Husker QBs, including juco transfer Taylor, have work ahead of team
Zac Taylor was sitting on a team bus outside a motel in Coffeyville, Kan.
Not exactly a vacation destination, Taylor will tell you. But sports-crazed Coffeyville was hosting the NJCAA national championship football game the following day, and Taylor's Butler County (Kan.) team was facing Pearl River (Miss.) Junior College.
"Everything was hectic," Taylor said.
Of course, a phone call from Nebraska offensive coordinator Jay Norvell added to the hysteria.
Players were still waiting for their motel room assignments when one of the Butler assistant coaches took the call from Norvell. The first-year Husker assistant was inquiring about Taylor, the Grizzlies' star quarterback.
Butler coaches didn't seem to mind Norvell was calling at an awkward time — the day before a big game and all.
"I think they were just as excited as I was," Taylor said. "They understand kind of the moment."
Back in Nebraska, word had leaked quickly that the Huskers, who had just finished a 5-6 season with a 26-20 home loss to Colorado, suddenly were recruiting another quarterback.
Wait a second. First-year starter Joe Dailey will only be a junior, and junior college transfer Jordan Adams, who didn't play last season because of injury, has two years of eligibility remaining. Two freshmen, Beau Davis and Joe Ganz, are also in the fold.
And we haven't even mentioned that guy from Florida.
So with highly-touted high school senior Harrison Beck committed to NU and headed to Lincoln this fall, and with the number of returning quarterbacks, why the sudden interest in Taylor?
"We felt like it was important for development in our program," said Norvell, who traveled to El Dorado, Kan., to meet with Taylor the week after the Grizzlies' 35-14 loss to Pearl River.
"We're not real happy with where we finished last year, and we have an awful lot of work to do offensively."
Taylor is among those ready to roll up his sleeves. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound native of Norman, Okla., signed with Nebraska on the first day of the junior college signing period in December. He's enrolled in classes in Lincoln and will participate in spring practice beginning in March.
"Zac, he's a winner," Norvell said. "If you're a quarterback, you have to be a bridge builder. You have to enlist people. You have to be very positive. You have to earn the trust of your teammates.
"You don't always have to have the biggest arm or have to be the fastest or be the guy who can throw the ball the farthest. It's about how you communicate. It's important that you're positive. And it's important that you're mature to handle ups and downs."
Taylor began his career at Wake Forest. He redshirted in 2002 and played as a backup in 2003 before transferring to Butler, where he completed 65 percent of his passes for 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
"He has a lot to learn, like all of our players do," Norvell said. "What he lacks in understanding our offensive terminology, he probably has some advantage in his maturity and playing experience."
Taylor's goal this spring? To win a starting job.
"I don't know if I'll be able to make up enough ground, if I'll be able to beat out these guys," Taylor said. "Who knows what will happen. But ... the sooner I can win that position, the better."
Listening to Taylor, you'd think the Nebraska quarterback battle is entirely up for grabs.
So, are coaches entering the spring with a clean slate at the position?
"The way we explain it, Joe is the starter," Norvell said, "but at the same time, we have a lot of improvement to do. But Joe is our starter; there is no question."
Dailey struggled to grasp the West Coast offense in his first year as a starter. He completed 49.4 percent of his passes for 2,025 yards, 17 touchdowns and 19 interceptions — the most ever by a Nebraska quarterback in one season.
Dailey said he wasn't surprised coaches recruited another quarterback.
"You usually expect those things," Dailey said. "The more, the merrier is what they say.
"I don't look it as a competition, to be honest with you. I'm not really concerned with how other people are doing."
Norvell said he told his players before the Colorado game that he took full responsibility for Nebraska's season-long shortcomings in the passing game. Most notably, the Huskers finished last in the Big 12 Conference in third-down conversions (30.7 percent), last in passing efficiency (105.2) and second-to-last in turnover margin (minus 12).
"It was just a unique situation, because Nebraska's always been an option offense," Taylor said. "No one really has a 100 percent grasp of the offense so far. Everyone's kind of still learning."
That includes Adams, who said he's 100 percent healthy after sitting out last year with mononucleosis and ensuing spleen surgery. He, like Dailey, isn't troubled by the addition of another quarterback.
