He went to a junior college with a clear objective: earn a scholarship to a big-time college football program.
Check that box with a bright red marker.
"I just focused every part of my life to doing it," said Will Honas, a linebacker who recorded 96 tackles in 11 games this season for Butler (Kansas) Community College, before signing Dec. 21 with Nebraska.
Now, he has another mission.
"My ultimate goal is to play after college, at the next level, so I'm going to do everything I can to prepare and work as hard as I can to do that," said Honas, who spoke to the Journal Star via cell phone Thursday morning while traveling with his dad and brother to Nebraska's campus from their hometown, Wichita, Kansas.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Honas, ranked by 247Sports as the nation's No. 1 junior college inside linebacker, said Nebraska will have a team meeting Saturday. In other words, it's here now, right in front of him, the next phase of his young life. A new mission.
People are also reading…
When Nebraska's winter conditioning sessions begin this month, Honas essentially will start the process of trying to make an immediate impact this coming fall on head coach Scott Frost's first Husker squad. You know Honas isn't in Lincoln to watch from the sideline. In his own understated manner, he makes that clear.
But he knows he'll encounter ample competition for playing time. Nebraska has senior-to-be Dedrick Young, junior-to-be Mohamed Barry and young guns Avery Roberts, Pernell Jefferson and Andrew Ward. But everyone usually has a clean slate with a new coaching staff, and Husker linebackers didn't exactly dominate last season.
Bring on the competition. That's Honas' attitude. He has proven himself to be resilient. After all, he suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the first game of his senior season in 2015 at Bishop Carroll High in Wichita, and recruiting interest from Power Five programs waned considerably. His phone stopped buzzing for long, uncomfortable stretches.
So, he headed to Butler on a mission to land a Power Five scholarship, and during a big sophomore season, his phone started buzzing again.
Asked why he chose Nebraska over finalists Iowa, Wisconsin and Kansas State, Honas immediately mentioned Barrett Ruud, who will officially become the Huskers' inside linebackers coach next week when NCAA teams are allowed to add an extra assistant.
Make no mistake, Honas was a significant recruiting score for Ruud, who is in the early stages of what likely will become an excellent coaching career.
In addition to playing for Ruud, Honas likes the idea of playing in the Big Ten.
"I mean, I think I can play in any conference," he said. "But I'm kind of a physical player. So I think the Big Ten style fits me."
He ended up with 15 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh and Louisville. He has a brother and several friends who attend K-State and knows a few of the Wildcat coaches. He thought long and hard about attending KSU.
As for Iowa, "It has a good tradition of linebackers being successful in college and the next level," he said.
Wisconsin complicated matters when it entered the picture Dec. 18, only two days before the first national signing period.
"I was definitely considering Wisconsin, but I would've had to wait until January to make a decision," he said in reference to the second national signing period, which begins Feb. 7.
Bottom line, Honas wanted to get his college career started this month — and to begin working with Ruud.
As a Nebraska standout linebacker from 2001-04, Ruud racked up a school-record 432 stops — 90 more than second-place Jerry Murtaugh on the all-time list. Ruud was as efficient a defender as you'll ever see. You saw little-to-no wasted movement, a tribute to his attention to detail.
He ended up playing eight seasons in the NFL. He led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in tackles in four straight seasons, 2007-10.
"Coach kind of gave me his weeklong preparation (for game weeks)," Honas said. "He showed me certain stretches and a certain way to do film breakdown — each day you watch a different part of the team you play."
Honas said he didn't hear anything as specific from other coaches who recruited him.
There was a time he wondered if he would have many, if any, big-time programs recruiting him.
He began consistent communication with Nebraska's staff on Dec. 2 — the day Frost was officially hired away from Central Florida.
In fact, that was the day the Huskers offered Honas a scholarship.
"It's a big-time school and a big-time program, so it's something I definitely wanted to look into," he said. "I just kind of went from there."
As he spoke, he had just left Wichita, where he put in endless hours of work to become a major-college linebacker.
He seems to have a clear idea of where he wants to go with his life, and is blessed to have Ruud to help him get there.