Kyle Tucker

Need a daily Hokie football fix? Virginian-Pilot writer Kyle Tucker, in his fourth season on the Virginia Tech beat, is your man in Blacksburg. Read stories from Kyle on the college football channel.

Category: Va. Tech football

Bands, beef and bloggin', baby ...

Sep 08

11:08 PM

Any of you Hokies still awake out there? It’s only 10 here in Lincoln, and I just ran into a fair number of Tech folks at Misty’s … the amazing steakhouse and sports lounge just about five miles from the stadium.

I went by myself last night, to do a little reporting on the sights and sounds of Nebraska football. Tonight, I took fellow scribes David Teel, the Dean of us from the Daily Press … and Darryl Slater, the fire starter from the Richmond rag.

The steak was, for a second straight supper, AMAZING. I think I could’ve cut my filet with my pinkie. My ears are still ringing, though, from the Nebraska pep band … which marches through the restaurant on Friday nights before gameday. We were a little too close to the drums, but it was a cool scene nonetheless.

A few of the Husker cheerleaders were there, too. Delightful.

So I’ve had the real privilege of spending a couple days here to get a genuine feel for Nebraska football. Spoke to coaches and players this week. Spoke to several townies, including a local sportswriter who owns a popular gameday bar here. Fittingly, it is directly across the street from the paper … illustrative of the general feeling among reporters that we need a drink immediately after (or maybe during) work.

That joint is called Barry’s, has been around about 50 years, and is within walking distance of the stadium. The owner said his 10,000-square foot establishment sees a few thousand people trot through on Saturday afternoons.

“We have a saying,” he told me, “and that is: If you have a heart attack, you won’t hit the ground.”

People are wild about the Huskers here, and it’s been fun to be around that atmosphere. I’m stoked about seeing a game in Memorial Stadium tomorrow nite. I expect it to be electric. I really think it’s a coin flip of a game. I’d guess a non-offensive score of some kind will decide it.

But who knows. I just know, now, that Lincoln is one of America’s great football towns. Now I’m going to head back out and enjoy it a little more. Until tomorrow, here’s most of the Husker-types I talked to this week. Enjoy …

NEBRASKA A.D. AND FORMER COACH TOM OSBORNE

ON WHAT MAKES NEBRASKA FOOTBALL DIFFERENT, SPECIAL: “The thing that might be a little different than in Virginia would be that we have only one school in the state. And of course, we had a pretty long run of fairly considerable success: 42 years without a losing season and a lot of different championships. As a result, we built up a very loyal fan base during that period of time. Since 1962, every game has been sold out, which is a record. The fans here are quite knowledgeable. They’re generally polite to the opposition. Win or lose, they’ll usually applaud the visiting team if they come in and give a good effort. A pretty good level of sportsmanship. And I think football, it kind of fits the psyche of the state. This is a frontier state, a lot of homesteaders and people who, for many, many years, lived on the land. Pretty rugged, pretty hearty people. And football, I guess, goes with that mentality. So I guess in a short time span, that’s the best I can give you.”

ON WHAT NEBRASKA FOOTBALL MEANS TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS STATE, AS IT SEEMS TO BE THE STATEWIDE RALLYING POINT: “It’s certainly a very central point of reference. Probably the one thing that most people agree on. And not everybody in this state is a Nebraska fan, but I’d say probably 90 percent have some loyalty or allegiance. Of course, there’s the real rabid fans and those that just want us to win. And the other thing that’s kind of connected the state has been the walk-on program. Over the years, we’ve had a lot of walk-ons come here and play, and almost every little town in this state has had somebody that’s played on this football team. That has sort of unified the state behind the program, because most people know somebody who’s been here at some time.”

