During his time speaking to media, Nebraska football tight ends coach Bob Wager not only talked about his own role with the Huskers, but set the stage for the next guest.
He was asked about Garret McGuire, the team’s new 23-year-old wide receiver coach. McGuire’s father, Joey McGuire, is Texas Tech football’s head coach and has a relationship with Wager. However, the tight ends coach was quick to shut down the idea that he’d need advice from the elder McGuire on how to help out the young assistant.
“Garret doesn’t need any looking out for, I will assure you,” Wager said. “He’s very very well prepared, and you’re going to see that here in a second.”
Five minutes later, it was Garret McGuire’s turn to talk. He expressed excitement about the wide receiver room, being in this role and the connections he’s made along the way. His entire football playing career came in Texas, and as the staff’s done recruiting work there, he was happy to get back in touch with coaches around the state.
“Drinking out of a firehose a little bit, you can kind of picture that,” he said, describing what his time at Nebraska has been like so far. “The most rewarding part is being back around the high school coaches. Like, shoot, I got to see Claude Mathis, Scott Stewart, Hank Carter, dear friends of mine, mentors of mine, you guys saw a tweet I put out about a week ago about, high school coaches are my heroes. Well, it’s true. I believe in high school football, I believe in the high school experience.”
Relative to other Husker coaches, he’s not that far removed from his high school days. He was playing quarterback for his father at Cedar Hills High School in 2016 before spending four seasons at Baylor — three under then-Bears head coach Matt Rhule. After 2020, he joined Rhule again, this time serving as a coaching assistant and offensive assistant on the Carolina Panthers.
His age and associated lack of experience brings questions for some. In response to that thought, McGuire calls on his connections.
“I got really lucky being around the people I’ve been around. You talk about Joe Brady, Ben McAdoo, James Campen, Matt Lombardi, Mike Siravo, guys that really poured into me, taught me from a young age how to coach, how to treat people,” he said. “Obviously, my dad and coach Rhule being the two biggest influences on me. So yeah, you know, I’m probably a little bit ahead of the curve ball being younger, but, you know, like I said, we’re just going at it.”
He said he calls his father “about every night,” often asking for help.
“I’m just always trying to get his evaluation of me, you know, am I doing enough? Am I doing the right things? And that’s what’s so cool about me is like, I’m the son of a coach,” he said. “I spent 18 years with the best coach I know, we were under the same roof.”
McGuire seems to have built a strong relationship with the rest of the current staff as well. He said that just as a player would tape up their ankles prior to practice, the staff’s intensity requires that type of preparation as well. He and defensive backs coach Evan Cooper partake in early morning workouts together, and McGuire admitted he was upset that Cooper’s been in earlier than he has the past two days. The staff wanting to push each other to be better has been a theme of their availabilities.
“When those DBs and receivers go one-on-one, shoot, I wouldn’t be surprised me and Coop go one-on-one,” McGuire said.
The wide receiver coach’s praises for his position group centered on their strong work-ethic. Nebraska will need someone to step up at the position following the departure of Trey Palmer, who was far and away the most productive of the room. McGuire said he just wants the room to get 1% better every day as they look to carry their attitude into the spring and fall.
“That standard’s already set of how they want to play,” McGuire said. “And then you add our brand of football, you know, being the toughest, hardest-working, most competitive team in the country. That’s kind of what I want to look like in April.”
