Nebraska JACK linebacker MJ Sherman met with the media on Tuesday afternoon.
The veteran Husker had plenty to say about how camp had started and where the team finds itself with a few weeks to go before the first game.
Here are a few quick notes:
— Sherman felt like the Huskers picked things up pretty quickly at the start of fall camp, citing good work being done in the spring and in the summer.
— The linebacker rattled off nearly a half-dozen names when asked about where leadership comes from for the 2024 Blackshirts.
“You got wonderful guys like Giff (Isaac Gifford), Ty (Robinson), Jimari (Butler), who else, even Marques (Buford), there’s a lot of guys. To be honest I want to say even Nash as well. There’s not one set leader. Everybody has a voice with that team. Everybody can speak up and say what’s right and what’s wrong. Why? Because everyone knows what the standard looks like. Everyone knows what the standard is.”
— Talking about Gifford specifically, Sherman said one of the thing that stands out about the veteran defensive back is the consistency in which he does everything.
“Looking at Giff — he’s someone I want to be. Not like a safety or anything but he’s someone I want to be as a leader. He’s someone I admire and his work ethic, how he talks, how he plays, how he thinks.”
— Sherman never planned on moving on, but he said he thinks so many players chose to come back for the upcoming season because of the belief that there are bigger and better experiences on the way.
The linebacker said he and the rest of the team feel strongly that that for as much as last year was learning each other, the scheme and the coaches, now they know that much of what was discussed has value and that there’s a way they can utilize what they’ve been taught to get better and more meaningful results.
— A big thing for the Nebraska defense is finding ways to generate more pressure with less overall rushers. The Huskers want to meet at the quarterback with just four rushers, allowing more to be in coverage and making it harder for throwing lanes.
“It’s been a pretty huge emphasis,” Sherman said. “Having the four-man rush and allowing the guys back their to cover means they can be really great. Allows more guys to cover and we don’t have to send a lot of people it makes it easier on the defense as well. Coach (Tony) White can call whatever he wants to call and we just go there and rush. That’s been a really huge emphasis for us. We just have to get back there and make negative plays for the offense.”
— Sherman ran through who’s working at JACK this fall camp: Himself, Princewill Umanmielen, Jordan Ochoa, Willis McGahee IV, Ismael Smith Flores and Maverick Noonan.
— The linebacker was extremely complimentary of Nebraska analyst Jack Potenza, who is tasked with working with the JACK linebackers specifically.
“Coach Jack is always in my ear, always coaching me up and to be honest I’m searching for his coaching. Certain plays I look directly at him during the play call which is a habit I need to break, but at practice I’ll look directly at him to see if what I did was right, or wrong or if I made the right decision and not the thinking aspect but how can I get one step better.”