Tuesday, April 29, 1986
Daily Nebraskan
Page 9
5)
Husker assistant
likes new home
A"" I, -- .
By Jim Ballard
Staff Reporter
Arden Reid and Danny Nee both have the same philosophy,
"The number one thing, is we're both interested in kids, and
that's the bottom line," Reid said. "We should be helping them
become better people, preparing them to do a solid job with the
give and take of the real world."
That's probably one of the reasons Nee hired Reid as an
assistant basketball coach for next year.
Reid has been coaching in Lancaster, Ohio, the past 16 years,
seven of those as head basketball coach. The last five years his
team has been the sectional champions, and the last three of
those teams reached the regional finals, which includes the final
eight teams in the state of Ohio. And it didn't take much for Nee to
persuade Reid to join his staff.
"We've known each other since he was coaching at Ohio Univer
sity, which is right down the road," Reid said. "I liked the way he
did things and he liked the way I did things."
Reid and his family recently went house hunting in Lincoln, and
he liked what he saw.
"We were impressed with how friendly the people were, and
how courteous the community was. And it just wasn't the people
who I'm associated with because of my job, but everybody."
Another plus for taking the job was that Reid's son, Beau will be
playing for the Huskers. He, however, will have to sit out his first
year since he had already signed a letter of intent to play for Ohio
I'niversity.
"I think it's going to be a neat aspect, it's going to give us the
opportunity to go on and stay together," he said.
Spring game shows strengths
V V
K. ' ,-r
Dave BentzDaily Nebraskan
A game of tag
Nebraska's Bruce Vcbken tries to tag Creighton's Scott Servais in a game last week at Buck Beltzer
Field. Nebraska plays Tarkio College and Bellevue College in single games today at Buck Beltzer.
Huskeir qyarteirbacks compete ifoir (op posHiioini
By Jim Ballard
Staff Reporter
As the 1986 spring season ended,
one thing was certain.
With the likes of Steve Taylor, McCa
thorn Clayton and Clete Blakeman,
Husker fans won't have to worry about
who's leading the Nebraska offense
next fall.
Husker coach Tom Osborne said all
three signal callers had a good spring.
"Steve needs to be a little more con
sistent, and Clete had a good spring, as
did McCathorn," Osborne said.
Taylor, a freshman from California,
spent the spring as the No. 1 quarter
back. Clayton, who had back problems
all through spring drills, dropped to
third behind Blakeman going into the
spring game.
"Mac got off to a shaky start, but the
last two weeks he's started to get bet
ter," Osborne said.
Linebacker Kevin Parsons said it's
hard to say who should get the most
playing time.
"McCathorn has the experience, and
he's been in the big game situations,"
Parsons said. "Steve has a lot of big
play ability and he's a running threat."
Parsons said that Taylor had speed,
but Clayton seemed to be the stronger
runner. Both, however, looked good to
him this spring.
"I think McCathorn's being hurt
made a difference, but Steve had a
great spring and did a lot of things I
haven't seen a quarterback do around
here in a long time," he said.
Husker fullback Ken Kaelin, who's
had the opportunity to be in the back-
field with Taylor and Clayton, said the
freshman showed an improvement of
leadership this spring.
"The thing I saw progress the most
throughout this spring was his control
in the huddle, and the older guys
respected him more," Kaelin said.
Taylor, the fastest quarterback in
Nebraska history, said he felt even
more confident this spring.
"I felt a lot more comfortable with
the offense and the players, and we
have a lot of confidence with each
other," he said.
Clayton, who will be a junior in the
fall, started a majority of games for the
Huskers last season. Kaelin said that's
an advantage for him.
"From last year until now, all I have
seen him do is good things, and he
always seems like he's in control," Kae-
lin said. "As far as I'm concerned,
Mac's always been consistent."
In Saturday's scrimmage, none of
the three outdid the others.
"The quarterbacking overall was
satisfactory today, but it still needs to
get better," Osborne said.
Taylor was three of eight through the
air for 81 yards in the spring game,
including a 61-yard touchdown to
wingback Von Sheppard. He rushed for
38 yards on nine carries and scored
three touchdowns.
Clayton had about the same figures,
as he picked up 37 yards on nine car
ries and passed for 102 yards, complet
ing four of 12 attempts. His big scoring
strike was when he hit wingback Dana
Brinson, who scampered 81 yards for
the score.
Blakeman, who like Clayton played
for both squads during the game, was
four of five for 34 yards in passing.
Coming off a good spring, Taylor said
he feels comfortable with being the No.
1 quarterback, but realizes there are
capable players pushing for his job.
"I have confidence in Clete and Mac,
so if I go down or wasn't playing up to
par, they would be able to come in and
do a good job," Taylor said. "You need
depth, you need somebody just as good
as the No. 1 to back him up."
If everybody's like Kaelin, the Huskers
won't be able to wait until the fall
season gets underway to see who will
take command.
"In my opinion, we're going to
have the best quarterback situation in
the country next year, and they'll be
pushing each other to be the best,"
Kaelin said. "I'm looking forward to it."
i JBTfi)0n)
I rm ft
The National Football League draft starts
today at 7 a.m. in New York City. The time and
place and who the first two picks will be are the
only certain things about this year's draft.
Bob
Asmussen
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pick first, and
they'll do the most logical thing and take Bo
Jackson of Auburn. After all, they only have
James Wilder already, so another running back
has got to be their most pressing need. If the
Bucs could take anyone else without angering
the entire populous of northern Florida, they
would. They need many things worse than a
running back, but they think Jackson is too good
to pass up. They're wrong. Besides, if Tampa ever
gets a baseball team, Jackson can play on both
teams.
