Husker Corner
Fansided

Nebraska Football: ‘The days of the big safety are … over’

By Oliver Vandervoort

Malcolm Hartzog #13 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrates his interception with teammates Braxton Clark #11and Isaac Gifford #23 during the fourth quarter against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a game at SHI Stadium (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Malcolm Hartzog #13 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrates his interception with teammates Braxton Clark #11and Isaac Gifford #23 during the fourth quarter against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a game at SHI Stadium (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule understands that defense is changing in the 21st century from the front line to the secondary.

Speaking to the media over the weekend, the new Nebraska football head coach shared some of his thoughts about how he wants to recruit on the defensive side of the ball. During those comments, he specifically laid out how the Huskers are going to be looking at the defensive backfield and mentioned a player who has been getting quite a bit of talk so far this spring.

Rhule specifically called out defensive back Malcolm Hartzog as playing very well so far and also being exactly the kind of player the Nebraska football defense is going to be using in the very near future.

"“I think he’s just a really good football player. He can play safety, he can play corner. As a safety, he’s obviously a little bit smaller but he’s got toughness. He’s got the ability to make plays on the ball.”"

Rhule then moved on a bit and talked about some other defensive backs that have had a good spring practice so far. But then, when he returned to the talk about the safety position he really did show off what could be seen as a roadmap as to what Husker fans should expect through the Rhule regime.

"“The way we’ll win is when we recruit safeties and they grow into about 220 pounds and they go down to play linebacker. The days of the big safety are kind of over. Everyone is kind of moving around. Just as much speed on the field as we can move around. Malcolm gives us that flexibility.”"

This isn’t the first time that Rhule has talked about wanting to move players all over the field. He also hasn’t just talked about but has also had his staff do it. There’s been movement from the offensive to the defensive side of the ball and vice versa.

Nebraska football coaches are high on Malcolm Hartzog

Rhule’s comments follow what have been some very positive words towards Hartzog.

Just a week ago, Tony White was the one singing the defensive back’s praises.

It would seem as though there are few defensive players that are continuing to grow on the Nebraska football defense. That growth started last year and went thought-out the season. Now it appears that it could be a thing where Hartzog becomes a star in 2023.

Home/Nebraska Cornhuskers News