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LINCOLN — You got the pen, Phil?

That's what Tyrone Lynn would always ask Phillip Dillard.

Lynn and his wife, Ronda, finished raising Dillard after Martha Dillard left her son with them more than a dozen years ago. Martha Dillard was not only in poor health but looking for more discipline and structure for Phillip.

Tyrone Lynn over time knew every strength and fault of the boy. So much so that Dillard could never pull anything over on him.

Lynn asked one more time recently. Did he have the pen? Dillard said yes.

“So go write the last chapter,'' Lynn told him.

The story of the Nebraska linebacker had become a puzzling mystery in the past 12 months, rife with personal loss, disappointment and injury — and a struggle to handle all three.

Dillard had started five of eight games in 2008 before an ankle injury. As he returned, a situation with the staff was coming to a head and he hardly played in the Gator Bowl. The fifth-year senior then found himself as low as No. 4 on the depth chart at middle linebacker in spring practice.

In between, Dillard lost his mother in mid-January when Martha Dillard, 56, died in Tulsa, Okla., after struggling with a heart problem and other health issues for as long as Phillip could remember.

“She was sick for a long time, for years, and she somehow found a way to be happy every day,'' Dillard said. “I don't know how. I was just like, ‘Man, she has worse things going on, then I have nothing to complain about.' So I just use that as a strength. I'm going to do the best I can to get better at the things I need to get better at.''

Dillard wasn't just talking football, although his career suddenly seems untracked again. After not playing in the Huskers' first two games, the 6-foot-1, 240-pounder has emerged as of late, including back-to-back games with 12 tackles.

Dillard was challenged in a different way last winter, when his attitude led to the clash with NU coach Bo Pelini, defensive coordinator Carl Pelini and linebackers coach Mike Ekeler. Dillard called it unrelated to his mother being ill.

But Dillard said some of his last conversations with her — when he went back to Tulsa during winter break — maybe shaped what happened next.

“She was just like, ‘Take care of business,'” Dillard said. “She said, ‘Everything happens for a reason. God has a plan for you, so just be patient and make me proud.'”

Lynn said Martha Dillard would be smiling now, and not just because her son is playing again and tied for fourth on the team with 35 tackles.

Dillard followed her advice. Repaired relationships. Moved on. Grew up.

“I just think what happened at the bowl game, as far as him being disrespectful, a lot of it just put him in a place where he could get it together or strike out,'' Lynn said.

Lynn watched to see what might happen. Both Lynn and Martha Dillard had told him that he was wasting his talent. It was up to Phil to change.

And it was going to be a hard time to do it.

“When he was talking to me it was always ‘yes, sir' or ‘no, sir,' but I could tell he was crumbling inside,'' Lynn said. “I felt like we were finally starting to get to Phil. It sounds odd, but I needed to get to the Phil that is not the football player and get to Phil the person. He had always been a warrior on the field, but needed to develop the person off the field. I think everything crumbling down around him helped him get there.''

Ekeler said the past is the past and won't talk much about it. Dillard had spent three seasons under the old defensive staff and had to conform to the new one.

“It was just one of those things where there's a certain way we do things around here,'' Ekeler said. “I think there was just a point where he knew that, hey, this is the way it's going to be. You know how Bo goes, I mean, you're in or you're out. There's no middle ground here.''

Ekeler said Dillard's situation with his mother probably was wearing on him. They would talk about it occasionally and Dillard would “get it out.'' Ekeler said the support system Dillard had with Tyrone and Ronda Lynn was phenomenal.

“I've always enjoyed Phil,'' Ekeler said. “And I really like the guy he's become.''

Lynn said the Husker staff, from what it had seen of Dillard's attitude, probably never thought that the player would make it through the obstacle course he needed to navigate to get back. Even after the spring and summer, Dillard still did not play against Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State to start the season — he said he was not suspended — and even toiled away in practice with the scout-team defense.

Lynn and Dillard talked after each of those games, and Lynn would have thought that Dillard made 20 tackles from the tone of his voice. Dillard laughed and told Lynn that he “coached well,'' standing beside Ekeler and helping with the Huskers' younger linebackers.

“The interesting thing about that is he didn't know when he would play,'' Lynn said. “He didn't know. But he was so genuine that I think he won over the coaching staff.''

Lynn said he believes that Dillard is happy and at peace with matters more than ever before. He said the staff deserves credit for not holding his past against him.

“Ekeler knew what kind of football player Phil was,'' Lynn said. “I don't think they ever questioned that. But now he can have a sense of pride — watching a boy become a man, and knowing he had a lot to do with it.''

To make his football comeback, Dillard said he improved his focus and practice habits, became more in tune to technique and turned himself over to the NU staff. Dillard was moved from middle to weakside linebacker and eventually has become the only linebacker in the Husker dime package.

“I kept a good attitude so that when the time came and the coaches asked for me, I was going to do the best I could to help my teammates,'' Dillard said.

Dillard misses the regular calls and visits to his mother, somebody he called a faithful woman who loved her boys and family. Dillard always saw her strength even though she often was weak and struggling.

“He really loved her,'' Lynn said.

She's part of that last chapter he's writing. It's a good one. Better than it looked like it was going to be.

“I cherish the way things are now,'' Dillard said, “and I know that my mom is looking down on me and I try to make her proud.''

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com