Adrian Martinez primed to take next step in leading Big Red back to respectability

April 16, 2019 leoadambiga Leave a comment

With all the love coming to Adrian Martinez heading into his second year at the helm of a Nebraska football team that year two coach Scott Frost is trying to mold into a contender, anticipation is running high. Martinez showed enough as an 18-year-old true freshman in leading a 4-8 team that came on strong late season that he’s a serious Heisman candidate in 2019 in many people’s eyes. The hype machine is in full gear. Expectations in Big Red Land tend to get out of hand. But this is not your average young man. He appears to have the smarts, the physical tools and the desire to be the best player in Lincoln in a generation. And this marriage between player, system and coaches – head man Scott Frost, QB coach Mark Verduzco and offensive coordinator Troy Walters – truly appears to be a match made in heaven.

Adrian Martinez primed to take next step in leading Big Red back to respectability

©by Leo Adam Biga

Originally appeared in El Perico (el-perico.com)

A year ago Husker football fans were on an anticipatory high when Nebraska lured back native son and program legend Scott Frost as head coach after he led Central Florida to an unbeaten season.

Frost then fanned the flames by promptly landing highly sought-after dual-threat quarterback Adrian Martinez to lead the uptempo spread offense the hot new coach brought. As an 18-year-old true freshman, Martinez beat-out redshirt freshman and fellow Californian Trestan Gebbia for the starting QB job.

Though NU had a past QB (Taylor Martinez) with the same last surname, Adrian Martinez is believed to be the first Husker trigger-man of Hispanic heritage.

“I think it’s something that can make me unique,” Martinez said of his ethnicity. “Also, it’s something I wear with pride. A lot of people that are Hispanic, including my grandparents and other family members, take a lot of pride in me having the Martinez name on my back. I try to carry that and do it justice.”

The only heritage Frost was concerned about was Martinez being the program’s first franchise player since Ndamukong Suh. With Martinez as the foundation and spark-plug, NU sought to recapture glory after only 19 wins in three years under previous coach Mike Riley. NU’s slide from college football elite to also-ran has seen it go two decades without a conference title. The once solid program has shuffled through five head coaches and staffs in this unstable span.

While year one of the Frost-Martinez rebuilding era didn’t go to plan in terms of wins-losses (4-8), the coach, the team and the star showed enough flashes of excellence that hopes are high for 2019. So high that some even peg Martinez, who set school records en route to passing for 2,617 yards and rushing for 629 more in 11 games, as a Heisman Trophy candidate. If he stays healthy, analysts project NU posting a winning mark, contending for the Big 10 West Division title and going bowling for the first time since 2016.

Image result for adrian martinez nebraska

It’s a lot to put on the shoulders of a 6-2, 220-pound sophomore with but one Division I season under his belt. Yet one thing Martinez has shown is a maturity beyond his years. The calm way he handles himself in interviews, at practices, on the sideline or in the heat of action is a characteristic oft-referred to by coaches and teammates. It goes back to his days at Clovis West High School In Fresno, where he helped coach the team rather than sulk while rehabbing an injury as a senior.

“I owe a lot to my parents and to my family as a whole for the way they brought me up and taught me how to go about things,” Martinez said. “Whether that be in school or talking to the every day person, it didn’t matter. There’s a right and there’s a wrong and there’s a fine line and my parents really taught me all about that.”

Back home, he didn’t think it was anything “special or unique” when his parents’ friends praised his wise-for-his-age demeanor. That changed during the recruiting process and his ballyhooed arrival in Lincoln.

“Then it started being pointed out more by people I didn’t know,” he said. “I take it as a high compliment and I think my parents do as well. I want to continue to be like that. I want to continue to exhibit those type of traits and just continue to make my parents proud.”

In a press conference to open spring football practice this month, Frost referred to Martinez’s continued progress in the offense under the guidance of QB coach Mark Verduzco. Frost also said that as a former Big Red QB himself, he’s trying to help Martinez navigate everything, good and bad, that comes with holding the signal-calling job in the glare of Husker Nation.

As for Martinez, the confidence he radiates is a function of his preparation.

“I think confidence truly comes from the work you put in day in and day out,” he said, “and if you truly believe you’re putting in enough work and you’re doing things the right way, then you’ll get the outcomes that you think you deserve and obviously earn.”

Despite his youth and inexperience, he’s seemingly never blinked in the face of of expectations or adversity.

“The confidence just came from working with Coach Verduzco and Coach Frost every day during fall camp, during spring ball, really putting in the time to try and learn the playbook and getting as good as I possibly could to be there for my teammates. That just translated into on-the-field confidence and obviously over time as I started to play a little bit more and gained a little bit more experience that confidence just grew.”

Though NU struggled mightily during an 0-6 start, the team remained cohesive and finished a strong 4-2 the second half of the year. That resilience, Martinez said, “really speaks to the character of the coaches and the quality of players we have here at Nebraska.”

“Things could have went differently. Things could have fallen apart there when things weren’t going our way. But we stuck together. The coaches kept believing in us, which I think is the most important thing. They didn’t try to degrade us or break us down. They wanted us to get better, We’re a team, we’re in it together. I think that point is what came across to the players and eventually over time we truly formed that bond and began forming that chemistry and finally put it out there on the field.”

