Husker Walk-on Q-n-A: Matt Masker

Matt Masker is a redshirted freshman quarterback from Kearney who joined Nebraska as a preferred walk-on last season after graduating from Kearney Catholic High School, where he threw for more than 7,000 career yards and was a two-time Class C1 all-state player. With more depth at quarterback this year, Masker has served more on scout team after traveling with the team as the No. 3 quarterback last season. He enjoys fishing and spending time with friends and family in his rare spare time. A pre-med major, Masker is considering chiropractic school but is also thinking about coaching. He visited with Brian Rosenthal for this week's walk-on Q-n-A for Huskers.com.
 
BR: Why did you decide to walk-on to Nebraska, and what other opportunities did you have?
Matt: "I had basically any D-II offer that I wanted. All the way up until December of my senior year, I was basically going to go to Northwest Missouri State or Iowa Western. Those were two pretty good options. Then I had a walk-on (offer) at South Dakota State, too. But obviously growing up here in the state of Nebraska, it's any little boy's dream to run out of that tunnel. So when Coach Frost came back – I still remember exactly where I was when I got that text from Coach Frost. He said to come on down to the walk-on night, so I knew I had at least a good shot of getting a walk-on offer from him. I did, and it was a dream come true."
 
BR: So where were you when you received Frost's text?
Matt: "I was getting ready for a basketball game. I was in my school's gym, I was in the bleachers and I got a text from an unknown number. I looked at it and it said, 'Hey, Matt, it's Coach Frost, how are you doing?' I'm sitting there and I froze. You know, I did a double take and I shook my buddy and was like, 'You think it's actually Coach Frost?' I texted him back, and he said, 'I'm excited to meet you, come on down to walk-on night.' "
 
BR: Obviously, the walk-on event went well for you. What was that experience like?
Matt: "So I think there were probably like 15 or so guys there. He called each one of us into his office, and I remember seeing Coach Frost for the first time. It was like seeing LeBron James or something, you know? It was pretty awesome. He said, 'Hey, we'd love to have you here, and we're going to give you a preferred walk-on position.' I'm never going to forget that day. Ever."
 
BR: What's it mean to you to be a part of Nebraska's storied walk-on tradition?
Matt: "It means everything. As you know, they kind of took that walk-on tradition away from here for a while, and just to bring it back, it's really special to me because this place means everything to me. I've seen this place when it's been pretty low, and we want to bring it back to the top, where it belongs. To be a part of that is really, really special to me."
 
BR: What's your biggest challenge in serving as the scout team quarterback?
Matt: "I'd say the biggest challenges is you really have to humble yourself. Last year, coming in, there was a quarterback injury where I was on the depth chart, I was on the travel roster. This year I'm on the scout team. I think the biggest thing is showing up every single day and doing your role as best as you possibly can, working as hard as you possibly can. I believe you do that, good things are going to happen. Be patient, stay the course and just continue to work hard and do your job."
 
BR: How much do you study the opposing team's quarterback, or is your job more about studying and knowing plays?
Matt: "I mean, it's a combination of both. The challenge of being a scout team quarterback is you have to stay in your own offense, and then you're getting a new offense every week you kind of have to master in a short amount of time for the defense. During the week I'm watching both the opponent's offense and defense so I know how to do a good job for our defense as well. I'd say that is probably the biggest challenge, is staying up with the installs we're putting in every week and just being able to watch the opposing team's quarterback as well."
 
BR: What advice would you give to someone considering walking on at Nebraska over a scholarship at a small school?
Matt: "I would say just definitely check out all your options. At least go and visit some places. That's what I did. That's the thing. I went on all these visits, but no place really felt like home besides Nebraska. I came here and got that home feeling. It's the place I knew I belonged. It's an absolute challenge, for sure. But you know, I'd say if it's something you really want to do, at least give it a shot."
 
BR: What's your favorite part about being a walk-on?
Matt: "I'd say the challenge. You've got to have a chip on your shoulder. You're competing against some pretty high-profiled guys every single day. Just come to work every day. A lot of guys probably couldn't be walk-ons if they knew they weren't on scholarship and you're doing this for free. I take pride in that for sure."
 
BR: Conversely, what's least desirable about being a walk-on?
Matt: "Well, obviously, it'd be nice to come out of school with no financial debt. I'd say that's the only thing. Gosh, Nebraska is a place where they treat everybody the same. It's not like they treat us less, because we get all the same benefits as scholarship guys."
 
BR: What other sports did you play in high school?
Matt: "I played everything growing up. Football, basketball, baseball. I even tried wrestling for a year. Junior hIgh, I tried cross country, track. I wanted to do everything just to say I did it all. But in high school I did football, basketball, baseball – baseball for a couple years, then I played football and basketball through graduation."
 
BR: How does being a well-rounded athlete prepare you for football here?
Matt: "Coach Frost loves multi-sport athletes. That's what he recruits the most. I would encourage high school students, if they want to specialize in a sport, that's a bad idea, because you get one shot to play other sports in high school, when you're growing up. Play 'em all. It's fun, and you learn how to compete playing other sports, too."
 
BR: How would you compare the quarterback room this year to last year?
Matt: "More depth, competitiveness. Our quarterback room is so deep. It's a competition every single day, every day at practice, in the film room. There's just endless competition, which is something I love.
 
BR: Your favorite story about or encounter with Coach Mario Verduzco?
Matt: "Coach Verduzco?" (laughs) "I can only pick out one?"
 
BR: No, you don't! Tell as many as you want!
Matt: "Ok, well, the first day I arrived on campus, I walked up to Coach Verduzco's office, and there's classical music playing, he's got a cigar in his mouth, and he's got his feet up on his desk. He's watching film. And I walk in there – I'd never actually met the guy before. I'm just basically kind of taking a shot in the dark. I walk in his office, he kind of looked at me and I go, 'Hey, Coach V.' And he's like, 'What do you want?' And then I go, 'Well, I just thought maybe you might want to meet me, it's my first day here.' I kind of forget what he said after that, but that was my first impression of Coach V."
 
BR: What's the best piece of advice you've taken from Coach Frost?
Matt: "Coach Frost is full of wisdom but the thing that he really preaches is no fear of failure and being able to play football if you're not afraid of making a mistake. It really takes a load off your back. Just being free to play, making any throw you want, just trusting yourself as you're playing. I think that's made the biggest difference in my game."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.