Jennings' patience has paid dividends
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By CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
The likelihood of Dan Jennings winding up with a spot in the Nebraska baseball team’s pitching rotation seemed about as strong as him throwing an 89 mph fastball as a high school senior.
But wouldn’t you know it, there was Jennings one day during Christmas break as a senior, working out in front of some folks.
“I got out there and started throwing it and they told me ‘89’ and I was like ‘No way. You’re joking. It’s not possible,’” said Jennings.
Apparently, blazing velocity had never been a calling card for a guy who as a junior saw limited time on the mound for a West Des Moines (Iowa) Valley High team that won a state championship.
No, Jennings’ talent seemed more suited for a place such as NCAA Division III Central College in Pella, Iowa — which is where he was set to go until the day he hit 89 mph.
It wasn’t long after that Jennings’ father decided to send an e-mail to then-Nebraska pitching coach Rob Childress.
“It was pretty humbling. It was like, ‘My son is thinking about going to school here, it’s kind of close, he has a desire to pitch,’” Jennings recalled. “And (Childress) said, ‘All right, send me a videotape.’
“I went and filmed the tape the next week and sent it up to him. The next day I got a phone call saying, ‘We need to get you up here on a visit.’”
Before Jennings went 9-0 with a 0.85 ERA to help Valley High win another state title, Childress assured the 6-foot-3 lefty he’d have a place with the Huskers.
Getting to the position he wanted, though, has required major patience.
After Childress took the head coaching job at Texas A&M before Jennings got to NU, Jennings foundered as a freshman, then emerged slowly out of the bullpen last season.
But he was at his best in three postseason appearances, posting a 2.45 ERA, and in two outings at the NCAA regional in Tempe, Ariz., allowed just three earned runs in nine innings.
That success carried over to a strong summer throwing for Waterloo, Iowa, in the Northwoods League, and into fall ball at Nebraska. And now Jennings finds himself in the No. 3 slot for this weekend’s season-opening series at Stanford.
“There’s others who were in the same situation who aren’t here, and this guy stuck with it and kept plugging along, and it looks like he’s going to be rewarded for his patience,” said NU assistant Dave Bingham, Jennings’ pitching coach during his first two years. “You’d like to think in your program that guys sit and wait (for) their turn . ... It’s very rare for a kid to take a chance like (the one he got from Childress) and then sit here and wait (and wind up producing).”
Of the eight freshman pitchers on Nebraska’s 2006 team, only Jennings, Zach Herr and Erik Bird remain.
“It’s weird,” Jennings said about his rise to a more prominent role. “I feel like I just came in yesterday. (But) I like it a lot more. It’s a lot more fun having guys look up to you.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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