Now that the Nebraska football season is officially here, it’s time to address the elephant in the room. While former defensive coordinator John Butler put together a scheme that made the Huskers one of the best pass defenses in the country, the Blackshirts had the softest underbelly. Very little pass rush and a poor run defense led to some disappointing losses, including three straight blowouts. Now Rob Aurich is here, and there’s been all kinds of talk about how things will be different in 2026.
Over the last 20 years, Husker fans have been sold all kinds of stories involving rosy pictures about how “this year” will be better than “last year.” Those same fans often end up disappointed in just how big the turnaround really was. So why could this fall be different?
It’s not just that Nebraska is moving to a defensive alignment that seems better suited to stop the hard-nosed offensive attacks in the Big Ten. It’s not just that Aurich is a veteran DC who objectively knows the job better than Butler, who was in his second season as a defensive coordinator with a Power 4 program and his first season in that role in over a decade.
There’s been a lot of big talk during the Matt Rhule era too, but when Cam Lenhardt strode to the mic on Tuesday and talked about the level of “grit” this offseason entailed, it feels different, maybe because of just how quiet the team was over the spring and summer. Now that they have to talk, quite a few defensive players are saying all the right things, including an edge rusher with a ton of talent who hasn’t quite been unlocked yet.
Nebraska football must turn offseason toughness into better run defense and pass rush
“Most grittiest offseason I've ever had here in terms of the workouts we've been doing,” Lenhardt said on Tuesday. “Like, just been pushing us to the limit, you know, testing our, like, maxing us out. But it's like, I say that grit, just trying to test that and see what the team we're made of.”
Grit came up more than once when Lenhardt was at the mic. Mixed in with all the talk about how he believes that he’ll have more success in Aurich’s defense was the defender repeatedly bringing up the toughness of the offseason workouts. More than just tough, though, the grittiness of the offseason workouts.
“We've always been an athletic team,” Lenhardt added. “And it's just now in terms of just, like, just testing that grit level, like, you know what I mean? Like, the endurance of things and seeing how far this team can go, how long we can make it out, like, when things get tough, like the type of team we're going to be.”
Yes, Nebraska fans will likely poo-poo the glowing talk as what everyone expects to hear before the season starts. However, if Lenhardt is right and Corey Campbell and the rest of the staff really did push the Cornhuskers to see “how far they can go,” then the grittiness of the offseason could absolutely translate to a grittier team during the season.
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