Nebraska Football: Erik Chinander wants more energy defensively
Chinander wants to see more energy from the Nebraska Football defense.
We all know that the Nebraska football defense was not the best last season. At times, it seemed like they lacked energy. To think that they lacked energy during home games in a stadium full of 90,000 fans is somewhat disconcerting. With no fence? Will be even more of a challenge or energy to come easy this year.
Energy is something that defensive coordinator Erik Chinander has been emphasizing to his players. It may seem simple, but to me it’s a good thing. Energy was something that they sorely lacked last season. I would use the Indiana and the second half of the Colorado game for examples. They really struggled with energy, and it will be something that they need to have consistently if they want to survive this schedule.
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I think some of the lack of energy fell on the players last season. With the new crop coming in, that should be able to change. If I see even 20% more energy than Nebraska football showed at times last season, the program will be in good shape. I am glad Chinander is emphasizing this, because I do think it was a major problem last season.
Nebraska football needs to be firing off the ball defensively, and getting into the backfield as often as possible. They finally have a group of athletes that are able to do that. The program might as well use them to their full capabilities. Nebraska should already have a little bit of energy, as they were adamant about playing the season to begin with. Even still, I like that it’s been emphasized and it’s been a focal point for the defensive. Whatever it takes for the defense to play better, I’m all for it.
As a report from Steven M. Sipple of the Lincoln Journal Star notes, the concept of energy has been one of the defensive coordinators talking points.
"“It’s going to be, ‘Bring your own juice, bring your own energy,'” Chinander said."
I will be interested to see if the emphasis on energy carries over to game situations. It’s going to have to, as Nebraska undoubtedly needs to be better than they were last year. However, I feel more confident in this defensive group that I did with last year’s defense. This is a big year for not only that unit, but for Chinander as well.