LINCOLN And you are?
Mike McNeill hasn't seen much action as a Nebraska tight end. But the sophomore from Kirkwood, Mo., has seen a steady stream of position coaches.
Scott Downing was the Cornhusker coach who recruited him. Shawn Watson was the tight ends coach when he redshirted his first season at Nebraska. Joe Rudolph coached him last season. And now Ron Brown is the tight ends coach.
When a new coach takes charge, it's human nature to wonder: Does he know me? And "it was kind of like that," McNeill said following a recent practice.
"But they're so friendly and they just want to get to know you. It's been great working with all of them. They've been so easy to talk to."
And most importantly, "they've been teaching us well," he said.
Each has taught differently, of course. And the offense has changed with the arrival of Bo Pelini, although Watson was retained as offensive coordinator.
By all accounts, the changes haven't been dramatic. But Brown has emphasized different things, in particular finishing blocks and releasing off the line of scrimmage. Those "are the two things he's been harping on us to do," said McNeill.
Brown also has emphasized catching the ball. And he has done the passing.
Those who remember him from his previous time at Nebraska 17 years coaching the wide receivers and tight ends wouldn't be surprised by that. The image is burned in one's memory, his rapid-fire, left-handed throws.
"He has a cannon," McNeill said. "He likes to throw a little wobbly rocket at us. He wings it from 5 yards away. That makes it a tough ball to catch."
And Brown doesn't wear down, never seems to get tired.
"The man has more energy than anyone I've ever seen," said McNeill.
The tight ends catch passes before practice. They catch passes during practice. They catch passes after practice. And they're often doing something else while they're catching, such as high-stepping over blocking bags to improve concentration.
McNeill distinguished himself as a pass-catching tight end in high school. His three-season totals were 97 receptions for 1,816 yards and 15 touchdowns.
His career totals at Nebraska are one reception for 25 yards, in last season's opener against Nevada. He had hoped for more. But he was behind three seniors.
Only one of the three was used much as a receiver, however. Sean Hill caught 18 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns. So McNeill's one catch tied him for fourth among tight ends, and it was one more than senior Josh Mueller caught.
The tight ends were used primarily blockers. And that continues to be an emphasis. "They want us to fire off and be nasty and just try and kill the person across (from) the ball," McNeill said. "We're still going to have to block." But there's more.
Hill, Mueller and J.B. Phillips, a three-year starter, were bigger as a group. "I think each tight end gives up an average of about 20 pounds to the tight ends we had last year," said McNeill. "I think we do gain some speed and some hands.
"And so I think vertically we'll be stretching the field a little more."
Hunter Teafatiller, who caught four passes for 34 yards last season after catching four touchdown passes as a sophomore, is the only senior among the tight ends. And Tyson Hetzer is the only junior, although he's new to Nebraska.
Hetzer, a scholarship recruit, transferred from Citrus College in Glendora, Calif., at the semester. But he's been sidelined for the spring by a knee injury.
That leaves McNeill, sophomores Dreu Young and Ben Tasa both walk-ons and redshirted freshman Ryan Hill. "I feel like an old guy, that I've been here forever," said McNeill, who missed last spring following shoulder surgery.
"It's a position I fell into that doesn't have many older guys. A lot of guys have a senior in front of them and then a junior and a sophomore. But there's no one.
"We're a young group, ready to get after it."
McNeill's emphasis this spring is blocking. That's been his emphasis since he arrived, in fact. Going against defensive ends Zach Potter and Barry Turner in practice has helped. So has some additional weight. He weighed about 215 as a freshman. He weighs 235 now. And his goal is to gain 5 to 10 pounds more by fall.
"That should be all right," he said.
McNeill is comfortable with his weight. And he's comfortable with his position coach, the fourth one since Nebraska began recruiting him.
"It's different getting to know them all," he said. "What do I say?"
He hasn't had to say much. Each of them has made it easy.
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