Year two of the Frost regime and of Offensive Coordinator Troy Walters’ breakneck system is expected to start much smoother and reap more success. All eyes will be on Martinez to make things happen from the get-go. He denies feeling any pressure though.

“I would say pressure isn’t anything I’ve ever felt and I don”t feel it right now. I’m just confident we’re going to get the job done. I have faith in the people around me.”

Despite the loss of key offensive players to graduation in receiver Stanley Morgan, running back Devine Ozigbo and lineman Nick Gates, he believes enough returnees and newcomers will step up as new cogs.

After so much hype leading into last year, harsh reality quickly set in when the team opened 0-6. Whatever growing up the already mentally strong Martinez had to do, he did it on the fly, under great scrutiny.

“The toughest thing was going through that losing stretch. I encountered some things I wasn’t anticipating. Often I think you have this dream or image in your mind of how things are supposed to go, and a lot of times it doesn’t happen that way. But that’s nothing new. You have to learn to adjust and keep pushing forward.”

Nobody wants a repeat of last year’s disappointment and that’s why Martinez and his mates are taking lessons from what transpired in 2018.

“I truly believe things do happen for a reason and I think the experiences we went through last year will help us a ton going into this year. We experienced some tough losses and we know why we lost those games. Having that experience for the guys is going to be huge in just learning how to win.”

if anything, he said, the bumps in the road that occurred only fuel what the team wants to get done.

“If having the season we did at a place like Nebraska last year doesn’t motivate you to do better, I don’t know what will. I think this group of guys and me are hungrier than ever and we have some high expectations.”

Martinez likes the evolution he’s made in his own performance.

“I really believe I got better with each game. But I would say the Purdue game (a 42-28 loss) was probably a tipping point for me. It was a tough game with lot of penalties. I threw a critical interception there. But I felt confident with my ability to throw the ball and I think from that point there I felt there wasn’t a throw or a read I couldn’t make. It was just a matter of doing it effectively and doing it on time.”

Improvement, he said, needs to come in certain game situations where his decision-making and execution can make the difference between a bust or a big play.

“I think the part that can always use the most improvement is situationally – being better in all situations of the game. Knowing when to throw the ball here, knowing what the time is, being better with my reads, being quicker. I think you can never know too much about the offense. It means really diving into the playbook and spending time in the film room and that’s something I can improve on a lot from last year.”

After missing his final high school season and then going winless midway through his rookie college campaign, he doesn’t take anything for granted.

“You can’t be complacent. I don’t want this team to be and in no way do I want myself to be. I just have to keep that attitude and fall back on those people around me at the end of the day.”

Leadership is another area he’s looking to improve.

“You have to show up every day. Your effort has to be there. You have to be a leader, not only by example, but you have to have somewhat of a voice and make sure people are pulling their weight and you’re pulling your own.”

Martinez’s belief in himself is second only to his belief in quarterback guru Mark Verduzco, who came with Frost from Central Florida.

“I’m so appreciative of a guy like Coach Verduzco who really pushes me to be great on the football field. But he’s there for academics, for personal life, for everything. I couldn’t ask for a better coach and a better man to help guide me through this pretty critical process in my life.

“There’s always something I can improve on and Coach Verduzco makes sure I’m a aware of that and the fact that I can get better each day. The fact of the matter is we went 4-8 last year. I had some moments that were good, but I also had some moments that were bad. There’s a lot to get better at. There’s a lot of things still out there to accomplish. That’s really what drives me.”

Spring practice concludes with the April 13 Spring Game. Big Red opens the regular season at home August 31 versus South Alabama.

Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com.

The end of a never-meant-to-be Nebraska football dynasty has a school and a state fruitlessly pursuing a never-again-to-be-harnessed rainbow

March 26, 2017 leoadambiga 1 comment

The end of a never-meant-to-be Nebraska football dynasty has a school and a state fruitlessly pursuing a never-again-to-be-harnessed rainbow

©by Leo Adam Biga

Let’s start with the hard truth that the University of Nebraska never had any business being a major college football power in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, NU had every right to ascend to that lofty position and certainly did what it takes to deserve the riches that came with it. But my point is NU was never really meant to be there and therefore fundamentally was always out of its class or at least out of place even when it reigned supreme in the gridiron wars.

The fact is it happened though. Call it fate or fluke, it was an unlikely, unexpected occurrence whose long duration made it even more improbable.

In pop culture, self-identification terms, it was both the best thing that ever happened to the state of Nebraska and the worst thing. The best because it gave Nebraskans a mutual statewide rooting interest and point of pride. The worst because it was all an illusion doomed to run its course. Furthermore, it set Nebraskans up for visions of grandeur that are sadly misplaced, especially when it comes to football, because the deck is stacked against us. Far better that we aspire to be the best in something else, say wind energy or the arts or agriculture or education, that we can truly hold our own in and that reaps some tangible, enduring benefit, then something as inconsequential, tangential and elusive as football.

Husker football became a vehicle for the aspirational hopes of Nebraskans but given where things are today with the program those aspirations read more like pipe-dreams.

The critical thing to remember is that it was only because an unrepeatable confluence of things came together at just the right time that the NU football dynasty occurred in the first place. NU’s rise from obscurity to prominence took place in a bubble when peer school programs were in a down cycle and before that bubble could be burst enough foundation was laid to give the Huskers an inside track at gridiron glory.

