Husker Walk-on Q-n-A: Ty Chaffin

Ty Chaffin is a 6-foot-5, 215-pound junior wide receiver who joined Nebraska in 2016 as a walk-on from Burwell, Nebraska. A multi-sport standout at Burwell High School, Chaffin earned all-state receiver honors his senior season, when he caught 48 passes for 870 yards and 14 touchdowns. He made the travel roster as a redshirted freshman and played in one game, against Iowa, and is now working on the scout team. A mathematics education major, Chaffin is a five-time Nebraska scholar-athlete honor roll selection and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten member. He visited with Brian Rosenthal of Huskers.com for this week's Husker walk-on Q-n-A segment.
 
BR: How did your recruiting relationship with the Nebraska coaching staff begin?
Ty: "So it was with the old staff, Coach Riley and them. They had kind of sent some stuff out a little just before my senior season, just kind of talking, and throughout my senior season, they had been in contact a little bit more. Then we came down and played in the state championship game here, so after that game is when they really started to talk to me more and extend the walk-on offer to me. I immediately took it, and here we are."
 
BR: What other opportunities did you have, and why did you accept the walk-on offer?
Ty: "I had a lot of smaller-school offers, ranged all over. UNK was an option. That was where I was leaning to, besides here, but as soon as Nebraska became a legitimate option for me, I knew I was coming here. There was no hesitation. I actually the called the UNK coaches right away. I had kind of a close relationship with the linebackers coach there, because he's the one who recruited me. He told me best of luck, because he knew, he could tell my decision was already made. The reason I chose here is just the opportunity this provides, being able to challenge myself and become the best player I can be. I think this place definitely made that possible for me, just all the opportunities, academics, all of that."
 
BR: What's it mean to you to be a part of Nebraska's storied walk-on tradition?
Ty: "It's definitely a great tradition. There's a lot of history with it, a lot of guys, walk-ons who have become starters, and go on to the league and stuff. For me, it's an opportunity to become the best player, the best person that I can be, and for future years, all the lessons I'm learning now can be applied to coaching or something like that that I'll plan on doing. Just the opportunity is huge, and we're treated the same as the scholarship guys with the meals and everything, so that's great."
 
BR: Do you have any previous Huskers walk-ons who have inspired you?
Ty: "One that kind of stood out to me was Brandon Reilly, because he was here my freshman year, his last year, his senior year. We kind of got to interact a little bit, and I got to talking to him, and then him coming back and working with Coach Dub, I was still there for that, kind of hang out and meet with those guys, getting to know him on a personal level. And watching him come in the Michigan State game his junior year, making those plays and stuff, so it's kind of like having the patience to keep putting in the hard work and then your time comes and then make the most of it, obviously."
 
BR: When you return home to Burwell, what kind of reception do you receive?
Ty: (wide smile) "My fiancé, it's funny, she always gives me a bad time when we go anywhere because I can't walk 5 feet without somebody stopping and talking to me. So it's always interesting. I always lose my voice almost every time I go home because everybody wants to talk and talk and talk and stuff. But it's always great to go home, get to see the football coaches. I went home during the bye week and saw the coaches, got to watch some of the high school games, and that was a lot of fun. I got to go home and see family. My family has a ranch, so I got to go out and do some of that work. It's just always good to go back."
 
BR: Do you feel a sense of pride representing Burwell as a Husker walk-on?
Ty: "Yes, yes, definitely. That small town, everybody's got your back, everybody's keeping up with you, looking for your name in the paper. I get so many texts on game days, 'Hey, I saw you on TV today,' things like that. It's always a great sense of pride to represent a small town. It means a lot to me. It's kind of what drives me to continue to do everything. I get to live an opportunity a lot of people don't get to have, and for me, that's a huge blessing. I'm very thankful for that."
 
BR: Who are some of the most well-known athletes to come from Burwell?
Ty: "Carl Ashman, and then his brother came down here, I think that was back in the 60s. They played offensive line. I actually didn't know about his brother. I knew about Carl, because his name is on one of the boards downstairs. He represents Burwell. I've seen him at a couple of games with his cowboy hat on and everything, so that's always fun to see. Besides that, a relative of mine, Brady Bonsall, came down here and ran track and cross country. He was another good athlete."
 
BR: How do you embrace your scout team role, and what pride do you take in that?
Ty: "With the old staff, I had worked my way into the travelling rotation, and I was on the travel squad. So I got to experience all that. This scout team, this transition, for me, it's another opportunity I get to give the defense the best look they can to help them on Saturday. I catch myself a lot on Saturday seeing things like, Dicaprio Bootle and I do a lot of talking during practices about receiver splits, like, this guy is at the top of the numbers for this play, something's going to happen. We usually try to talk that out as much as we can, so I see a lot of that happening on the field; I try to think about that stuff. For me, it's an opportunity do whatever I can to help the team, and win on Saturdays. That's the main reason why I'm here."
 
BR: What's your favorite sport outside of football?
Ty: "That's a tough one, because in high school I did them all. I'd have to say baseball, just because it's so relaxed. A lot of my friends, we played baseball together going into my senior year and just that fun atmosphere we had on the field, that was fun. Basketball, I definitely miss warmups in basketball, just playing, just in general. It's always fun. I'd have to say baseball just because it's so relaxed and fun."
 
BR: What's been the highlight of your career here?
Ty: "I would say that feeling that comes every week, but especially that first one, running through the Tunnel Walk and looking up and seeing all the people out here. Just that feeling, a lot of people back home will ask me, 'How do you describe that feeling?' and I can't. You just can't put it into words. So I'd say that's probably the highlight, my favorite experience. And then getting to know the coaches, getting to know the guys, things like that."
 
BR: What are some of the main questions people ask you when you go home?
Ty: "People are always trying to ask what's happening on the team, or what have you heard about so-and-so, is somebody healthy. Those things. I always have to keep that in house. We don't let any of that stuff out. But a lot of people just ask me how I'm doing, how I'm doing in classes, how I'm doing in football. Obviously, being from a small town, a lot of people care about you, and they know it's not just about football. People ask me, too, about my fiancé and how she's doing, how the wedding planning is going."
 
BR: You're academic All-Big Ten and an honor roll student. How do you balance your football and school?
TY: "The University of Nebraska and the football team does a great job of stressing how important academics is. I meet with Katie Jewell quite frequently just to talk to her about how things are doing and if I need a tutor for any class. In my earlier years I really utilized tutoring a lot, just because it's a great tool. The study room down there with Dennis Leblanc and all those guys, they do a great job of making sure everybody's doing well in the classroom. I'm a math education major, so I love math, so all my math classes I get into, I just love doing that stuff."
 
BR: What's the best piece of advice you've taken from Coach Frost?
Ty: "I really like his motto of, 'Desire to excel, no fear of failure.' That, to me, is the way you should live your life, the way you should play football. That allows you to play so fast and go out and make plays. For me, there was a time period where I was always worried about not messing up. I would be hesitant, some of my routes wouldn't be fast, wouldn't be full speed. But with him saying that over and over again, that really just opened me up as a player. It let me be the best player I can be. And then it just helps you off the field as well, too. If you live your life fearing things, you're going to be limited. So you just have to let it all out there and let it be."

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