NU FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Norvell: Huskers slowly learning to navigate offense

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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL/Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska's spring football season is three days old, and, well, the Huskers aren't exactly ready to unveil the West Coast offense. Like that's a surprise.


"We're force-feeding them an elephant right now," Nebraska offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said. "We're putting in as much as we possibly can, and their heads are spinning a little bit. It's like learning a new language, like learning French or Spanish, and being dropped off in a foreign country. It's new to them. But they're doing a good job of adjusting and learning and trying to go at the pace and the speed we want them to go at."


Norvell, who also serves as the quarterbacks coach, is evaluating four quarterbacks — Joe Dailey, Mike Stuntz, Garth Glissman and Zach Miller. Dailey's listed first on the pre-spring depth chart.

"Things started to slow down for him a little bit today," Norvell said of Dailey's progress. "He made some nice throws and had some nice reads, and I think it's starting to slow down a little for him now."


PRACTICE REPORT: The Huskers worked out for 2 hours, 15 minutes Friday at Memorial Stadium. It was their first practice in full pads. "We knocked the rust off," coach Bill Callahan said. "We have a long way to go, but we are excited about the future." Nebraska practices today — its fourth day in a row — then will take Sunday off before resuming workouts Monday.


HIGH POTENTIAL: Perhaps NU's most experienced area this spring is the secondary, where the Huskers return three starters, including juniors Fabian Washington, Josh Bullocks and Daniel Bullocks, and a fourth player, Lornell McPherson, who saw extensive playing time as a nickel back. New secondary coach Phil Elmassian, though, said it's important those players continue to improve and move forward. "The ceiling is unlimited," Elmassian said. "You always talk about football players and their ceiling. We're not even close yet. We haven't scratched the surface yet, because there's youth here, too. There's guys who have two more years left. That's what makes it even more fun. It's not like they're all seniors."


AND THE WINNER IS …: Remember Nebraska's pre-spring team bowling trip? Well, turns out Mike McLaughlin is the Huskers' best bowler. He had the top game with a score of 270. Next in line? Receivers coach Turner Gill, with a 236.