The dynasty only lasted as long as it did because the people responsible for it stayed put and the dynamics of college football remained more or less stable during that period, thus prolonging what should have been a short rise to prominence and postponing the rude awakening that brought NU football back down to earth,.

Please don’t point to the program as the reason for that remarkable run of success the Huskers enjoyed from 1962 through 2001. It was people who made it happen. The program was the people. Once the people responsible for the success left, the results were very different. I mean, there’s never stopped being a program. It’s the people running the program who make all the difference, not the facilities or traditions.

Yes, I know there was a time when NU was successful in football prior to Devaney. From the start of the last century through the 1930s the Huskers fielded good, not great teams before the death valley years of the 1940s and 1950s ensued. But NU was never a titan the way Notre Dame, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio State or other elite programs were back then.

The late Jerry List (left) and Red Beran carry Bob Devaney off the field at the 1972 Orange Bowl.

Make no mistake about it, Bob Devaney was the architect of the wild success that started in the early 1960s and continued decade after decade. He deserves the lion’s share of credit for the phenomena that elevated NU to the heights of Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama. Without him, it would not have happened. No way, no how. His path had to cross Nebraska’s at that precise moment in time in the early 1960s or else NU would have remained an after-thought football program that only once in a while would catch fire and have a modicum of success. In other words, Nebraska football would have been what it was meant to be – on par with or not quite there with Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado and Wyoming. During NU’s half-century run of excellence the state schools in those states not only envied NU but despised the Big Red because they couldn’t understand why that same magic didn’t happen with their football operations. Among those states, all but Wyoming have larger population bases. Among the Division I schools, all but Wyoming have larger student enrollments. Those realities alone should have put NU at a decided disadvantage and given those schools a leg up where football was concerned.

But Devaney found ways to compensate for the lack of bodies, not to mention for all the other disadvantages facing Nebraska. One of Devaney’s chief strategies for overcoming these things became national recruiting and eventually the recruitment of African-American student-athletes in enough numbers to be a difference-maker on the field.

The continuity of Devaney’s staff was an important factor in sustaining success.

His hand-picked successor Tom Osborne was like the apprentice who learned from the master to effectively carry on the tradition without so much as one bad season. Osborne ramped up the national recruiting efforts and especially made African-American recruits more of a priority. Like his mentor, he maintained a cohesive staff around him. He also made even greater use of walk-ons than Devaney had in that no scholarship limit era. And most importantly he saw the future and embraced an ahead-of-its-time strength and conditioning program that made NU players bigger and stronger, no doubt with some help from steroids, and he eventually adopted the spread option on offense and the 4-3 on defense, emphasizing speed and quickness on both sides of the ball. The option-based, power running and play-action passing game became NU’s niche. It allowed the program to recruit to a style and identity that stood it apart. Now, NU runs a variation of what virtuarlly everybody else does in college football, thus giving it one decided less advantage.

As long as was one or the other – Devaney or Osborne – or both were still around, the success, while not guaranteed, was bound to continue because they drove it and they attracted people to it.

First Devaney died, then Osborne retired and then athletic director Bill Byrnes left The first two were the pillars of success as head coaches and Devaney as AD. The third was a great support. There were also some supportive NU presidents. Osborne’s curated successor, Frank Solich, and other holdover coaches managed a semblance of the dynasty’s success. And then one by one the pretenders, poor fits, revisionists and outliers got hired and fired.

Ever since Osborne stepped down, NU has been playing a game it cannot win of trying to recapture past success by attempting to replicate it. That’s impossible, of course, because the people and conditions that made that success possible are irrevocably different. Whatever manufactured advantages NU once possessed are now long gone and the many intrinsic disadvantages NU has are not going away because they are, with the exception of coaches and players, immutable and fixed.

Besides Nebraska being situated far from large population centers, the state lacks many of the attributes or come-ons other states possess, including oceans, beaches, mountains, cool urban centers filled with striking skylines and features and a significant African-American and diversity presence on campus. It also lacks a top-shelf basketball program to bask in. And while NU has kept up with the facilities and programs wars the Huskers’ peer institutions now possess everything they have and more.

The dream of NU fans goes something like this: Get the right coach, and then the right players will come, and then the corresponding wins and titles will follow. Trouble is, finding that right coach is easier said than done, especially at a place like Nebraska. The university has shown it’s not willing to shell out the tens of millions necessary to hire a marquee coach. I actually applaud that. I find abhorrent the seven figure annual salaries and ludicrous buy-out guarantees paid to major college coaches. I mean, it’s plain absurd they get paid that kind of money for coaching a game whose intrinsic values of teamwork, discipline, hard work, et cetera can be taught in countless other endeavors at a fraction of the cost and without risk of temporary or permanent injuries. If NU stands pat and doesn’t play the salary wars game, then that leaves the next scenario of offering far less to an up and coming talent who, it’s hoped, proves to be the next Devaney or Osborne. Fat chance of that fantasy becoming reality.

The other wishful thinking is that some benefactor or group of benefactors will pump many millions of dollars, as in hundred of millions of dollars, into the athletic department in short order to help NU buy success in the form of top tier coaches and yet bigger, fancier facilities. There are certainly a number of Nebraskans who could do that if they were so inclined. I personally hope they don’t because those resources could go to far more important things than football.

