Saturday’s surprises – Huskers take the practice field

Saturday’s practice – the first of the spring for Nebraska – was packed with new faces and surprises.

All across the offensive line changes and new surprises were popping up throughout practice.

Former 5-star offensive guard Andrew Rodriguez was playing with the second team offensive line, despite starting throughout 2011. Seung Hoon Choi acted as the starter with the first team at left guard.

The battle to replace Mike Caputo at center officially got underway Saturday. Cole Pensick led the team in reps with the first team. Head coach Bo Pelini’s nephew Mark Pelini and senior walk-on Justin Jackson led the charge behind Pensick.

While coaches were looking for Caputo’s replacement at center, it was pretty clear who would replace Yoshi Hardrick and Jeremiah Sirles at tackle. Tyler Moor and Jeremiah Sirles, who both have starting experience, worked with the first team at left and right tackle, respectively.

New Coaches at NU

Saturday was the first day Nebraska’s two new assistant coaches attended practice with the team.

Terry Joseph (secondary) and Rick Kaczenski (defensive line) had their first practice with their players since joining Nebraska.

“Kaz has been here for a while and he’s pretty much up to speed,” Pelini said. “Because of Terry’s familiarity with me and our system, he hit the ground running. It’s like there hasn’t been any changes at all.”

Both coaches came out in full force. Kaczenski was hollering at his players during the Huskers’ full-team drills, while Joseph made it a point to make his players accountable, especially while he tries to work out a crammed depth chart at cornerback.

Bill Belichick visits with Husker coaches, players

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spent Friday at Nebraska for the annual coaches clinic.

“I thought it was great having coach Belichick here,” Pelini said. “I think we share a lot of the same things philosophically.”

Belichick also spent time speaking with Nebraska’s players and worked out a few graduating Huskers before April’s NFL Draft. Linebacker Lavonte David, cornerback Alfonzo Dennard and offensive tackle Marcel Jones all worked out with Belichick.

“I think he walked out of here feeling pretty good about his day here, too,” Pelini said.

Notes

• Quarterback Taylor Martinez wore a camera on his helmet for a small portion of practice.
  “It’s just another tool for us to evaluate where their eyes are,” Pelini said. “We didn’t use it the whole time out there but it’s something that we’re toying with to see if it’s a tool that will help us and help them.”
• Cornerback Antonio Bell played a considerable amount of snaps with the first team alongside Andrew Green and Ciante Evans. Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Josh Mitchell and JuCo transfer Mohammed Seisay all split reps with the second team.
• Wide receiver Steven Osborne played a considerable amount with Nebraska’s first team. Pelini Osborne’s brother, Courtney – who started in 2010 – is healthy and is poised for a strong senior season.
• Defensive tackles Chase Rome and Todd Peat Jr., as well as offensive lineman Jake Cotton, will miss spring practice due to injury. Jay Guy and Thad Randle saw the majority of the reps alongside Baker Steinkuhler at defensive tackle.

By Chris Peters

Contact the writer at ChrisHuskerCorner@gmail.com or on Twitter @_ChrisPeters

Follow Husker Corner on Twitter @HuskerCorner

Friend Husker Corner on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Huskercorner