Nebraska Football: First Blackshirts a sign of the new era

The Nebraska football team has officially named its first batch of Blackshirts.

While the announcement has been long coming and a great reward for those who got the honor, the way the Huskers coaches are doing it this year is also an interesting sign of the times.

Back in Charlie McBride’s day, the Blackshirts were largely an honor that was given to the starting 11 on the Nebraska football defense. At times, there were a few others who were major contributors that would get to wear the black practice jerseys.

It became a badge of honor early on and when the Cornhuskers’ defense became one of the most fearsome units in college football the tradition became one that fans held dear for decades.

Not long after the Frank Solich era, things began to change. Bo Pelini and then the coaches that came after him tinkered with the tradition a bit. Sometimes the Blackshirts were handed out later than usual.

Sometimes they were taken back after numerous disastrous outings.

The last decade or so has made Blackshirt watching quite a bit more prevalent this time of year. There’s always a question of when they’re going to be handed out and to whom. On Wednesday morning, Frost and company answered that question to a degree, when it comes to this iteration of the Nebraska football team.

Nine Huskers were named in this first batch of Blackshirts and there will almost certainly be a few more. What’s most interesting about the selection of who gets the first set is how indicative of the era the choices ended up being.

In the age of the transfer portal and something that feels an awful lot like college football free agency, the Nebraska football team decided to honor players who had been with the program before this spring, in its first go-round.

Ty Robinson, Garrett Nelson, Colton Feist, Caleb Tannor, Luke Reimer, Nick Henrich Myles Farmer, Quinton Newsome, and Marques Buford Jr were named Blackshirts on Wednesday.

It shouldn’t be surprising that all three of the Nebraska football captains on defense are also Blackshirts.

What is a bit surprising is that Frost and company have chosen to split up the defense this way. Certainly, the Huskers staff wants to show some love to the people who have been around Lincoln the longest. But there’s little doubt that guys like Ochaun Mathis are going to be deserving of the honor eventually.

There’s also little doubt that guys like Mathis aren’t really going to mind seeing their captains and the guys who have paid their dues as members of the Cornhuskers go first in a situation like this.

However, the way the Nebraska football program’s highest honor is being doled out does underline that it’s a brand new era in the program. Here’s hoping its the start of something great.