A number of Nebraska football players have found a way to stay connected to the game that they love while giving back to the community this fall.
Hail Varsity has learned that at least five current Huskers will be at practices and on the sidelines of Lincoln high school games as volunteer coaches over the next couple of months. Nebraska fans can expect to see players helping out at programs across the metro like Lincoln Southeast, Waverly and others.
As of now, here are the Huskers you can see on the sidelines this fall:
- Casey Rogers at Lincoln Southeast
- Isaac Gifford at Lincoln Southeast
- Luke McCaffrey at Lincoln Southwest
- Cameron Jurgens at Lincoln Southwest
The news follows the Big Ten Conference’s decision to postpone fall sports. That means fall will look quite a bit different for Nebraska football. The NCAA’s Division Division I council recently approved a 12-hour schedule model for teams that are not playing this fall. That allows teams, like Nebraska, some time for strength and conditioning and meetings, as well as five hours of on-field activities with helmets per week.
The 12-hour model—which was put in place for conferences like the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mountain West and Mid-American—currently runs from Aug. 24 through Oct. 4. The council will meet again in September, where they’ll discuss plans for practice once the current plan expires in early October.
West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons, the chair of the NCAA's Football Oversight Committee, said the 12-hour rule was a compromise. While he didn’t personally agree, the committee felt 20 hours was too much, especially with the hope to return to competition in the winter or spring. A number of coaches agreed with Lyons.
"I don't agree at all with the 12 hours," Penn State coach James Franklin said during a recent news conference. "That makes no sense that other teams are going to be having a season, and we're only going to get to work with our guys for 12 hours. You've got voting from basically all the different conferences, and right now, the only people voting in the best interests of the Big Ten are the people from the Big Ten."
The 12-hour rule also means players, like those at Nebraska, will have extra time this fall. For a number of Husker football players, they are taking that time and putting it to use for their community.
It may not be exactly what Nebraska fans expected or hoped for, but there will be Husker football players on the sidelines of football games this fall. For now, they’ll be on the other side of the headset.
Erin is the Deputy Editor and Digital Marketing Strategist for Hail Varsity. She has covered Nebraska athletics since 2012, which has included stops at Bleacher Report, Cox Media Group’s Land of 10, and even Hail Varsity (previously from 2012-2017). She has also been featured on the Big Ten Network, NET’s Big Red Wrap-Up, and a varsity of radio shows nationwide. When not covering the Huskers, Erin is probably at Chipotle.
