Rob Dvoracek opens up on Nick Henrich's impact on Nebraska defense

One of the first orders of business for new coach Matt Rhule will be fixing the Nebraska defense. It was putrid a year ago during a tumultuous season that saw coach Scott Frost fired.

Injuries played a part in that, as some key players went down.

One of them was veteran linebacker Nick Henrich, who tallied 99 tackles the previous season as one of the team’s best playmakers on the Nebraska defense. He suffered a torn ACL and played in just five games.

“He’s played a lot of football here,” linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek said. “He’s a really smart football player. He understands concepts. He understands the schemes. He understands the fundamentals of the position.”

All of that has made Henrich a key piece in fall camp for the Nebraska defense. As he’s been working on reintegrating himself back into the mix and preparing for the season, Henrich is also setting a perfect example for his teammates.

With 162 career tackles to his name, Henrich has some demonstrated ability, so it’s easier for younger players to follow him.

“Nick’s doing a really nice job,” Dvoracek said. “I think I mentioned before in the spring he was in there studying. He didn’t have the opportunity to play on the field, but when he came back he was prepared. He’s been relentless in his approach on and off the field, and I’m really proud of the way he’s working. He’s done a nice job.”

Dvoracek called Henrich’s contributions to the Nebraska defense ‘invaluable.’

“He’s done a really nice job and I think the younger guys really look up to him because of that experience that he has,” Dvoracek said.

Nebraska defense to get creative in 2023

The Nebraska defense plans to get creative during the 2023 season behind new defensive coordinator Tony White.

Nebraska finished the 2022 season ranked 76th in scoring defense (27.6 points per game allowed) and 99th in total defense (414.4 yards per game). That won’t cut it.

So whatever White’s got cooking needs to pan out.

“Well first I think the biggest thing is putting the guys in position to be successful,” explained White. “You know, every play on defense is designed to do something, you know what I mean? So you’re saying to yourself, they’re in two categories. You’re trying to stop what the offense is doing to you, so you’re calling defense that way, or there’s a certain emphasis, where you go back through the week like yesterday, we got a chance to self-scout, and then you’re going back through and saying, ‘What do we do wrong, what do we need to work on so then now in practice you’re making an emphasis to just call that, regardless of situation.’ You’re saying, ‘I want to work on this. Let’s get the organics of this.’

“So those are the two things that go on in our head. One, is making sure that they get used to seeing the pictures, but two, making sure that we’re working on things that we’re not necessarily good at right now, so that way we can fix them.”

Nebraska opens the season on Aug. 31 on the road at Minnesota.