Erik Chinander Quotes - 11-22-21

Erik Chinander
Nebraska Defensive Coordinator
On the game against Iowa
“Iowa has done a really good job at running the football and they pair their play-action plays with their run scheme. Just like Wisconsin, I think they are an ascending group on offense. Obviously we need to tackle better. That is no secret. I thought probably last game we did not tackle well as a group. I thought we attacked some run fits a little too fast and that is on me. I had those guys wired up to really go hit those run fits and make that thing real small. Some of those runs got bounced around a little bit in the backfield and popped loose on us, which is very unfortunate but I think some of that is definitely on me and not on the kids. When we are playing a game like this we obviously, the guys up front have to do a good job. They have to take this game over for us. I think as a group we really have to tackle the ball carrier better. We have to leverage the ball better and we have to do a better job at getting the guy on the ground.”
 
On impact of having limited playing time from Damion Daniels, Deontai Williams and JoJo Domann
“I think it impacts you. Those are really good football players and guys that have been leaders on the team. Changes things a little bit. Caleb (Tannor) goes down early in the game as well. That is football. The next guy has to play. The next guys are going to play next year. It was not like we need to call a timeout with those guys because we did not know what to do. Those guys were ready to play football. They just have to keep getting better and better. The rest of the group has to cover up a little bit for those guys when you get a new guy in there. It does not matter who it is or how much experience they have. When you get a new guy in there it takes a while to get acclimated. Your eyes are big, especially when you are playing a team like Wisconsin. That is football. Everybody has guys that are injured. We are no different. Iowa is no different. Wisconsin is no different. Everybody has guys that are banged up and injured so we have to do what we have to do to win football games, to win and play good defense with our without guys that are in the lineup. I hope we can get them all back, but the next guy up has to take a stand and next guy up has to be ready to roll.”
 
On the tackling against Wisconsin
“I thought throughout the year we have tackled pretty well. We have done a really good job leveraging the football. There has not been a lot of misses out there. The ones that have gotten missed have been missed the correct way and that is a funny thing to say, but when you miss on the right leverage and you bounce around a bit the rest of the posse can hunt. That game where they are getting in 22 personnel or bringing in an extra tackle in and that box is so packed, those tackles are critical because the mass of humanity in the A gap when that thing gets bounced around and somebody misses there is nobody left to make that tackle. I do not think it was ‘oh my gosh we were not tackling anybody’ but a couple of those ones that got missed just became intensely magnified because of the kind of game we were in.”
 
On Blaise Gunnerson
“He was injured coming in from high school we had to get him some things repaired. He has made some steady progress and to be honest with you, really after the first bye week we thought, man this guy is really playing well and maybe that was because during that bye week he had an opportunity to get some of the older guys some rest and he had some good-on-good periods with some younger guys playing but we had a chance to see him against the first string offense and some of those good tackles and one-on-ones and those good-on-good periods. I think that first bye week we were like ‘man this guy has really come along’. Both him and Jimari (Butler). It was not necessarily a great thing that he had to go into the game because Caleb (Tannor) got injured, but really good to see him respond. Did he make some errors? Absolutely. Did he play really good Big Ten football? He sure did against a really good football team so that was really positive to see.”
 
On Nash Hutmacher
“I think Nash is a little different then Blaise. I think Nash we kind of saw a little bit early that he was coming along really well and he has got some very meaningful reps against Cam Jurgens, which is always a good barometer to see where those guys are at. But he just had Damion Daniels playing such good football and some of those other guys he has not had a chance to get into some of those games but Nash is really coming along well, too.”
 
On senior day
“I do not anticipate many guys will walk on senior day that are going to come back. There may be a couple guys, and I know they are all talking to Coach (Scott) Frost. There may be a couple of guys that are not 100 percent sure. But I think most guys at this juncture are either walking and leaving or not walking and coming back. But there are always a couple out there. I think every senior day is mixed emotions. Really cool to see them and their parents and very emotional day and sad to see them go. Probably for a lot of these guys I wish we had them back another year, but they are going to start on the next leg of their life whether that be Sunday football or the professional journey but very mixed emotions on senior day always. And this has been a special group to me just because this group was kind of some of the ones that started even though we had some seniors, and I remember a lot of those guys. The Mick Stoltenberg’s and the Davis’ brothers and (Luke) Gifford and those guys. But this group has kind of grown up in the system a little bit, and it is going to be sad to see these guys go. They have done a lot for this program and they have really played well this year.”
 
On Caleb Tannor
“I do not know if it is so much growth in between the white lines. I think it is growth outside the lines. Caleb has become this year in my opinion a really good teammate. He is starting to develop leadership traits. He is taking care of business in the classroom. He is taking care of business off the field. He is just really fun to be around right now. I think that Garrett (Nelson) is right. There is growth with everybody in between the lines every single year and Caleb is no different but that growth outside the white lines for me for Caleb has been the fun part to watch.”
 
On Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum
“I think he is an exceptional football player. He is very athletic. It is kind of the first thing you notice about him. We will see the look we get from Cam Jurgens is very accurate because I find both those guys to be similar in size and both are very athletic centers. I think that look that Cam gives us all year when we do good-on-good periods is going to carry over really well for playing Iowa, but I think that kid is very smart. He makes all of the calls. He makes all of the checks. Very athletic. Finishes plays. He just looks like a Big Ten offensive lineman just on the upper side of athleticism.”
 
On Iowa’s offense  
“They are always going to get good at a few run plays. Those run plays may not be the same year to year. I think they kind of tailor that to the personnel they have, whether they have tight ends or fullbacks or what kind of back they have and those things. That is going to be based on that zone run game and it is going to stretch you out. The running backs are going to be really good at cutting that thing back and they are going to try and formation and shift and give you a different look at their packages. Something we have noticed as of late they added some gap schemes into the equation. Some counter and some power. Some pin and pull. This is who they are. They are going to try and run the ball and try and run it right at you and then they are going to complement you with a play-action pass that marries up to their run plays. They also have the ability with their receivers to take a shot down field. They are very good at double moves and throwing that thing up and trying to let one rip and see if you are defensive backs are getting too nosey in the run fit. I think they have very nice pieces all around to build around the run game they have developed.”
 
On the meaning of the rivalry to him
“This rivalry I think means everything. I know our guys want to win. They want to win a game in the last stretch here. They want to win this one. This one has a trophy involved. Any time there is a trophy involved it is a special football game. For me growing up in that state there is a lot of people that I know that are going to be cheering for Iowa, which obviously adds a little fuel to the fire. There is going to be a lot of people in that state that are going to be cheering for Nebraska, and I know that they are wearing Blackshirt gear to the game and or to the bar or wherever they are watching the game, and they are going to take a lot of heat. I know they are doing that for me and for the Huskers, so that means a lot. This football game this is one that I think is marked on everyone’s calendar all year just because this is the battle for the border right here. We have to start winning some of these before you can take the next step in the program’s rise if you will, and I think these games are big in recruiting. These games are big for the team. A win in this kind of game can set you up for where you want to go next year. It can set you up as we go off recruiting, so I think this game is super important not only about the rivalry but also the aftermath that a win could mean for the program.”
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