Nebraska defensive coordinator John Butler had spent most of his career in the NFL, so he didn’t know much about the Huskers’ Blackshirts tradition until the day last August when defensive starters began walking onto the field in black jerseys.
“I was like, ‘Man, that’s pretty damn cool,’" Butler said.
Butler, in his first full season as coordinator, planned to hand them out this week and keep the number to “11, maybe a 12th guy,” which is consistent with head coach Matt Rhule’s approach to the tradition. Previous head coaches have doled out more.
“We’re going to keep it pretty competitive,” Butler said. “We’re not going to water it down.”
And once players earn the jersey, Butler said, they’ll have to continue to earn the jersey as the season continues.
“They don’t keep it for life,” Butler said. “It’s a competitive thing. It’s something you have to take pride in the fact that ‘I’ve got to continue to earn this every day in practice and every week on the field.’”
Butler will be “constantly evaluating” his players on physicality, attention to detail and playmaking skills.
More quick hits from Husker press availability:
Butler: Tackling well matters for early success
-----------------------------------------------
Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby is the kind of dual-threat quarterback who “fights for every yard,” Butler said. Sorsby has run for 715 yards and 13 touchdowns across three seasons with Indiana and the Bearcats.
“I think we’ve seen him slide twice — maybe,” Butler said of Sorsby. “… You’ve got to know the kind of animal you’re hunting, so to speak. He’s big, strong, runs hard, he’s tough, he delivers the blow more so than he takes hit, so that’s a challenge, physically, that we’ve got to answer, early, to make sure that doesn’t get out of hand.”
Tackling well, Butler said, factors heavily into success early in a season.
“Tracking the near hip, taking the extra step, getting body on body, having population there, being physical,” Butler said. “I think that’s going to be a challenge every week.”
Raiola's question to Patrick Mahomes
------------------------------------
Dylan Raiola has been in touch with Patrick Mahomes recently.
The Nebraska quarterback and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback are friends, so Raiola asked Mahomes if he needed to wear “seven-studded cleats” for the Arrowhead Stadium turf.
“He said no,” Raiola said. “He said it’s in perfect shape.”
Raiola said his younger brother, 2026 quarterback commit Dayton Raiola, has a bye week with Buford (Georgia) High School, so Dayton and their parents will be at Nebraska’s game Thursday night.
It’s likely that Dylan is one of the captains who stands for the pregame coin toss.
“I’m not going to be selfish and take the ball,” Raiola said, smiling. “That’s coach Rhule's call."
Holgorsen praises Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter
--------------------------------------------
Transfer receivers Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter have been “exactly what we thought we were getting with them,” offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen said Tuesday.
Key, a three-year star at Kentucky, has a single-digit and captaincy to his name at NU. Hunter, from California, battled some injuries in camp, Holgorsen before “really coming on in the last week” of camp.
“Watching the Cal video, the gameday stuff was pretty good,” Holgorsen said. “I don’t know what the practice stuff looked like but the gameday stuff was pretty good. So when we put him in position to make plays when we’re counting on them, I just feel very confident that he’ll do that.”
* • Texts from columnists
* • The most breaking Husker news
* • Cutting-edge commentary
* • Husker history photo galleries
[Get started](https://huskerextra.com)
Get local news delivered to your inbox!