Bill Busch gives a full breakdown of Nebraska's special teams on "Sports Nightly"

Nebraska special teams coordinator Bill Busch was a guest on “Sports Nightly” on the Huskers Radio Network to discuss the Huskers’ specialists, coverage units, returners and more.

Here is what he had to say:

On what he’s looking for in new kickers

*** Busch said the first thing he looks for in kickers is accuracy. He said rarely do they need a kicker to make a 60-yarder so they narrow in on players who are very accurate in more realistic situations, such as inside the 40.

On Timmy Bleekrode

***Busch said Nebraska settled in on Timmy Bleekrode because he was a very good soccer player and all of his coaches back to his high school coach said he has a very steady demeanor and that “nothing rattles him”.

Bleekrode went 9-for-9 inside the 40-yard line at Furman University, an FBS school. That accuracy was very important to Busch and Nebraska, he said.

Busch said Brian Buschini is Nebraska’s No. 1 punter but Bleekrode brings a lot of value because he also punted at Furman and was an All-Conference punter.

“He has one job and that is to make field goals, make extra points,” he said.

Busch said he will do enough punt work to come in and punt if necessary.

On former Husker specialists

***Former Husker kickers and punters Brett Maher and Alex Henery provide Nebraska’s specialists with a lot of insight and tips, Busch said. He said Sam Koch “is basically on speed dial” with them as well.

Nebraska’s coaches aren’t allowed to coordinate that connection but the former players are the ones willing to help the current Huskers and answer their questions, Busch said.

Steven Sipple: With special-teams improvement paramount, Busch enlists help of all-time Husker greats Henery, Koch and Maher

On Charlie Weinrich

***Busch said Charlie Weinrich will push right away from the starting kicker position. He has a very unique situation where he was able to work with the Kansas City Chiefs’ long snappers, kickers and holders because his high school was so close.

He said his high school numbers aren’t a true representation of Weinrich’s talent because they had problems with snappers and other special teams personnel as they had four kicks blocked.

On long snappers

***Busch said he’s unhappy that Nebraska has three senior long snappers. It makes roster management difficult in that position group.

He said they’re “grooming” Camden Witucki for the future and that he has a “very good ability.”

As for this season, Brady Weas is ahead for punt snapping and Cameron Pieper was leading for field goal snaps after the spring. Busch said both players could snap for either unit. Cade Mueller, who’s coming off an ACL injury, is pushing hard for a starting spot as well.

On Brendan Franke

***Brendan Franke started off the spring a little slow but finished strong, Busch said. He said now they’re focusing on his footwork and steps to make sure his tempo is consistent because his leg strength is “tremendous.”

Busch said they’re going to work on pinning teams inside the 25-yard line instead of having them start at the 25 every time. But consistency is on the top of his list right now for Franke.

Franke’s backup is wide open at the moment, the coach said.

On kicking in the wind

***Busch said the wind this spring was “generational.” He went over with all of the kickers and punters that good kicks will still be pretty good even in strong winds. But bad kicks will look “horrendous very quickly.”

He said this spring helped with the mentality for all of the kickers and punters because they will have to kick in some tough wind in the Big Ten.

The Weekly Rundown: Plenty of storylines to follow heading into NU’s final week of summer

On returners

***Trey Palmer is “absolutely” someone Busch is looking at in the return game.

“Trey has a natural ability to track the ball,” Busch said.

He said his favorite person on the football team is the punt returner because it is such a hard position.

On kick-off returns, Busch anticipates running back Anthony Grant to do a very good job.

On the off returner

***As for the “off returner” or the player that’s not as deep on the kick-off returns, Zach Weinmaster did a great job at that position last year, according to Busch. He said the off-returner is kind of like an offensive lineman because his job is to block.

Weinmaster and Brody Belt are Nebraska’s top two at that position with a few other players capable of playing there, Busch said.

On coverage units

***Busch said he always starts with the kick-off coverage unit.

“In the history of college football, there’s never been a great football team without a great kickoff team,” he said.

He said when you turn the film on, you instantly know what the other teams are about, good or bad.

Busch said there will be a mix of starters and limited role players (LRPs) on the coverage units. He said Nebraska does a great job of having LRPs that are “elite” in their role.

For a special teams coordinator, he said the challenge is how well can he motivate offensive players, specifically running backs and wide receivers, to play special teams. Busch said he knows from Nebraska’s staff that they don’t have issues with motivating offensive players for special teams.

Onto punt coverage, Busch said “punt is invitation only”, “they are the most important people besides the punter,” because they have to protect and cover instead of just cover as kickoff does.

Busch said he stacks players to keep them fresh. For example, if he has two starting linebackers, they will switch off on coverage units because defenses are always next on the field after special teams. He said if a player needs to rest, the coaches have them rest on first down instead of taking the special teams unit off.

Nebraska Football Fall Camp Preview: Offensive Line