ON TRADITIONS, LIKE THE WALK-ON PROGRAM, BEING SUCH A PART OF THE PROGRAM’S FABRIC AND ITS PAST SUCCESS, AND HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS IN HIRING THE NEW COACH: “One thing that Bob Stoops did when he went to Oklahoma was he embraced the history and the culture. And Bo (Pelini), being from Youngstown, he and Bob Stoops are friends. And Bo’s a pretty smart guy, and he recognized that you’ll probably go further by embracing the culture than trying to fight against it. And he was here in 2003 for a year, so he had some knowledge of Nebraska football and the people of the state. He’s done a good job getting around the state. He’s spoken a lot of places. He’s reached out to people. And, of course, they’ve re-instated the walk-on program. And he’s kind of a straightforward, no-nonsense kind of guy that’s very honest, and that resonates well with Nebraskans. They like that kind of personality. So, so far, he’s off to an excellent start. But it still translates to what happens out there (on the field).”

ON THE EXCITEMENT SEEMING TO BE BACK WITH THE FANS, AND WHETHER THAT EXCITEMENT IS BACK FOR HIM, THAT THE PROGRAM CAN RETURN TO OLD GLORY: “Well, we’re reasonably optimistic that with time, we’ll be back to where we’re very competitive. Of course, the more success you have, the higher the bar is. Frank Beamer is encountering some of that. He’s had a whole bunch of 10-win seasons, and pretty soon a 9-win season isn’t very good anymore. People get used to winning awful quickly.”

NEBRASKA HEAD COACH BO PELINI

ON WHAT NEBRASKA FOOTBALL MEANS TO HIM: “I think it’s a unique place. It’s like the only show in town. The people are really passionate about it. It feels like everybody has a sense of ownership in the program. I’m not saying other places aren’t like that, but I guess you’d have to live it, experience it. It’s different.”

ON WHETHER LINCOLN, TO HIM, IS COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S MECCA: “I think it is. They worship it. They live and die with it. And what I think the people from Virginia Tech that travel, the players and coaches and fans, they’ll see that the fans here are passionate about there team, but they’re very classy. The fans are very respectful of the opponent. I think the people here just appreciate good football. They appreciate hard-working, great-effort programs that do it the right way. So to me, they’re going to have a lot of respect for Virginia Tech, because to me they embody all those principles.”

ON EMBRACING THE HUSKERS’ OLD, DEEP TRADITIONS WHEN HE TOOK THE JOB: “Yeah. The tradition, the past, the former players … that’s all important to the people here. The littlest traditions are things that people know. They’re invested in it. So as a coach, it forces you to be very respectful and knowledgeable in those areas.”

ON FEELING THAT RESTORING THE STORIED WALK-ON PROGRAM WAS A MUST: “Well, I knew about the walk-on program. It was going pretty good when I was here the first time with Coach Solich (in 2003). I know it’s something that’s important to the people, and it helps you as a football team here. Because the more walk-ons you have, the more players you have representing different areas of this state, contributing to the team from all over the state, those people from everywhere in this state take tremendous pride in your team.”

ON WHY, THOUGH, THE NEBRASKA WALK-ON PROGRAM IS SO SUCCESSFUL, SINCE MOST EVERY SCHOOL USES WALK-ONS TO SOME DEGREE: “Just look at our team this year. There’s a number of walk-ons who’ve played this season and had success. And we brought in somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 walk-ons in this year’s class. And most of those kids turned down money, in some instances full rides to come here. You’re in a place where the population base isn’t real big in the state of Nebraska, so you have be able to recruit nationally some. What happens is, you bring these walk-ons in who understand the culture, the traditions of Nebraska, and you surround some of these out-of-state kids with these young men who are sacrificing so much to be a part of the program, it can’t help but rub off. I think you see that happen, and it helps ingrain the culture of Nebraska on the kids who haven’t grown up with it. You surround them with kids that lived and died it since they were young and it shows the other guys what it’s all about.”

ON WHETHER THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST PRESSURE-PACKED COLLEGE JOBS BECAUSE OF ALL THE PASSION AND EXPECTATION STATEWIDE: “There’s pressure, but it’s a good job. They give you the resources to win. Pressure is what you make of it. You do the best job you can, live in the moment, and don’t let that pressure influence you. There’s pressure in any big-time coaching job. Coach Beamer, I’m sure, knows that better than anyone. You lose a couple of games and all the sudden it’s like you don’t know anything about football anymore. You’ve just got to go with your beliefs and principles, stick with them, and let the chips fall where they may.”

