The coach's door is always open.

Maybe some day, Collins Okafor will look back and be glad that it was.

The former Omaha Westside star running back's departure from the Nebraska football program and then his quick return was addressed at Friday's Big Red Breakfast by Jeff Jamrog, Nebraska's assistant athletic director for football.

“I respect (head coach Bo Pelini) for saying, ‘You know what, the door's open,'” Jamrog said. “A coach has heard that kind of language (from players) before. They (the players) go home, they think about it, and it starts sorting itself out.

“This young man came in with a lot of pressure. When you are very successful in high school, then now are in a position where you have to be patient, sometimes that is tough to do. Collins is a great kid, he has a 3.6 GPA, he does have some tools.”

Jamrog said having patience is important for players like Okafor, who find themselves a little farther down the depth chart than they hoped. He added that NU running backs' coach Tim Beck also told Okafor to continue to keep working and be patient.

Jamrog reminded the crowd about the patience shown by former quarterback Joe Ganz, who was well down the depth chart three games into his junior season before being named the starter for the final three games and the entire 2008 season.

Heading into the only nonconference road game of the season on Saturday at Virginia Tech, Jamrog said Pelini has been emphasizing focus and attention to detail — key factors in operating well in what will be a heated environment in Blacksburg, where the Hokies have been nearly unbeatable by teams from outside their conference.

Virginia Tech has won at least 10 games each of the last five years. Jamrog said that's the kind of stability and success Nebraska used to have and where the Huskers want to get again.

“One thing they have that we hope to have here for a long time is the stability of the football staff,” he said, referring to coach Frank Beamer, who took over the Hokie program in 1987 and who has developed a reputation for holding on to his assistants.

Getting back to nine or more wins a year, as they have done at Virginia Tech, should also be the goal at NU.

“That's the standard Nebraska has always been judged on, nine or more wins,” Jamrog said. “They don't like anything less than that, although one year we won 10 and got fired, but normally nine or more wins is a standard for Nebraska football.”

One highlight of Jamrog's talk was a story about a challenge to the team concerning ball security. He said freshman running back Rex Burkhead was given a football early in fall camp by Pelini to carry around and bring back the next day. His freshman teammates were told to protect him, and the upperclassmen were instructed to get the ball from him.

Jamrog said there were special instructions for defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh — Pelini told him ‘Suh, I don't want you to throw him up in the air' — but Burkhead arrived safely the next day with the ball and gave it back to Pelini.

Of course, Pelini was disappointed the older players weren't able to get the ball. So, the next day the roles were reversed. This time, an upperclassman successfully returned the ball.

On the third day, the ball went back to the freshmen. Just before practice time, when an unnamed freshman was about to return the ball to the coach, he was promptly smothered by eight upperclassmen pouncing on the ball.

“It's a mind-set of attacking the football,” Jamrog said.

Also, Jamrog said the Huskers are taking 88 players to Blacksburg, including 26 who are walk-ons. The travel number will dwindle to 70 for Big 12 games. Jamrog said because of improved depth, it will be harder to make the travel squad this year.

“This year we're going to have some tough decisions on who those (travel) players are,” he said.

« Sports - Big Red Today

Share