In terms of head coaches, NU hit the jackpot with Devaney. He then handed the keys to a man, in Osborne, who just happened to be the perfect one to follow him, NU has missed on four straight passes since then. I count Mike Riley as a miss even though he’s only two years into his tenure because someone with his long coaching record of mediocrity does not suddenly. magically become a great coach who leads teams to championships just because he’s at a place that used to win championships. What Riley did in the CFL has no bearing on the college game.

Even if Riley does manage more success here than he’s been able to accomplish elsewhere, everything suggests it would be short-lived and not indicative of some enduring return to excellence. That once in a school’s lifetime opportunity came and went for NU, never to return in my opinion.

Sinking resources of time, energy and money into retrieving what was lost and what really wasn’t NU’s to have in the first place is a futile exercise in chasing windmills and searching for an elixir that does not exist.

Far better for NU to cut its losses of misspent resources and tarnished reputation and accept its place in the college football universe as a Power Five Conference Division I also-ran than to covet something beyond its reach. Having been to the top, that’s a tough reality for NU and its fans to accept. Far better still then for NU to swallow the bitter pill of hurt pride and do the smart thing by dropping down to the Football Championship Subdivision, where it can realistically compete for championships that are increasingly unattainable at the Football Bowl Subdivision. If it’s really all about the process, pursuing excellence and building character, and not about getting those alluring TV showcases and payouts, those mega booster gifts and those sell-outs, then that’s where the priority should be. If it’s about developing young men who become educated, productive, good citizens and contributors to society, then that certainly can be done at the FCS level. Hell, it can be done better there without all the distractions and hype surrounding big-time football.

This isn’t about quitting or taking the easy way out when the going gets rough, it’s about getting smart and honestly owning who you are, what you’re ceiling is and making the best use of resources.

Nebraskans are pragmatic people in everything but Husker football. With this state government facing chronic budget shortfalls. corporate headquarters leaving and a brain drain of its best and brightest in full effect, it seems to me the university should check its priorities. I say let go of the past and embrace a new identity whose future is less sexy but far more realistic and more befitting this state. Sure, that move would mean risk and sacrifice, not to mention criticism and resistance. It would take leadership with real courage to weather all that.

But how about NU leading the way by taking a bold course that rejects the big money and fat exposure for a saner, stripped-down focus on football without the high stakes and salaries and hysteria? Maybe if NU does it, others will follow. Even if they don’t, it’s the right thing to do. Not popular or safe, but right.

When has that ever been a bad move?

MY OLD FRIEND, HUSKER FOOTBALL, YOU ARE BADLY IN NEED OF A 12-STEP INTERVENTION RECOVERY PROGRAM

November 1, 2015 leoadambiga 2 comments

The more the University of Nebraska football program’s woes continue and indeed only get worse, the more capital I believe my semi-mock diagnosis of the program’s mental imbalance has actual traction. But I’ll let you be the judge.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE HUSKER FOOTBALL PROGRAM-
MY OLD FRIEND, YOU ARE BADLY IN NEED OF A 12-STEP INTERVENTION RECOVERY PROGRAM
Offered in the spirit of satire or don’t take any of this too seriously.

Dear Nebraska Football Program:

It is with great concern and compassion that I appeal to your better angels and ask you to accept a therapeutic regimen that can address your chronic mental illness. Please consider letting those who have your best interests at heart intercede on your behalf so that you can get the help that you need in order to return to health, which is to say sanity, sobriety and serenity.

Let us not mince words but rather state the obvious – you are sick. There is no use in denying it. You have all the symptoms. Low self-esteem. Depression. Performance anxiety. Paranoia. Anger issues. Irrational, inconsistent decisions and behaviors. Inability to develop trusting relationships. Doing the same thing over and over again and failing at it and yet expecting a different result, which as any rational person knows is a classic marker for insanity.
But, my troubled friend, you are so deeply lost in your illness that you cannot see these things for yourself.
The first step to getting better is to admit that you have a problem. Simply going about business as usual and acting as if everything is normalt is a self-deluding proposition that will only keep you right where you are at – in the depths of your addiction.

I can hear you protesting already – I’m no addict…what addiction? Your addiction my friend is to self-inflicted pain. Since 2004 and even before then, you have struggled to find your way as one by one the caring, supporting, guiding figures in your life left you and the infrastructures that once made you strong began falling away. You have had trouble adjusting and transitioning to the succession of leaders who have followed because of your profound abandonment and identity issues.

The near constant scrutiny and criticism directed at you have weighed on you and frayed your nerves and impaired your decision-making.

So much has changed in your environment from those days when you were well and robust and the envy of so many others. As that landscape has become increasingly competitive and pressure-filled and as you have lost what few supports you had around you, you have more and more come to interpret the world as a cruel, harsh place. Negative thoughts have replaced positive thoughts. You live in fear and doubt that the next shoe will drop or that the current regime will let you down just as surely as the previous ones did.

When you get in close games, you freeze up or, well let’s just say, have difficulty doing the right thing.
You have endless rationalizations for why these things happen, but that is only deflecting the problem from the true source: yourself.

