Nebraska football’s spring is driven by player-led learning

Separated by just four months, college football’s spring and fall camps have a much different feel to them.

In the fall, there’s a need for urgency as the season opener draws nearer with every practice. In the spring, though, learning and growing is the priority with game action still several months away.

Eight practices into Nebraska’s spring camp, the learning process is still taking place. However, it’s not just the coaches who’ve passed down key lessons. Across the entire Nebraska football roster, teammates have turned into teachers.

Some of those efforts are intentional by veteran players like defensive back Isaac Gifford. Defensive coordinator Tony White said Gifford constantly holds his teammates accountable, while the fifth-year senior has also been a valuable resource for younger defensive backs seeking guidance.

“Being the old guy, I want to be able to have guys come up to me,” Gifford said. “… I’ve been here long enough that I’ve seen and played a lot of football, so they have been coming up to me and I’m glad they are.”

Veteran leaders are not a rarity on this Nebraska team. Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher lead the way along the defensive line, while offensive linemen Ben Scott and Bryce Benhart have taken charge on the other side of the ball.

Scott said he’s worked closely with Sam Sledge, while Bryce Benhart has done so with Grant Brix as the seniors pass on valuable lessons to the freshmen. Since senior Turner Corcoran (foot) continues to rehab this spring, a lack of on-field action has allowed him to become a player-coach of sorts.

“With all that experience, I think they do a great job of helping the young guys understand the technique, understand the scheme and understand the standards that we expect,” offensive line coach Donovan Raiola said of the veterans in his room.

Nebraska’s spring practice setup has also affected this process. When the Huskers divide into three teams for 11-on-11 action across multiple fields, veterans are spread out accordingly. Particularly for the offensive line, those practice scenarios test communication.

“The thing about playing offensive line is that it’s the position (where) you’ve got to figure it out sometimes and figure it out together with one set of eyes,” Raiola said.

Witnessing what an incorrect rep or improper technique looks like can be an important step in the learning process, but unless a player makes the same mistake himself, it doesn’t necessarily lead to a correction in form.

That’s a contrast to when players perfectly execute a rep, providing a clear blueprint for their teammates to follow. As such, the other aspect of Nebraska’s spring growth comes from players being pushed by each other as they battle for playing time.

Head coach Matt Rhule has seen this process play out within the quarterback room, where freshmen early enrollees Daniel Kaelin and Dylan Raiola have begun learning from each other.

“Players learn from players way more than they learn from coaches,” Rhule said Saturday. “If you’re one of the freshmen and see you the other freshman quarterback change the protection or adjust the route, then you’re going to do it.”

Rhule first mentioned that type of learning process last weekend, then repeated the same concept on Thursday that players learn more from each other than they do from their coaches. Particularly at quarterback, that has led to accelerated growth in a short amount of time.

“We have quarterbacks doing things in protection that I haven’t had someone do in 11 years in college football,” Rhule said. “It kind of builds a new normal.”

Now more than halfway through its spring camp, Nebraska’s growth will continue to be affected by its competitive practice setup.

Getting young players as many reps as possible has been a key goal for the spring, but it’s also evident that the time they spend on the sidelines watching and learning can be just as valuable.

“When you have one player doing something (at a high level), the next player quickly catches up,” Rhule said.