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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2000)
SportsWeekend r ■ Red-White Spring Game offers chance to see 2000 squad. By Brandon Schuhe Staff writer He went through the entire spring without his starting quarter back, Eric Crouch. He lost his back-up quarter back, Jammal Lord, to a knee injury halfway through the spring. He has nearly sorted out a full stable of running backs. And he’s helped his defensive staff replace six starters. But for the life ofhim, Nebraska Football Coach Frank Solich could n’t remember which coaches he del egated to which team in Saturday’s Red-White Spring Game when he talked to reporters after Wednesday’s practice. After switching several coaches back and forth between the red and white team and enlisting the help of Comhusker Receivers Coach Ron Brown, Solich said: “Do we have it screwed up yet?” With everyone thoroughly con fused, Brown joked back: “So who’s on first?” No matter which team the coaches end up on by the start of the spring game Saturday at 12:30 p.m., one thing is sure - it will be the first opportunity for Husker fans to see the 2000 squad in action. Crouch, Lord and several play ers on the two-deep roster will be held out of the scrimmage. And proven starters - Dan Alexander, Correll Buckhalter, Bobby Newcombe and Carlos Polk - will probably see limited action. But Solich said he is certain it will be as competitive as usual. “It will be a spirited game,” Solich said. “It will be a game filled with contact, and so we’re excited about it and looking forward to it.” The game will pit the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense and the second offense against the second defense, with third string players mixed in with the second string. It will also mark the debut of quarterbacks Joe Chrisman, Brett Lindstrom and Kelly Cook. Solich said the lack of the quar terbacks’ game experience won’t change the offense. “We may throw more than you might expect, knowing that we have such inexperienced quarterbacks,” Solich said. “Yet we want to be a running football team, so we’ll cer tainly make sure we work on that fairly heavily in the spring game.” Solich said Chrisman is the No. 1 quarterback, while Lindstrom will lead the second unit and Cook is going to back up Lindstrom. They will all resemble Italian flags as they add a green jersey - meaning they won’t be hit - to go with their red and white uniforms. But that shouldn’t affect the game as Solich said the spring game is important to the development of the team, therefore it will be treated almost as a game. “It’s not equal snaps; we’ll treat this a little more like a game,” Solich said. “Our top unit players will get the majority of the snaps, but we also need to develop some depth. “We’re going to be somewhat basic. We’re not going to do a lot of blitzing or be real exotic offensively. “What we’re really interested in seeing is where we’re at with our base offense and base defense. After seeing that, we’ll know where we’re at heading into fall camp next fall.” / DN File Photo NEBRASKA QAURTERBACK ERIC CROUCH won’t be seeing action in Saturday’s Red/White Spring Game, but NU Coach Frank Solich doesn’t expect that to stop the Cornhuskers’ varied offensive schemes from executing well. Joe Christman weill run the first team offense, while Brett Linstrom and Kelly Cook are backups. Brink wins ! national title By Jason Merrihew Staff writer Senior All-American Heather Brink added another title to her name: national champion. Brink claimed the all-around crown after posting a 39.6 score in her four events. The Lincoln native was on fire, qualifying for three of four individual event champi onships, which will be held Saturday. “It feels great; it’s something you work for all of your life,” Brink said. “But I would trade it all in for a team title.” In addition to the all-around title on Saturday, Brink will have the opportunity to add vault, uneven bars and floor exercise championships to her quickly expanding resume. “I’m really, really happy,” Brink said. “It’ll probably lit me more dur ing the award ceremony tomorrow.” Her floor exercise score of 9.95 set the school record. Brink also used a 9.90 in the vault, 9.90 in the uneven bars and a 9.85 on the balance beam to tally up the second best all-around score in school history. Please see BRINK on 14 Collier begins rebuilding with discipline Telephone calls, tough workouts all part of coach’s plantp get NU back By Joshua Camenzind Staff writer Nebrasketball is undergoing a reconstruction. Gone are the days of the cakewalk practices under Danny Nee. In are the days of Barry Ball and working on fundamentals. Player after player walked off the court Thursday, drenched in sweat and gasping for air. Barry Collier was already beginning to insert his stamp on the Comhusker basketball program. In Lincoln for just over one week, Collier has begun to implement a system that he said will pro duce wins next season. It is one that stresses fundamentals, mutual ” The essence of any organization to have good leadership... Barry Collier MTT /'AO/'K respect, enort and leadership. “It can be boring, but so what,” Collier said. “That is the way it is.” And with that, . Collier describes the type of team he wants - hard nosed, tough and one that won’t - DacK aown irom any challenge. But most importantly, one that will go into battle as a unit “There is a mutual respect and understanding of what needs to take place and die leadership that is provided by the coaching staff,” he said. “It may sound kind of vanilla, but it is the essence of any v organization to have good leadership and good followership.” Collier said his players in the past have responded well to his toughness and know that it will pay off in the long run. Thad Matta, a former player under Collier at Butler University and now his successor at the same school, said Collier demands a lot and gets it in return. “He gets everything out of his players,” Matta said. “As a player, 1 laved playing for him, and I always knew where I stood with him. I liked that feeling.” And it seems as though the NU players like that feeling, as well. Not one complaint was heard after shuffling, lifting and shooting their muscles into knots. “He has plans for this team,” Kimani Ffriend said “Next year, we are going to be headed in the NIKKI rOX/DN Barry Collier, the new NU men's basketball coach, makes phone calls In his office Thursday night. He said he usually works until midnight. right direction.” Pressure So the question is, does Collier feel-pressure to turn this sinking ship around? “I put pressure on myself,” he said. “I guaran tee no one wants to win as hard as I do.” Matta described Collier as a workaholic who knows what is important and gets it done. He said his colleague is always fine-tuning and is commit ted to becoming better. “Nebraska is getting one of the best defensive coaches indie country” Matta said “Ifyoulookat great programs - those who win championships - they are fundamentally sound” Collier took over Butler in 1989 and subse quently led them to a 6-22 record. But the Bulldogs won 18 games in 1990 and only had one losing season after that, in 1993. His teams won at least 20 games in his final four seasons at Butler. His boss at Butler, Athletic Director John Parry, said die wins piled up when Collier grew as a coach. “When he first got here, we played games in the 90s,” Parry said “He then made a strong com mitment to defense and became less concerned with the officials and more concerned with devel oping his players.” On April 5, Collier brought his system to NU and said he will attempt to rescue the Huskers from last season’s 11-19 record. He was hired to win right away and with sen iors galore, Collier said he feels the heat and wel comes it with open arms. ‘1 don’t think pressure is a bad thing,” he said “If nobody cared, then we wouldn’t have 14,000 people in the stands, and the NCAA Tournament wouldn’t be as big as it is.” While Matta described Collier as a worka holic, he also mentioned that he has a great peace about him. And Collier said he knows he must roll with —--- \ Please see COLLIER on 15 i . ' "W '' M •.7'Jv.:-':.;V?v ••.-5 i