Tony White looking for ‘ballers’ and ‘X-Men’ who ‘wreck shop’ as they learn the scheme

Tony White pumped the brakes a bit.

The Nebraska defensive coordinator on Thursday told reporters he hadn’t introduced any new wrinkles to his 3-3-5 scheme in the last two practices as players get up to speed on their assignments at multiple positions.

White and coach Matt Rhule are experimenting with position changes and cross-training at all three levels of the defense. MJ Sherman, for example, is learning all linebacker spots. Safety Myles Farmer is taking reps at corner.

“I have to be better in terms of making sure that this is the stuff we’re going to run,” White said. “We’re messing around — moving guys around, moving things schematically a little bit — so I have to be cleaner, more efficient to make sure we see guys really play.

“It’s hard to get an evaluation when you’re changing stuff, adding stuff all the time — and then you throw a guy in a new position, so he’s learning a new position, learning a new defense, and then you’re going out there and seeing him at his worst. So, at this point, it’s a matter of just making sure they’re in the right positions and they know what to do.”

If defenders don’t “play fast,” the Huskers “don’t have a chance,” White said.

NU won’t slow down on trying athletes at different spots. Tight end-turned-defensive end AJ Rollins, for example, is a “baller,” White said, who makes plays “with a smile on his face.”

In the pass rush, White rattled off five names — Princewill Umanmielen, Chief Borders, Jimari Butler, Sherman and Kai Wallin — four of whom are newcomers.

They’re fun to watch, White said, when Nebraska gets to third down and can turn loose its pass rush. And in White’s defense, linebackers are “X-Men” who have to do a little bit of everything. Butler and Sherman, for example, are “all over the place” with such versatile skill sets that White doesn’t want to “lock them in” to a single role yet.

“The staff did a great job of identifying guys and getting them on campus,” White said of all five players. “Corey Campbell did a hell of a job of getting those guys in the weight room and making it about us and the way we want to do things. You see their natural ability.”

The mixing and matching can affect execution and consistency, White said. The defense won one key period on Thursday before getting their “butts kicked” in a different period. Good defenses, he said, don’t ride the emotional roller coaster.

Nebraska coaches need to be patient — to an extent.

“At the end of the day, if I see the ball, I don’t need to know what to do in terms of hey, I see the ball over there, and I’m going to get there in a bad humor,” White said. “The little Xs and Os part, we can fix that. That’s why coach brought us here. But we’ve got to develop the mindset and the attitude.

“When everything breaks down, you see a football player at his best. Hey, I might’ve done ‘A to B’ wrong, but ‘B to C’ I’m going over here, I’m going to wreck shop and make plays.”