Just when you need stability, one leadership team is replaced by another and you have to learn new ways of dong things before you even mastered the old ways.

All of this feeds your insecurity. Little problems get inflated into big problems. Your sense of isolation is increased. You revert to unhealthy old habits and patterns that become ever more entrenched the more you act on them. You have trouble investing in the present or the future because your sense of being all-in is not there. Hope is dim.
When all those around you share the same mindset and tendencies, well, then bad attitudes and behaviors only get reinforced.

In short, your confidence is shattered and your ability to make sound decisions compromised. The more you act out, the more hard wired that becomes, thus making it even harder to enact positive changes.

Making matters worse, many of the decision-makers behind Husker Football and many of your fans, friends and family members are enablers. Out of good intentions they actually fuel your mistaken belief that you are whole and well, when in fact you are broken and sick.

A sure sign of disturbance is when your relationships suffer as a result of your acting out and there are untold examples of how as a program you have alienated, embarrassed, insulted the very fan, alumni and media base that helped give you life and that sustains you. What’s worse, you don’t seem to care that you have caused injury and estrangement. And yes I know that elements of that same base have said and done hurtful things to you, but this is where balance and forgiveness must prevail. Making amends.

Another sign of illness is, of course, impaired job performance. Here, the record of shortcomings speaks for itself.
Furthermore, you have continually resisted, ignored or criticized genuine efforts to offer you advice and counsel. You must acknowledge that your affliction is unmanageable and that you cannot handle it alone. Your only recourse is surrendering to a Higher Power. But you get highly agitated and defensive when remedies and assitance are broached.

There is also a decided tendency to overreact to things. In the name of progress, you have recklessly trampled on and discarded tried and true traditions that gave the program an identity for new systems and styles that have repeatedly proven a poor fit. You keep trying to be something you are not and were never intended to be and that disconnect only causes you more internal confusion and cognitive dissonance. The more separated you become from your true self and the resources available to you, the less resilient you become to change or challenge.

The longer this crisis has gone on the more you have become used to conflict, chaos, failure, despair and even hopelessness. Oh, you put on a good face, but it is clear that you no longer believe in yourself or in what you’re doing.
Things have come to the point where an intervention is called for. Since the board of regents, university administration and athletic department leadership have effectively failed to act responsibly, which is to say without due diligence in making the three most recent head coach hiring decisions, I am proposing that legislation be enacted to take the football program out of their hands and be given to an executive committee comprised of rank and file fans as well as past and present players, coaches and university officials. The majority members would be fans. In so doing, the voices of Nebraskans who are both close to the situation and who have the perspective of outsiders looking in would not only be heard but would have a definite say in things.

Our money, after all, is funding the entire athletics apparatus as taxpayers, season ticket subscribers and boosters. The program would not be what it is without the fans. They should be a part of determining whatever direction the program takes and whatever hires and fires it makes.

Radical? Unrealistic? Never happen? Probably. Then again, Nebraska Football is a unique phenomenon in this state for the disproportionate impact it has on the collective psyche. There is nothing else in the state to unite its disparate, geographically isolated populations the way the program does. The program’s crisis and failure, if left unchecked and unmitigated, is likely to get worse before it gets better, that is if it ever does get better. It is the considered opinion of myself and others that the program is actually heading for rock bottom right now. Rather than let another scenario play out whereby the current coaching staff manages to give the program a fix to prop the program back on its feet only to see it fall back into relapse again, I propose a more dramatic and thorough treatment plan that undoes the current model and gives fans a real say in what happens now and moving forward.

Call it crazy if you will, but I prefer to call it recovery.

Then again, it is only football.

Sincerely,

A Fan in Search of Solutions and with Clearly Too Much Time on My Hands

Categories: Cornhusker Football, Football, Husker Football Program, Huskers, Nebraska Football, Nebraska Football Program, Sports, University of Nebraska Football Tags: Cornhusker Football, Football, Husker Football Program, Huskers, Mike Reilly, Nebraska Football, Nebraska Football Program, Sports, University of Nebraska Football

Firmly Rooted: The Story of Husker Brothers

October 9, 2015 leoadambiga 2 comments

Here is the complete Hail Varsity (http://hailvarsity.com/) cover story I did on Husker football brothers. As the 2015 team struggles to find its way under a new coaching staff, this is a look back at sets of brothers who played during some of the glory years in the program, though a couple of these brothers also weathered the ups and downs of coaching transitions themselves. The story doesn’t so much focus on how the teams they played on fared as it does on the bonds that made these dudes so fiercely loyal to family and to Nebraska. As the headline puts it, these studs were firmly rooted in each other and in Big Red and nothing could shake them loose.

Firmly Rooted: The Story of Husker Brothers

Husker football sometimes truly becomes a band of brothers

©by Leo Adam Biga

Now appearing in Hail Varsity Magazine (http://hailvarsity.com/)
Nebraska recruits football players where it finds them. sometimes even in the same family. Several brother combos have played for NU. Once in a while they’re part of the same recruiting class but usually they arrive a few years apart.

Once in a great while a set of twins plays for the Huskers, including Josh and Daniel Bullocks (2001-2004). The 2015 recruit class includes another pair in Khalil and Carlos Davis, whose uncle is former Husker Lorenzo Hicks. The two freshmen are redshirting this year.

