The Husker defensive coordinator hit on a variety of topics during a Pinstripe Bowl Zoom call – including working with Phil Snow and being ‘light on your feet’ in December.
Stay light on your feet with an occasional Zoom call mixed in. Such is John Butler’s December.
The staff hadn’t all been officially tagged when Nebraska’s new defensive coordinator was conducting a Pinstripe Bowl Zoom call over the noon hour on Thursday. But as he said to another question at one point: Things can change by the hour. And they did. All the main defensive hires had been announced by the end of the night.
Phil Snow as the associate head coach, Addison Williams with the secondary and Terry Bradden with the D-line. The names had been known for more than a week but now the official graphics are attached.
«I’m really excited about my relationship with Coach Snow,» said Butler of the one coach who had been officially announced prior to the call, giving him license to talk about him. «It’s been great over the phone throughout the season and on and off of late. I just think he brings a tremendous amount of experience and is able to bounce ideas – and also have a second set of eyes from a global perspective.»
Butler said when it’s all said and done it’s about everyone on the ground helping the Blackshirts reach expectations and beyond.
«Whoever is there to help us, I’m going to take input from. I’m not one of those guys that says: Me, me, me. I, I, I. It’s us, us, us and we, we, we. If the person that is in the room can help us get better, and help the players get better, than I’m all for it.»
What’s it been like prepping for a bowl game with a limited staff?
«Obviously that’s been a pretty cool challenge operating over the last how many ever days it has been really without a secondary coach and without a D-line coach,» Butler said. «You’re only as good as your staff. Anytime I’ve been on a good staff, that’s the strength of your staff. So we’re just all hands on deck right now, everybody coaching.
«I’m coaching everything I can coach. Rob Dvoracek has been doing a great job of helping me out. He’s the linebackers coach working with the front. Ira (Savage-Lewis), our defensive GA, has stepped up and helped us. And obviously Coach Snow with his experience and kind of having an eyeball over everything.»
Butler said it’s a «work in progress» how it would work with staff availability and when guys are announced. Again, that was before Williams and Bradden were officially named.
So we’ll see from Matt Rhule during a Friday morning press conference if that’s cleared up some since Butler spoke. Bradden, as an assistant D-line coach with Kansas City, is the only one still tagged to a team playing.
Butler makes no bones that the D-line was the strength for the Huskers this year – not only in depth, but production.
«In the games where we played really well, which were a lot of them, up front I think they were impactful portion of the defense that allowed us to play the way we played,» Butler said.
Jimari Butler, James Williams, Vincent Jackson, Kai Wallin and Brodie Tagaloa have all entered the portal and aren’t available. Butler and Williams certainly stand out most among those departures.
But it’s about who is here now, and Butler said «they’ve practiced their butt off since we’ve been out there; everybody’s out there giving us reps, continuing to develop.»
Especially the younger guys coming through, he added. «We’ve got some good young players too.» That the old guard is wanting to play and not just get look to NFL draft training also sure helps.
Ty Robinson was part of the Zoom press conference and is still ready to play in the bowl even in an era of opt-outs.
«I think it’s a testament to Ty, and really all our seniors,» Butler said. «There’s a lot of those guys that are going to have a chance to play in the NFL. I think it’s just a testament to the character of those men, but also the commitment they have to this program. I think that’s a legit deal.»
Butler obviously has a lot of contacts in the NFL, and he can tell you from feedback it’s impressive to those in the league when guys keep playing through the bowl.
«I can’t tell you how many guys have texted me, ‘Hey, are your guys playing?’ And once we’re like, ‘Yeah, of course they’re playing,’ the level of respect that those guys in that league have for the players that are continuing to battle and they want to finish this thing the right way. So once those guys made the decision to do that, I told them ‘Let’s make the best of it.’ We’re going to help them play as well as they can to continue to improve their stock as their opportunities at the next level come.»
Butler was Boston College coach Bill O’Brien’s DC at Penn State and an assistant for him with the Houston Texans.
«Very appreciative of all my time with Bill. Had a great relationship with him all the time I was there,» Butler said. «Gave me a lot of responsibility. Helped me develop as a coach. … Always used to have fun competing against Bill in practice. Competing against the offensive coaches. Obviously Bill is a fiery competitor. I think I am as well. It will be a great matchup for us to go back up against each other.»
Boston College has been pretty good on third down from what Butler has seen with Grayson James at QB and he’s good about knowing where to go with the football, the coach said.
He’s also familiar with BC offensive coordinator Will Lawing, who was a grad assistant at Penn State in 2013 while Butler was there and then hired by O’Brien to be on the Houston Texans staff after that.
«I think they’re balanced. Obviously their run game and the creativity of their run game is a strength to them. It’s just a testament to OB and Will, and obviously their offensive coaches in how creative they are in terms of trying to attack you in the run game,» Butler said. «They’re not just lining up and blocking you so to speak. They’re giving you a lot of eye candy, a lot of formations, a lot of motions, a lot of stuff that forces you as a coaching staff to prepare for you.»
Also, a dangerous play-action game.
«Like any great NFL coach, you’re designed to run the football and then develop a play-action game off of it. And you can see they clearly have that as part of their DNA and philosophy. So it’s going to be a huge challenge for us.»
BC has been putting up points and yards against teams in recent games, he added. «So we’re going to have our hands full.»
Asked specifically about defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri, who officially signed last week, Butler is clearly excited about the versatility a player like him can provide a coach.
Here’s his full answer on the player who was No. 6 overall by 247Sports in the 2024 recruiting class before spending one year at Missouri.
«Having a great front is critical to playing great on defense,» he said. «And anytime you can add a piece to that that has the ability to affect the run game and disrupt the passing game all in the same player, I think that that’s a huge thing. So that’s what excites us about him. It’s really what excites us about all the guys we’re going to add up front. Because at the end of the day the more you’re able to affect the game with a four-man rush and the variety of four-man rushes than you can play the variety of coverages behind it.
«The minute you have to start adding guys to the rush, or adding guys to stop the run in the pressure packages, yes, you may have the opportunity to affect the game and maybe get TFLs and sacks but you’re also compromising what’s going on behind you. Dominant D-lineman, having had that over the last 10 years … when you’re able to add disruptive pieces to your front I think you’re helping yourself out in the long run. I think we’re always going to be really looking for elite level production in our defensive line.»
Butler was also complimentary of true freshmen like Willis McGahee IV and Vincent Shavers Jr. – who he was asked about – and said «they’re two good young pieces that as we keep building this thing through, through time I think we’re going to be using them in a way to make sure that their strengths are being used.»
You’ve got to be «light on your feet» this month, as Butler put it.
Getting ready for a game one minute, prepared to talk to a visiting prospect the next, or jumping on a Zoom call with them.
Better be organized with a vision because everything happens so fast.
«And at the same time you’ve also got to keep an eye on your roster constantly. Because there’s people reaching out to your players, whether it’s direct, or it’s people reaching out through a third party. And it’s unfortunate in this environment. People say, ‘Hey, it’s like NFL free agency.’ No, it’s not. NFL free agency is regulated.»
Still, eyes on the prizes.
Getting ready for Boston College in one column. Getting your roster better in a short window of time in another. Managing your own roster in yet another.
«I just think it’s something everybody is trying to figure out in … I don’t think it’s even a day-to-day basis. Sometimes it’s hour to hour.»