Butler Speaks On Defense, Scrimmage

Nebraska defensive coordinator John Butler met with members of the media following the team’s spring practice on Tuesday. He discussed Saturday’s scrimmage. 

“The scrimmage was awesome. We had like 86 plays, tons of stuff came up. Obviously, when you’re in a team setting, there’s lots of stuff to coach off of from a technique standpoint, from an execution standpoint, effort standpoint. The installation has been pretty much in, pretty much since the fifth or sixth practice. They’re either tweaking things or saying ‘hey, let’s maybe try this because this is working.’ We’re experimenting a little bit with scheme stuff, experimenting with personnel stuff. I think we’re pretty comfortable with where we’re at from a game plan standpoint. Then, it’s really just continuing to emphasize the connectedness of your defense to make sure that everybody is playing on the same page, executing as 11. The best defenses I’ve been associated with don’t just have great players, obviously, but they play well together. I think that’s where the last four or five practices, days – it’s not just about practices. It’s the meetings, it’s the walkthroughs, it’s the continuing to galvanize that unit collectively.”

Butler also talked about the connectedness of the defense.

“It’s a work in progress. You’ve got pieces. There’s obviously more than just 11. It’s not the same 11 all the time. We probably have a pretty firm two deep right now, in terms of guys that are in the mix at different positions. When we’re saying multiple, we’re multiple scheme-wise but also with having as many personnel groupings as we can have. Then we want to utilize our personnel. Different players do different things. That’s one of the things, maybe going back to the first question – this guy knows our scheme right now, but how can we put him in a couple different spots to see if he can add value to our defense. It’s getting there, and obviously we have the summer and training camp to really get that thing tight.”

He spoke on what’s stood out to him so far this spring. 

“I think we’ve been, if you look at the numbers, we’ve been playing some pretty good man coverage. The additions that we have in the secondary have allowed us to do that. We’ve kind of moved some guys around and that’s helped us. I think we’ve got some pretty good blitzers that we’ve been utilizing in different spots that I’m excited about. Those two areas I think are things that initially stand out. I think the continued development of our defensive line has been good. Terry (Bradden) is doing a great job with Phil (Simpson). I think those guys are coming along. That’s an area where we lost some guys last year, but they’re coming along. Those would be three areas that pop into my head.”

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.