Almost nothing is certain about the 2020 football season at the moment.
The Big Ten is expected to release a conference-only schedule at some point in the near future.
Not much else has been made official outside of the fact that nonconference play is not happening. It’s unclear how the schedules will be structured, how many games will be featured (the most likely number seems to be 10) or when games might start.
In the midst of all that uncertainty, the offseason ramp-up schedule adopted by the NCAA earlier this summer continues to march on, and that means Nebraska on Friday enters the next phase of preparation: a two-week “minicamp†style setting.
“Nobody wants all the uncertainty that we’ve got going on here, but I’m just trying to control what I can control and I’m just really excited to be able to get back out there and work with the guys a little bit,†defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said in a recent radio interview. “It’s been a long time since we’ve got the chance to do that, and I just like being around the guys, so I’m excited for that part.â€
People are also reading…
The formal summer access period began July 13, which gave coaches eight hours weekly to be around the players — six in the weight room and up to two of film work. Now, for the next two weeks, the access goes up to 20 hours weekly.
That includes up to 12 hours of walk-through, no-pad practices plus up to six hours of weight training and two hours of film. Essentially, the next two weeks are as close to the canceled spring ball practices as NU is going to get. Then, on Aug. 7, a “normal†preseason camp would begin.
Position battles will heat up immediately, though, especially because the Huskers lost 13 of 15 spring practices. If the minicamp proceeds uninterrupted, it will be the longest stretch of practice time NU has had as a team since the 2019 season ended in November.
“You’re trying to figure out the depth chart on a daily basis,†offensive line coach and run game coordinator Greg Austin said on the radio this week. “You’re trying to get everybody in and everybody a fair chance to compete. …
“One of the things I tell my guys now is that you have to make every single rep count. You have to. We have a reduced amount of reps. Spring ball was swiped away and taken away from us. Fall camp is going to be reduced. We’re just not going to get all the opportunities to hash out what our depth chart is going to really look like. We kind of know what a guy can do with some of the guys that have a lot of experience, but the guys that are competing, it’s a play-by-play basis.â€
It is the first time college football has had this kind of period and coach Scott Frost said in mid-June that he’s interested to see how it goes.
“If this works well, we’ll see how it goes this (year), but I might be in favor of something like this every year,†Frost said. “From my standpoint, if we can get some work done during that time as far as the X's and O's go, we’re actually going to be able to be a little easier on them in camp and we won’t have as much to install or as much to do. So we might be able to limit the reps and basically get the guys ready to go out and hit, get used to wearing the pads and get some live reps.â€