The Atlanta Falcons pick second and their guy
is Oklahoma's Tony Casillas. If there was a great
quarterback in the draft, a John Elway or a Jim
Kelly, the Falcons would probably take him. But,
Casillas will fill a need on defense. A quarter
back can be picked next year.
Unlike most normal years, the draft will have
only 27 picks instead of 28. Buffalo would have
had the first pick this year but forfeited that
pick in a complicated trade last year with the
Cleveland Browns. The Bills could sure use Jack
son, but they won't get him.
This year's draft is considered strong in run
ning backs and offensive tackles and not so
strong in everything else. Two quarterbacks are
considered certain first-round picks, but that
should be it. No centers or tight ends will be
picked in the first round.
Let's get to my picks for the draft. These aren't
necessarily who the teams will draft, but who
they should draft. Look for the first two to be
right on the money and the rest, like this year's
draft, to be all screwed up.
1. Tampa Bay Bo Jackson, Auburn,
running back Jackson is strong, fast and
good. But the Bucs already have James Wilder,
one of the best running backs in the league. A
good move for the Bucs would be to get Jackson
and try to trade Wilder.
2. Atlanta Tony Casillas, Oklahoma,
nose tackle Casillas will fit in well with
Atlanta's new 3-4 defense. He'll occupy two or
three linemen and still make life miserable for
NFL quarterbacks. If the Bucs were smart, they'd
skip Jackson and take Casillas. Tampa Bay's loss
is Atlanta's gain.
3. Houston Keith Byars, Ohio State,
running back A healthy Byars would be
perfect for Houston. With Byars and Mike Rozier
in the backfield, the Oilers would have one of the
most explosive backfields in pro football. The
problem, and there always seems to be one when
Houston picks, is that Byars has an uncertain
future because of a broken foot. He seems to
have checked out with NFL teams but is still
considered a gamble.
4. Indianapolis Jim Everett, Purdue,
quarterback Robert Irsay finally gets
exactly what he wants, a hometown kid with a
great arm. One thing Irsay isn't thinking about is
that Mike Pagel had a solid year for the Colts and
is only going to get better.
5. St. Louis Leslie O'Neal, Okla
homa State, defensive end O'Neal is
ferocious and last season the Cardinals weren't.
They were so unferocious that their coach got
fired and the team thought about moving. If St.
Louis is to improve, it has to build its defense.
O'Neal would be a good brick to start with. The
offense is fine so if the Cardinals draft an offen
sive player, it means that once again they have
made a bad pick. O'Neal would be perfect.
6. New Orleans Jim Dombrowski,
Virginia, offensive tackle Dombrowski
plays a lot like the sound of his name, big and
tough. The one who will appreciate this pick the
most will be Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert,
who spent most of his rookie season looking up
at the Superdome ceiling after being sacked. If,
after the pick of Dombrowski is announced, you
hear a loud scream from the South, you can bet it
will be Hebert.
7. Kansas City Brian Jozwiak, West
Virginia, offensive tackle Jozwiak and
Dombrowski are rated about even so it will be
appropriate that they are picked consecutively
in the draft. It was not a great year in Morgan
town, but it wasn't Jozwiak's fault. Like they say,
one man can't beat 22. The Chiefs need line help
to cut down the number of times their quarter
back gets leveled. Also, when he's not blocking,
Jozwiak can be moved to running back. He
weighs 303 pounds.
8. Minnesota Jon Hand, Alabama,
defensive end Mr. Hand was partly respon
sible for the prowess of the Crimson Tide
defense. He's big at 6-6 and 283-pounds, and also
has good quickness. The Vikings haven't had an
impact player on defense since the days of Carl
Eller and Alan Page.
9. Pittsburgh Chuck Long, Iowa,
quarterback - What happened to the Steel
ers we used to know? They let the Cleveland
Browns beat them out for a playoff spot. Chuck
Noll is facing difficult times and things are going
to be even more difficult if he can't find a solid
quarterback. Mark Malone simply can't get the
job done, but maybe Long can. Long should move
into the starting lineup immediately and could
put some fire back into the boring Steeler
attack. Somebody needs to.
10. Philadelphia Kevin Murphy,
Oklahoma, linebacker Buddy Ryan is the
new Eagle coach and there is no doubt he'll take
a linebacker. He wants Mike Singletary, but he's
already been spoken for. The next best bet is
going to be Murphy, who will probably remind
Ryan somewhat of Singletary, a skinny Single
tary. 11. Cincinnati Neal Anderson,
Florida, running back The problem with
taking Anderson is you don't know if he was as
good as he's going to get or if having another
great running back in the backfield limited his
play. Both Anderson and John L. Williams are
first round picks and Anderson gets to go first.
12. Detroit John L. Williams, Flor
ida, running back Like I said, Anderson
and Williams are first round picks. With the
uncertainty surrounding Billy Sims, the Lions
need an impact running back desperately.
Williams is not only a tremendous runner but a
great pass receiver as well. That element of the
back coming out to catch passes will help keep
the Lions' opponents from looking for the run
only.
13. San Diego Gerald Williams,
Auburn, defensive end The Chargers
have two consecutive picks, and as usual, the top
priority is defense. They have used most recent
first round picks for defense and they still got
defensive coordinator Tom Bass fired last year.
Coach Don Coryell is hanging on by a string so
this draft has to go well and produce immediate
results. Williams will help in that end.
See DRAFT on 9
