Daikiel Shorts on benefits of bowls and his WR room of good young talent

Bowl games don’t matter? Don’t tell that to new receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr.

Shorts played in two bowl games while he was a receiver for Dana Holgorsen at West Virginia. In 2015, Shorts caught six passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns against Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl. In 2016, he had five catches for 61 yards against Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

Bowl games are important for the programs playing in them, in more ways than one, especially at a place like Nebraska, which hasn’t had extra practices for development since 2016.

Shorts has told his receivers as much in the days leading up to Saturday’s Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College at Yankees Stadium.

“That was one of the first things I said to the room, was you have to take advantage of this if you’re an older guy like a senior, Jahmal Banks and those guys because you never know if this is your last game or not,” Shorts told Huskers Radio Network this week while the Huskers were practicing in New York City. “And if you’re a younger guy, you have to take the momentum from bowl practice, and if you get in the game, to the offseason. So attacking the bowl game and trying to win the bowl game is a big deal leading into the next season.”

It’s been a fast transition process for Shorts, who spent the 2024 regular season at Kentucky under head coach Mark Stoops. Shorts has hit the ground running, not only with coaching his current Huskers but also with the transfer portal.

Nebraska landed two potential difference-makers at receiver in Nyziah Hunter and Dane Key. Key, a 6-foot-3, 210-pounder, was coached by Shorts at Kentucky in 2024 and has 126 catches for 1,870 yards and 14 touchdowns the past three seasons. Hunter, another strong and big wideout at 6-2, 210 pounds, had a breakout redshirt freshman campaign at Cal in 2024 with 40 catches for 578 yards and five touchdowns.

“I kind of came here and jumped right in. The guys have embraced me, they’ve been doing a good job,” Shorts said. “I think they’re pretty excited to say the least, so everything’s been going pretty good.”

While Key and Hunter will be two new faces to his room, Shorts inherits a receiver group that includes players like Jacory Barney Jr., Jaylen Lloyd, Janiran Bonner, Carter Nelson, Keelan Smith, Quinn Clark and Demitrius Bell, who impressed in spring ball before a season-ending knee injury in the spring game.

And don’t forget about two high-ceiling receivers in the 2025 class that former receivers coach Garret McGuire helped land in four-stars Cortez Mills and Isaiah Mozee.

Intriguing group, for sure. But one with limited game production outside of Key and Hunter.

“We got some good young talent,” Shorts said. “Those guys work pretty hard, and that’s all you can really ask for. They come to practice, they have fun, they enjoy it. Everything else we can kind of fix as we move forward, but nothing to complain about as of right now.”

Shorts has been with Holgorsen for a long time. He played for him. And when his stint in the NFL was over — he played with former Nebraska receiver Brandon Reilly with the Buffalo Bills in 2017 — he worked for Holgorsen.

“When he called me, obviously I loved my previous place, I worked for a really good head coach, but it was a no-brainer to get with coach Holgorsen again,” Shorts said. “I think we work pretty well together, so I’m definitely excited to get moving forward with him.”

After playing and working for Holgorsen for so long, the two football guys know each other well at this point.

“He knows me, I know him, we know what we want and I think we have a pretty tight relationship,” Shorts said. “I think we’ve kind of been through a lot together, which makes it easier moving forward in the future. Everything ain’t going to be perfect and it ain’t always going to be good, but I think we know each other well enough that we know what we want to get done.”

Wherever Holgorsen has been, good offenses usually followed. The way Shorts sees it, the play-caller’s “unique offensive mind” is where it all starts. Shorts learned that firsthand when he caught 177 passes for 2,263 yards and 14 touchdowns at West Virginia from 2013-16.

“First things first, he has a crazy offensive mind,” Shorts said. “And I think guys play hard for him. He knows how to get guys going, he knows how to challenge guys, he knows how to push them to get the best out of themselves. And I think guys respect that. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything, he’s very blunt. He just pushes guys, challenges them, and I think it makes everyone better. Not just the players but coaches as well.”

What does it take to be a receiver in Shorts’ room? Simple, he said. He’s looking for one trait that stands out.

“Just play hard. Nobody is perfect, you’re not going to make every play, no matter if you want to or you don’t,” Shorts said. “If you play hard, you practice hard and you work hard, you’ll give yourself a shot. A lot of those guys in that room have talent, so if they practice hard and they play hard I think we’ll be just fine.”

While Shorts has only been with the team for about two weeks, he’s already seen enough from quarterback Dylan Raiola to know his receivers won’t have problems with the passes thrown to them.

Raiola will likely break Nebraska’s freshman single-season passing yardage record against Boston College as he needs just 23 yards to surpass Adrian Martinez’s record of 2,617 yards as a true freshman in 2018. Raiola and Martinez are the only Huskers to throw for 2,000 yards as a freshman.

“He has great energy, he loves ball, which, at that position, if you can get somebody that loves ball, you have a chance,” Shorts said. “It’s crazy for him to be so young and how smart he is and how mature he carries himself. He works hard, he has natural leading ability.”