More than a few uncles, nephews and cousins have shared a familial Nebraska football lineage. There’ve been some father-son sets as well as father-son-grandson combos.

Some Husker brother duos have achieved fame on different sides of the ball (Grant and Tracey Wistrom) but most left their mark on the same side of the field, usually defense. Clete and Jim Pillen, Toby and Jimmy Williams, Christian and Jason Pete were all defensive stalwarts as were the Craver, Shanle and Booker brothers. In most cases, brother sets have been solid contributors rather than stars. That’s true of the Cottons, only that clan added a generational element. The patriarch, Barney, played at NU and sons Jake, Ben and now Sam have suited up for the Big Red. He coached two of them.

Waves of brothers come and go. The 1998 through 2003 classes saw a bumper crop. There was a dry spell until Jake and Spencer Long and the Cotton boys came long. More than a decade passed between Kris Brown and his much younger brother Drew playing for NU.

Saturday’s gridiron warriors are the subject of intense scrutiny at a Nebraska. When siblings wear the scarlet and cream, one’s success creates expectations for the other. It doesn’t always happen but more often than not success does carry over.

Four sets of siblings emblematic of this family heritage tradition are the Craigs (Curtis and Roger), the Makovickas (Jeff and Joel), the Ruuds (Barrett and Bo) and the Kelsays (Chad and Chris) Standout players, all. The Craigs and Makovickas did their thing on offense, while the Ruuds and Kelsays did theirs on defense. In each case, a younger brother followed an older brother’s lead. Their stories reveal genetics play a role, as do shared traits and values. Having a brother precede you or be there helps, but you still have to earn it yourself.

IMAGE SERVICES

Curtis Craig dives to make a catch at the KU 1-yard line. NU vs. KU 1976. LJS Library archive photo

Roger Craig

Curtis Craig was a Big Deal at Davenport (Iowa) Central High in the early 1970s. The all-everything back selected NU over other powerhouse programs. Bothered by a nagging high ankle sprain suffered at the end of his prep career, he never played I-back in Lincoln but found his niche at wingback.

By his senior year, his little brother Roger was making hay back in Davenport playing for the same coaches, Jim Fox and Jack Leabo, who mentored him. Separated by almost five years, Curtis was conscious of being a model for those behind him.

“I’m the oldest of seven kids,” he says. “The younger ones were watching me because they looked up to me, so I felt I had to step up and set the example. All I was doing was giving back what was given to me. That’s kind of how the tradition is. Whatever you learn in your time you look to give back to those trying to follow your footsteps.”

Roger took careful note of his big brother.

“I always followed him. He was kind of like my hero as a kid growing up. He was a great role model for me. He did all the right things. Without him I wouldn’t be where I am today,” says Roger, who starred at I-back and fullback at NU before a Hall of Fame-worthy NFL career.

Roger credits hanging around and playing pickup games with Curtis and his buddies for helping mature him beyond his years.

“I watched how he trained and practiced and I got in there and did things with him.”

Curtis says he was motivated to earn a college scholarship because his folks couldn’t afford to pay for school. His experience exposed Roger to NU coaches and provided an inside look at the program.

“I told him this is what’s going to happen, this is what you need to do.”

Curtis didn’t have that luxury when he arrived at NU.

“I didn’t have anybody to tell me what to do when I got there. I had to just kind of figure it out and then go from there.”

When Curtis was a senior he was still putting Roger through his paces

“He worked with me. He was like a coach,” Roger says.

Big brother touted his little brother to Husker coaches.

Curtis recalls, “I knew he was going to have the possibility to do more than what I did. I said to the staff, ‘ You need to go look at my brother, he’s going to be a good one,’ They did and the rest is history. When you come from a family that has a scholarship athlete the coaches always go back to try and recruit your siblings who are good athletes, too.”

As a tribute to Curtis, whose No. 33 was retired at Davenport Central, Roger wore that number with the San Francisco 49rs.

“I carried Curt with me in the NFL,” Roger says. “I have a lot of respect for my brother.”

Jeff and Joel Makovicka

A duo who took the walk-on route to Husker glory, Jeff and Joel Makovicka, may be the only brother ball carrier combo in Husker history. Reared on a Brainard, Neb. farm, these siblings separated by four years learned values about doing your best that carried them through 8-man football, careers at NU and all the way to the NFL.

Big brother Jeff says with kid brother Joel watching him, “it increased the importance that I did the right thing.”

The pair always saw themselves playing at NU, they just weren’t sure they’d ever get the chance.

Joel says seeing Jeff make, fueled his own fire.

“When Jeff got there and he succeeded I knew it became not just a goal that was a dream, it was more an attainable and achievable goal and so it made me work that much harder.”

Once Joel joined him on campus, Jeff showed him the ropes. “I knew i had to carry on what we were taught at home. We were in Lincoln, but I told Joel, ‘That doesn’t mean you leave the farm – the farm’s still in you and dad’s still around in your head.'”

Joel relied on Jeff to get him through his first year.

“I remember talking to him not knowing if this was going to be right for me and him saying, ‘Hang in there, everybody goes through this.’
There’s a lot of times I had to lean on him to get to where I wanted to be and he was there for me. It was an adjustment, especially from where we came from, playing 8-man football.”

