“He’s just naturally gifted as far as his lower body strength,” Beckton said. "He plays with such leverage. When he explodes into you and strikes you, those guys go backward. I’m really excited to see what he’s going to do for this football team in the future, down the road.”

Jurgens has played in one game, against Troy, but can still redshirt under a new NCAA rule that allows players to appear in up to four games but still maintain a redshirt and not lose a season of eligibility. Depending on when he returns from his foot injury, Jurgens could still play in three more games and redshirt.

“We still may use him some this year at tight end, but in order to be ready down the road I think it’s important that he gets some looks at (center) and some meeting time,” Frost said. “He’s a smart enough guy to know a bunch of things. He’s just an exceptional athlete, an exceptionally explosive athlete, and I just think after watching for a while that his body type fits that. I can’t wait to see what he can do.”

It’s natural to believe Frost may see a bit of himself in Jurgens. Both are Nebraska natives, both multi-sport athletes, both having followed the lead of their mothers in track and field. Beth Jurgens is a former state champion thrower at Holdrege who later became an All-American at Kearney State, and Carol Frost became the first female Olympian from Nebraska and placed 14th in the discus in the 1968 Mexico City Games.

Frost won the 1993 Class C gold medal in the shot put, and Jurgens won four Class B gold medals and three straight all-class gold medals in the shot put, with a personal best of 63 feet, 3 inches. Even on a bum ankle his senior season, Jurgens threw 59 3 ¾, topping Frost’s 1993 mark of 58-9 ½.

“Anybody that threw the shot put farther than I did,” Frost said with a smile, “I have a special place in my heart for.”

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