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Peter Marhoefer
Staff Reporter
Kevin Steele, a former Nebraska as
sistant coach now with the Carolina
Panthers, is enjoying life in the land of
roundball and
NASCAR but has
never ruled out a
return to college
football.
“The Carolina
Panthers are a
class, class orga
nization,” said
Steele, 39, who
coached NU’s
linebackers from Steele
1989 through 1994. “But the NFL is
very interesting. Every day you’re
learning something new.”
tnetaronna uneoacker s coacn
has adjusted to life in the National
Football League. The second-year Pan
thers are 5-2 and tied for first place with
San Francisco in the NFC West after
Sunday’s 19-7 win over New Orleans.
As a coach who isn’t much older
than many of his players, Steele said
the NFL is a new experience.
Expecting his players to cover Jerry
Rice and blitz Ttoy Aikman is a big
change from college, when he taught
defense of the option every day in prac
tice.
“It’s a different kind of coaching,”
Steele said. “Football is a job. You
perform or you don’t get paid. The
teams are so equal, and it’s your job as
a coach to get your players prepared.”
Steele said he is happy as an NFL
assistant, but if the right opportunity
comes along, nothing is out of the ques
tion.
“I love college football,” Steele
said. “Looking back, those were the
greatest career years I could experi
ence.”
Steele still has ties in Lincoln. His
brother, Jeff, is an intern in the Ath
letic Department.
“Kevin misses Nebraska tremen
dously,” Jeff Steele said. “The players,
coaches, the city of Lincoln itself. His
daughter, Caroline, keeps telling me
she’s coming back here to live.”
Kevin Steele has not seen the Husk
ers play in person since he left Ne
braska. The NFL schedule makes it
difficult to get away from the Caroli
nas. Steele’s best chance to see a small
piece of Nebraska in action is next year
at the Charlotte Motor Speedway,
when Lake Speed races in his Nebraska
NASCAR.
But even in North Carolina, where
Tar Heel and Blue Devil basketball
reign supreme, Steele doesn’t miss a
Husker football game on television.
“There’s some hotel rooms that
have dents in the walls and furniture,”
he said.
Carolina has no former NU play
ers on its roster, but Steele meets up
with several former Huskers each year
on the opposing sidelines.
“I miss Nebraska,” Steele said,
“and working for Coach Osborne. Ne
braska has so many good people, I al
ways miss them.
“We play St. Louis twice a year.
Toby Wright, Lawrence Phillips and
Zach Wiegert play for the Rams, so I
get to talk with those guys. We leave
the war on the field.”
r^r-js
OFFENSE from page 7
Coach Tom Osborne also could not
pinpoint the problem.
“The puzzling thing is you never
quite know what is going to happen,”
Osborne said, “and I thought we kind
of got beyond our execution problems.
“We had three-straight games with
one turnover and basically pretty good
execution. Then suddenly the wheels
come off. Why that would happen, I
have no idea.”
If Frost struggles, the statistics
show, NU’s offense is unproductive.
Frost completed 10 of 32 passes (31
percent) fix-121 yards, no touchdowns
and one interception in games against
Arizona State and Texas Tech.
Against Michigan State, Colorado
State, Kansas State and Baylor he is
34-for-61 passsing (56 percent).
Overall, the Huskers rank 104th in
passing offense.
That isn’t all Frost’s fault, however.
His receivers have had problems catch
ing the football, making some of his
stats worse than they appear.
“When you only throw the ball 12
times in a game, and two or three are
dropped, and then another two or three
are not catchable balls,” Frost said,
“then that makes your percentage
pretty low.
“In order to have a real efficient
passing game, we’ve got to eliminate
those things.”
Moore wants to be leader
MOORE from page 7_
Troy Piatkowski and Larry Florence
will be expected to play right away this
faU.
“They’re corning along,” Nee said.
“But it takes awhile. We’re throwing a
lot at them.”
Belcher has played exceptionally
weU for a player with no college expe
rience, Nee said. The 6-3 guard, who
averaged 24.2 points and 8.3 rebounds
as a senior at Mexico (Mo.) High
School last year, will compete for a
starting position this season.
Florence — who along with
Mitchell and Piatkowski did not meet
academic requirements to play last year
—- also missed a few days of practice
last week because of a knee injury.
Nee said he was glad to have Moore
and Florence back in practice. Ne
braska has only nine scholarship play
ers this year.
z “We need everybody we can get,”
Nee said. "3
Huskers leap
lady Lions
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska volleyball team
moved up one spot in the newly re
leased AVCA Coaches* Poll to No.
5 after weekend wins over Texas
A&M and Texas.
The Comhuskers jumped Penn
State, which lost to sixth-ranked
Michigan State.
m
Rank Team Record
21-1
Huskersup
another spot
From Staff Reports
The undefeated Nebraska soc
cer team moved up one spot in the
NSCAA Coaches’ Poll, released
Tuesday. The Huskers jumped
ahead of Santa Clara, which lost to
No. 3 Portland.
NSCAA
TOP 25 m
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