Joel appreciates that Jeff’s road was tougher than his.

“It was lot harder for him to go to Nebraska because he was the first one to go. He kind of paved the way. He got his foot in the door and then widened the door for me to get there.”

Another advantage of Jeff being there ahead of him was Joel meeting the coaching staff, watching practice and “knowing what to expect.”

Jeff says it wasn’t all him helping Joel but Joel helping him as well.

“It provided a great amount of benefit to me having a younger brother there, especially when I was a senior. We roomed together on the road. For the pre-game routine we made a point to be out there stretching together. We’d often discuss points of the game. During the game, when I’d come off the field, I’d say to him, ‘Hey, did you see that set. Did you see that tendency?’ Did i get the cut block?’ And you’d get such a brutally honest assessment because it was your brother.”

Jeff recognizes the long odds he and Joel overcame to become fullbacks for national title teams (Jeff in 1994 and 1995 and Joel in 1997). Joel was Jeff’s backup in ’95.

“It’s really special. I knew he was going to be this great one because I’d seen him playing with guys three-four years older than him,” Jeff says.

In the ’95 season finale versus Oklahoma NU was driving late when Jeff came out and Joel went in and broke off a memorable scoring run marked by broken tackles, grit and determination.

“That kind of run in that game against that team solidified in my mind he was going to be OK and represented everything we’re about,” says Jeff about that passing-the-torch moment.

The Makovickas are proud of setting the physical tone for NU then.

“Theres no question,” Joel says. “We also take pride in carrying the banner for the walk-ons and kind of having that chip on our shoulder that, you know what, maybe you didn’t think we were good enough coming out of high school to earn a scholarship but you’re damn well going to give us one when we get there.”

Joel went onto a fine NFL career but injuries never allowed Jeff to stay healthy long enough to secure a spot.

The family pipeline continued with younger brothers Justin and Jordan, who grew up around the NU program, until they opted to leave.

Nebraska Cornhuskers linebacker (51) Bo Ruud in action against the Missouri Tigers in the second half at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE. Nebraska won the game 34-20. Bo Ruud

Speaking of pipelines, the Ruuds are a three-generation Husker clan. Clarence Swanson was an early 20th century stud. His great-grandson Tom Ruud was a force at linebacker six decades later. Other relatives and close family friends also played for the Huskers.

Tom’s two boys, Barrett and Bo, followed his example to become linebackers. They developed under the tutelage of youth coaches and Lincoln Southeast coach Chuck Mizerski and alongside future Division I athletes. it was like growing up in the “family business.”

“It was never like a pipe-dream to be successful at football,” Barrett says. “We saw a lot guys up close and personal live that out, so we knew it was attainable. The one thing our dad would point out to us is it takes a lot of work to get there and that the guys that work the hardest tend to have the most success. We weren’t pushed into any sports but once we decided that’s what we wanted to do we had a lot of resources as far as what it took to be successful. A lot of kids have no idea when they first start playing sports. The more serious we got we could ask questions about what did it take to reach the next level.”

Only a year-and-a-half apart, the Ruud boys grew up doing pretty much everything together, so whatever Barrett got into first, Bo followed suit.

Bo says, “We grew up playing against each other from day one. It was always great competition. We both loved it. We both loved playing football and basketball and golf and whatever we could do to play and compete at.”

When he first got to Nebraska, Barrett had to make his own way. When Bo arrived, his big brother had his back.

“I went in there as a freshman learning on the fly,” Barrett says, “as opposed to Bo coming in and having me already there. He had a little more of a comfort zone. He already knew the work he was getting into for the most part. That’s probably the biggest difference to having a brother in the program.”

Bo agrees, saying, “I think there’s a big advantage being the younger brother. You get to see how it’s done a little bit before you get there.
Plus, having your brother is another friend you’ve got on the team.”

Bo says playing together for a dynasty high school program and the storied Nebraska program they grew up idolizing is “a pretty neat deal.” “It just happened the way it happened without planning it. We both had a desire to make it to the next level and we obviously grew up in a Husker family. It’s just something we always wanted to do.” The brothers were with each on their respective NFL draft days. While Barrett’s long NFL career with Tampa Bay is well-documented, it’s not widely known that Bo’s final three weeks in The League were spent with Barrett in the Buccaneers’ preseason camp before being cut.

Always close, the brothers drew even closer when their mother, who was their biggest fan, died suddenly of a heart attack.

“You naturally lean on each other and your whole family when something like that happens,” Barrett says.

The brothers enjoy fly fishing together.

Chris Kelsay

Chad Kelsay

Before Chad and Chris Kelsay came along, their hometown of Auburn, Neb. hadn’t produced a scholarship Husker football player in decades. Chad, the eldest by two years, was a Big Red fan but wasn’t sure he was D-I material until attending an NU camp.

“I tested out real well and that kind of put me on the radar of Nebraska.”

With Chris wrecking havoc the next year for Auburn, he became a hot recruiting target, too.

Chad says, “Chris got to know the coaching staff real well and as Chris was coming up through high school it was obvious he was going to have an opportunity to play football at the collegiate level he knew the coaching staff and they started recruiting him.”

“Having two brothers from a community the size of Auburn play at Nebraska was exciting for the town,” Chad says.

