Red Report: Chinander says hard-charging RBs testing defense’s tackling; nickel assessment; team leaders | Football

You’ll seldom find a defensive coordinator who feels 100% content with his unit’s tackling.

So, it wasn’t exactly a four-alarm fire moment Monday when Nebraska defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said the Huskers’ tackling needs to improve.

“It’s not good enough right now,” he told reporters following the team’s 10th practice of the spring. “In spring football, you don’t get a ton of shots to tackle live to the ground. We can definitely use the work throughout the rest of spring and then as we move into fall camp.”

Nebraska held its second live scrimmage of the spring Saturday, the sort of day Chinander welcomes because it’s a prime opportunity to assess tackling.

He’s especially interested in seeing how well younger defenders perform.

“We need to get some more reps, especially with the younger guys taking people all the way to the ground,” he said. “I think our running backs are running real hard right now, so it’s a really good practice for us.”

He also was pleased that Nebraska got in some good red-zone work, third-down situations and goal-line plays.

As for tackling, there are ways to work on it without live scrimmaging, Chinander said.

“I just think you have to keep drilling it, you have to keep talking about it,” he said. “When we’re in a tag-off period or a ‘thud’ period, you have to keep enforcing leverage, you have to keep enforcing angles, you have to keep enforcing body posture and where your eyes are at.

“There are things you can do to offset it, but you’ll never completely offset the lack of live tackling.”

Nickel assessment: Chinander offered a glimpse into the competition for snaps at the nickel position.

Isaac Gifford, a sophomore from Lincoln Southeast, needs “to keep progressing from where he left off last year,” said Chinander, noting Gifford moved into a prominent role in the final two games last season when JoJo Domann was sidelined by injury.

“Isaac is fine-tuning all his technique and his assignments,” the coach said.

Chris Kolarevic, a senior, is making the transition to nickel after playing a reserve role at inside linebacker last season.

“Chris is learning it, but he’s done a really good job — he learned fast,” Chinander said. “Chris is playing fast and physical.”

Meanwhile, sophomore John Bullock of Omaha Creighton Prep also drew praise from the coach.

“He’s taking a lot of reps,” Chinander said. “Those guys all have kind of rotated through the ones and twos (first- and second-string defenses). But he’s done a nice job. He’s fast, he’s physical, he’s a good football player. He just needs to get the mental side of it all cranked down so he’s consistent.

“Then, hopefully, we’ll get (sophomore) Javin Wright back here in a short time. I’d like to see what he’s doing running around out there.”

Wright missed almost all of last season with blood clots.

Foremost leaders: Chinander was asked which defenders are showing the most development as leaders.

“Definitely Garrett (Nelson) and definitely Nick Henrich,” the coach said of the two linebackers. “You want to see Luke Reimer, but he’s not able to play.”

Reimer, also a linebacker, is sitting out the spring with an injury.

“But he’s done a nice job from the sideline,” said Chinander, adding that lineman Ty Robinson and corner Quinton Newsome are doing well in the leadership department.

“I think Isaac Gifford has done a good job; I don’t think he’s quite there, yet, in that leadership role,” Chinander said. “But he’s developing.”

More scrimmage talk: Nebraska’s offense and defense battled hard in Saturday’s scrimmage.

“I thought it was a really good back and forth,” Chinander said. “There were a couple times where the defense came out hot and the offense made a few errors. Then the offense came storming back and made a lot of good plays on us. They went down and scored a touchdown, but then we bolted back in.

“The thing I liked about the scrimmage was I thought it was fast and physical on both sides of the football. I didn’t see any dumb stuff out there penaltywise or guys doing dumb stuff.” 

Players in scrimmages have to sometimes remind themselves they are going against teammates. 

Chinander said at times the offense and defense played to a stalemate “which is OK, too.”

Big man learning: If a young, inexperienced player might be referred to as a ball of clay that can be molded, then Nebraska defensive lineman Jailen Weaver might be more like a mound of clay.

Or maybe even an entire mountain.

Listed at 6-foot-8 and 320 pounds, the Antioch, California, native weighed nearly 400 when he first arrived on campus last year.

“Jailen’s one of the biggest guys I’ve ever come across, including in the NFL,” NU defensive front coach Mike Dawson said. “He’s also, underneath that hugeness, he’s a great athlete. You see him all of a sudden burst and you go, ‘Man, I didn’t know something that big could move that fast.’”

That’s a tantalizing combination of size and skill to work with, but Weaver is still going through a steep learning process.

“They had a bunch of reps of the base calls the first week or so with the young group,” Dawson said of Weaver and NU’s other young interior linemen. “Chins didn’t try to stress them out mentally too much. Now they’re getting some blitzes in their repertoire, so they’re starting to move around and do some things.”

Definitely worth watching.