Steven M. Sipple: Assessing Betts’ situation and Huskers’ WR group without him | Column

Mickey Joseph’s objective is to help his wide receivers maximize their potential. 

He coaches players hard. Very hard. For that reason, the first-year Nebraska assistant looks for players who genuinely love the game.

“You can win with kids when they love the game,” the 54-year-old Joseph said in December. 

“It means you’re going to do the extra, it means enough is never enough,” he said. “When the coach tells you, ‘Good job,’ you work even harder. When the coach tells you, ‘Hey, that’s not a good job,’ you even double-up what you’ve got to do to get better. 

“They’ve got to love the game. You’re going to have to love the game to play for me. You’re going to have to love the game to play for Scott (Frost). You’re not going to be able to just like it.” 

Those comments came to mind Thursday morning as Frost, Nebraska’s fifth-year head coach, told reporters that talented wideout Zavier Betts is “not a member of the team right now.”

Sources told the Journal Star that Betts, a sophomore from Bellevue West, hasn’t been at practice this week. 

Nebraska returned to spring drills Monday following a week off for the university’s spring break.

Frost declined to say why Betts isn’t on the team. Sources told the Journal Star he’s not injured and that it’s not a team discipline matter of any sort. 

Michael Huffman, the Bellevue West head coach, told the Journal Star, “I don’t know anything more than you.”

As for the possibility of the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Betts rejoining the team in the future, Frost said, “He’s not a member of the team. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Based on what I know, if Betts wanted to be at Nebraska’s practice Thursday, he could’ve been there. 

These matters are touchy. It’s often hard to tell exactly what’s going on in a young man’s life. Nobody here is making harsh judgments on Betts. 

As one considers his situation, recall what he told reporters last August. He said his desire to excel last spring “wasn’t as big and as deep as it should have been. And then over the summer I kind of found ways to improve that.”

If his desire comes and goes, well, you heard what Joseph said. 

Bottom line, Betts is a joy to watch play the game. He’s sleek and fluid, with eye-popping speed. Last season, he caught 20 passes for 286 yards, and also had an 83-yard rushing touchdown.

The wideout’s best days are ahead of him, if he wants to continue to play one of the most demanding sports of all. 

Maybe he’ll rejoin Nebraska’s team at some point. But you have to wonder, especially considering Joseph’s hard-line approach to coaching.  

Frost also trends toward that sort of approach to the game. 

Perhaps Betts will enter the transfer portal and try to play for a program where the spotlight on him isn’t quite as bright. 

Joseph alluded to the pressure at Nebraska in recent comments. 

“Sometimes being from Nebraska and playing here — being an in-state kid — it’s a whole bunch of pressure,” said Joseph, a Louisiana native who played quarterback at Nebraska from 1988-91. “I want to tell him all the time: Hey, you’ve just got to be Zavier, you’ve just got to play ball. Don’t worry about all that other stuff. I’ll take everything else off you.

“But it’s not easy. It’s just like a kid from Louisiana playing in-state football. It’s not easy for a kid from Nebraska because everybody wants to know why you’re not playing more, when you’re going to do this or that, and they’re pulling at you. With an out-of-state kid, they’re not getting all that. Zavier’s getting pulled all over because he’s the in-state kid who was a great football player in high school, and people want him to be a great football here right away.”

It doesn’t always work that way. Players develop at different rates.

If he wants to, Betts could still become an NFL player. 

But he still needs to develop his game. In practice. 

“I just look at the film from last year,” Joseph said earlier this spring. “He shows up one week, the next week he doesn’t show up. So now my goal is to get him to be consistent so that he shows up every week, and he’s going to give you 100% every week. He’s got to believe in himself.

“It’s about me shooting him confidence, like, ‘Hey, you can get this done, you can do it.'” 

Again, perhaps Betts eventually will return to the Big Red fold. If that’s what he wants, you hope for the best. 

Meanwhile, Nebraska pushes forward with what appears to be a capable group of wideouts led by Trey Palmer, a transfer from LSU, and seniors Omar Manning and Oliver Martin. Junior slot man Brody Belt and sophomore Alante Brown both have drawn ample praise. Wyatt Liewer has significant experience.

Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, a transfer from New Mexico State, has been limited this spring, but likely will be prominent in the mix.

Don’t rule out a talented redshirt freshman or true freshman becoming factors. 

“They’re doing well,” Frost said of the group as a whole. “There’s some new stuff for them to learn. We have some new faces and new bodies. You know, I’m really happy with the guys who are out there practicing right now. Again, we have a couple guys down. But that’s a deep group, and Mickey’s doing a really good job with them. 

“I’m not concerned about that position at all and look forward to seeing them continue to improve.” 

Joseph will work them hard. That we know for sure.