Two years apart in age, the brothers were there years apart in school.
Chad’s exploits at rush end naturally inspired Chris, who says his transition to college life and football was helped by having Chad there..

“Ever since we were little kids growing up I always looked up to him both in the classroom and on the football field in how he went about his business. So it was definitely a benefit I tried to take advantage of and I think in the long run it kind of put me ahead of the cart compared to a lot of guys coming in there.”

Neither brother was the most athletically gifted player, but they made up for it with a work ethic they ascribe to their rural growing up.

“If you don’t have it in you and its not how you’ve been brought up, it’s harder to just flip a switch and all of a sudden be a guy that’s going to work harder than everybody else,” Chad says.

Once again defying the odds, both made it to the NFL, though Chad’s stint there ended before Chris joined the league.

“That’s pretty special. Not too many people can say that. We’re blessed to have had the opportunity to do what we’ve done,” Chris says.

Long retired from the game, the Kelsays are together again, this time as sales representatives at Truck Center Companies in Omaha.

Firmly Rooted, the Story of Husker Brothers

September 29, 2015 leoadambiga Leave a comment

Yes, I am the guy who writes about art, film, theater, literature, journalism, culture, African-American Omaha, a hundred and one other subjects, and, oh yeah, sports, too. Here is the promo for my new Hail Varsity cover story about brothers who have excelled in football at Nebraska. That’s followed by an excerpt from the piece. To read the whole thing now, you’ll need to be a subscriber of the magazine or purchase this issue at a newsstand. I will be posting the entire story be the end of the weekend.

Brotherly Bond Highlights New Issue of Hail Varsity

Brandon Vogel

on September 28, 2015 at 10:22 am

The bond between teammates is strong. The bond between brothers is even stronger and the Huskers have had a number of them wear the scarlet and cream over the years.

Writer Leo Adam Biga shares some of those brothers’ stories in the cover story from Volume 4 Issue 10 of Hail Varsity. The cover features a cut-paper illustration by our design director, Quentin Lueninghoener. The latest issue of Hail Varsity ships this week.

Other highlights from the issue:

>>In a new feature that will appear in each issue during volleyball season, Nebraska defensive specialist Sydney Townsend gives us an inside look at the Huskers’ volleyball season with her first player journal.

>>He’s a punter now, but if everything goes according to plan Sam Foltz will get his pilot’s license and be a crop duster some day. He explains why in our Q&A.

>>Which former Husker quarterback had to run a timed 40-yard dash through the hallway of his high school to impress the Nebraska coaches? That player is the subject of our latest Legends of the Fall.

>>Columnist Chuck Sinclair tells the story of returning a Nebraska jersey — the jersey Sinclair got as a walk-on in 1969 — to its rightful owner.

>>Editor Mike Babcock provides some context for the one-game resurgence (so far) of the the fullback at Nebraska.

The latest issue of Hail Varsity will be arriving on newsstands and in mailboxes soon. Not a subscriber? You can remedy that here.

EXCERPT FROM-

Firmly Rooted, the Story of Husker Brothers

When Husker Football Sometimes Truly Becomes a Band of Brothers

Now appearing in Hail Varsity Magazine.
Nebraska recruits football players where it finds them. sometimes even in the same family. Several brother combos have played for NU. Once in a while they’re part of the same recruiting class but usually they arrive a few years apart.

More than a few uncles, nephews and cousins have shared a familial Nebraska football lineage. There’ve been some father-son sets as well as father-son-grandson combos.

Roger took careful note of his big brother.

Roger credits hanging around and playing pickup games with Curtis and his buddies for helping mature him beyond his years.

“I watched how he trained and practiced and I got in there and did things with him.”

“I told him this is what’s going to happen, this is what you need to do.”

Curtis didn’t have that luxury when he arrived at NU.

“I didn’t have anybody to tell me what to do when I got there. I had to just kind of figure it out and then go from there.”

When Curtis was a senior he was still putting Roger through his paces

“He worked with me. He was like a coach,” Roger says.

Big brother touted his little brother to Husker coaches.

As a tribute to Curtis, whose No. 33 was retired at Davenport Central, Roger wore that number with the San Francisco 49rs.

“I carried Curt with me in the NFL,” Roger says. “I have a lot of respect for my brother.”

NOTE The other brothers profiled in the piece are Chris and Chad Kelsay and Jeff and Joel Makovicka.

Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film

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The book sells for $25.95.

Available through Barnes & Noble, on Amazon, for Kindle and at other bookstores and gift shops nationwide.

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You can also order signed copies by emailing the author at leo32158@cox.net.

Mini-Profile

leoadambiga

Author-journalist-blogger Leo Adam Biga resides in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. He writes newspaper-magazine stories about people, their passions, and their magnificent obsessions. He's the author of the books "Crossing Bridges: A Priest's Uplifting Life Among the Downtrodden," "Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film" (a compilation of his journalism about the acclaimed filmmaker) "Open Wide" a biography of Mark Manhart. Biga co-edited "Memories of the Jewish Midwest: Mom and Pop Grocery Stores." His popular blog, Leo Adam Biga's My Inside Stories at leoadambiga.com, is an online gallery of his work. The blog feeds into his Facebook page, My Inside Stories, as well as his Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, Tumblr, About.Me and other social media platform pages.