"I think it will make all of us better," Adams said, "knowing that one more guy has the chance to get the same position."
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
Not exactly a vacation destination, Taylor will tell you. But sports-crazed Coffeyville was hosting the NJCAA national championship football game the following day, and Taylor's Butler County (Kan.) team was facing Pearl River (Miss.) Junior College.
"Everything was hectic," Taylor said.
Of course, a phone call from Nebraska offensive coordinator Jay Norvell added to the hysteria.
Players were still waiting for their motel room assignments when one of the Butler assistant coaches took the call from Norvell. The first-year Husker assistant was inquiring about Taylor, the Grizzlies' star quarterback.
Butler coaches didn't seem to mind Norvell was calling at an awkward time — the day before a big game and all.
"I think they were just as excited as I was," Taylor said. "They understand kind of the moment."
Back in Nebraska, word had leaked quickly that the Huskers, who had just finished a 5-6 season with a 26-20 home loss to Colorado, suddenly were recruiting another quarterback.
Wait a second. First-year starter Joe Dailey will only be a junior, and junior college transfer Jordan Adams, who didn't play last season because of injury, has two years of eligibility remaining. Two freshmen, Beau Davis and Joe Ganz, are also in the fold.
And we haven't even mentioned that guy from Florida.
So with highly-touted high school senior Harrison Beck committed to NU and headed to Lincoln this fall, and with the number of returning quarterbacks, why the sudden interest in Taylor?
"We felt like it was important for development in our program," said Norvell, who traveled to El Dorado, Kan., to meet with Taylor the week after the Grizzlies' 35-14 loss to Pearl River.
"We're not real happy with where we finished last year, and we have an awful lot of work to do offensively."
Taylor is among those ready to roll up his sleeves. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound native of Norman, Okla., signed with Nebraska on the first day of the junior college signing period in December. He's enrolled in classes in Lincoln and will participate in spring practice beginning in March.
"Zac, he's a winner," Norvell said. "If you're a quarterback, you have to be a bridge builder. You have to enlist people. You have to be very positive. You have to earn the trust of your teammates.
"You don't always have to have the biggest arm or have to be the fastest or be the guy who can throw the ball the farthest. It's about how you communicate. It's important that you're positive. And it's important that you're mature to handle ups and downs."
Taylor began his career at Wake Forest. He redshirted in 2002 and played as a backup in 2003 before transferring to Butler, where he completed 65 percent of his passes for 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
"He has a lot to learn, like all of our players do," Norvell said. "What he lacks in understanding our offensive terminology, he probably has some advantage in his maturity and playing experience."
Taylor's goal this spring? To win a starting job.
"I don't know if I'll be able to make up enough ground, if I'll be able to beat out these guys," Taylor said. "Who knows what will happen. But ... the sooner I can win that position, the better."
Listening to Taylor, you'd think the Nebraska quarterback battle is entirely up for grabs.
So, are coaches entering the spring with a clean slate at the position?
"The way we explain it, Joe is the starter," Norvell said, "but at the same time, we have a lot of improvement to do. But Joe is our starter; there is no question."
Dailey struggled to grasp the West Coast offense in his first year as a starter. He completed 49.4 percent of his passes for 2,025 yards, 17 touchdowns and 19 interceptions — the most ever by a Nebraska quarterback in one season.
Dailey said he wasn't surprised coaches recruited another quarterback.
"You usually expect those things," Dailey said. "The more, the merrier is what they say.
"I don't look it as a competition, to be honest with you. I'm not really concerned with how other people are doing."
Norvell said he told his players before the Colorado game that he took full responsibility for Nebraska's season-long shortcomings in the passing game. Most notably, the Huskers finished last in the Big 12 Conference in third-down conversions (30.7 percent), last in passing efficiency (105.2) and second-to-last in turnover margin (minus 12).
"It was just a unique situation, because Nebraska's always been an option offense," Taylor said. "No one really has a 100 percent grasp of the offense so far. Everyone's kind of still learning."
That includes Adams, who said he's 100 percent healthy after sitting out last year with mononucleosis and ensuing spleen surgery. He, like Dailey, isn't troubled by the addition of another quarterback.
"I think it will make all of us better," Adams said, "knowing that one more guy has the chance to get the same position."
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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