Holgorsen Talks Position Groups, Transfer Portal

Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen met with members of the media following the team’s spring practice on Thursday. He discussed the offensive line.

“They got yelled at a lot today,” he said. “You can tell it’s practice number nine. With it being as physical as it’s been, we’re starting to get some guys that are feeling it a little bit. We had a little stomach bug going on too, which knocked a couple guys out. I thought we would pull the plug on the third group and we didn’t. Good for those guys, having to play more snaps. All those young guys and new guys, the more snaps that they can log, the better it’s going to be. I’m really happy with that group as far as hanging in there and giving it everything they’ve got. It doesn’t always look good, but we talk a lot about really focusing on the technique and those guys, it may take years. The old adage, you put young kids at the o-line position into the program and you forget about it for a couple of years. It takes so long for that group, that position, to get bigger and understand the technique and work technique so much over the course of years to where it starts making sense and you start getting good at it. A lot of those guys still have a couple years to go. The good news is that we’ve got four guys over there that are injured that are going to be back in the summer. We’ll be able to add four veteran guys that have logged a lot of snaps, so I’m encouraged with that happening in June.”

He spoke on the wide receivers and their progress with a new coach.

“That’s a work in progress too, just from a ‘this is how we’re going to do it’ type thing,” he said. “That’s not going to happen overnight either. Fortunately, you have some vets in there. I consider Luke Lindenmeyer a skill guy. He’s a veteran guy that is coming into his own. Dane Key has played a lot. He gets more comfortable with Dylan (Raiola) every day. It’s starting to show up. (Janiran) Bonner is a tough guy that’s a skill guy that does a whole lot of things. He’s just a tough guy that plays fast. Jacory (Barney Jr.) is a vet as well. Nyziah Hunter is a guy that made plays today that I’ve been waiting on him to make. It’s starting to make sense to those guys that have logged reps, and the young guys just have to keep plugging away. A lot of times, those guys’ heads are spinning. We’ve got pretty much everything in. If we get into situational stuff, third downs, everything is on the table. It’s not just the plays of the day. You get down into the red zone, everything is on the table. It’s not just the plays of the day. You can see their heads – the younger guys, Cortez (Mills), Isaiah (Mozee) – their heads are spinning when you put it all together, which is understandable. The good news is it’s spring practice, going on number ten. We have five opportunities to coach them and come back in June and work more football before the real deal happens.”

Holgorsen talked about the transfer portal opening next week.

“I don’t have a clue what that’s going to look like,” he said. “We have so many kids getting so many reps, nobody is complaining. Everybody is giving effort. Everybody’s got opportunities to play, everybody’s got opportunities to show us what they’ve got. If I was anybody on this football team, there would not be anything that I would be upset about. You’re repping. The way that they’re treated here is unreal compared to what I’ve been used to. Shoot, ask Nyziah (Hunter) when he gets up here how we’re treated here versus how others are able to do things for these young men. Nebraska is a great place with unreal resources and these kids, if they choose to, they can benefit from this every day.”

NU will continue with spring practice on Saturday. The Husker Games, presented by FNBO, are set for Saturday, April 26. Fans will have the opportunity to get a preview of the 2025 Husker football, volleyball and soccer teams as part of the Husker Games events.