ON WHAT WOULD IT MEAN, IN A PLACE THAT CARES SO MUCH, TO RESTORE THE PROGRAM TO THE LEVEL AT WHICH TOM OSBORNE LEFT IT: “I’m not trying to be Tom Osborne. I’m trying to do the best job I possibly can. I knew when I took the job, the importance of the program to the people of this state, and with that comes a tremendous responsibility. I try to live it every day. I try to work my tail off for these people, so they’re going to be proud of the football team we put on the field. That’s about all you can do.”

NEBRASKA SAFETY MATT O’HANLAN

ON WHAT NEBRASKA FOOTBALL MEANS: “There is definitely a spirit of tradition here. Our 90s national championship teams, some great players that have come through here. And the tradition of the walk-on program, which I’ve been a part of. We’ve had an impact on the team and some have gone pro. There’s just tons of guys who’ve set the example for guys coming into the program. I’m glad I could be one of those people to make an impact.”

ON WHAT MAKES THAT WALK-ON PROGRAM SO SPECIAL: “I think the main thing is the majority of the guys walking on are guys coming in from Nebraska. And growing up in Nebraska, there’s really not much else. There’s no professional teams. To play for this program, that’s everything. To have a chance to walk on here, that’s a huge deal for any kid growing up in Nebraska. That’s probably why the tradition is so strong. And that’s why it works, because you get these kids who’ll come in and work their tails off, do anything to be part of this.”

ON WHAT NEBRASKA FOOTBALL MEANT TO HIM AS A KID: “It was everything. Running around in the back yard, you’d pretend like you were Husker greats. Saturdays were just Husker game day. Seeing all those national championships growing up, it’s a great tradition.”

ON THERE BEING A FEELING THAT THE GREATNESS IS COMING BACK: “I think so. After these three wins, coming off last year not being what Husker fans are used to seeing, I think we’re getting on the right track. I’m not going to say we’re going to win every single game and be national champions, but that’s our goal. We’re not setting our sights low. We’re not shooting for a bowl game. We’re looking to win every game. The fans are starting to see it. Tradition is back. Guys who have ties here at Nebraska are back (on the coaching staff). So, yeah, I definitely think Nebraska football it’s on its way back.”

ON IT BEING IMPORTANT TO BRING BACK COACHES THAT UNDERSTAND THE TRADITION AND WHAT MADE THE PROGRAM GREAT: “I think so. Our tradition is what Nebraska is about. They’ve tried to get those guys from the past back into the program, to get those guys that helped us achieve that success in the past, so we can get back to that.”

ON THE COOLEST GAMEDAY TRADITION AT NEBRASKA: “The tunnel walk is definitely the coolest thing. We have a video segment before we come out. The fans really get into it. We really get into it. We have a horse shoe that’s above the doorway as we walk out. Everyone reaches up and touches it. That’s the coolest thing we have.”

ON WHAT IT’S LIKE IN THAT TUNNEL: “It’s surreal, because I’ve always wanted to do that since I was a kid. It’ll give you goose bumps. To be out there, it’s a dream come true. Every kid in Nebraska wants to have this experience. It’s just a great thing.”

NEBRASKA WR BEN LESTER

ON HIS GRANDFATHER BEING A FORMER O-LINE COACH, AND GROWING UP WITH NEBRASKA FOOTBALL: “I grew up on it. It’s my life. It’s everything. You don’t have anything else out here. On Saturdays, even on Fridays for people way out on the West side of Nebraska, they drive to Lincoln. Lincoln is where it is on the weekend. A lot of people plan their weddings on Husker bye weeks or away games so they don’t miss a game. It’s ridiculous how much faithfulness we have from our fans. You come here and everything is about you. It’s ALL Husker football. We have people that take trips from California every weekend to be here. It is crazy.”

ON WHAT IT’S LIKE AROUND TOWN AS A FOOTBALL PLAYER: “My freshman year, people knew me. They knew everything about me. They’re like, ‘Hey, you’re Ben Lester. You’re from here. You did this and this.’ It’s kind of creepy at first, that they know everything about you – your stats, your parents, your home town – but then you kind of realize that’s what they do. They’re here to support you. They want to know you, because it brings them closer to the team. It’s different than other places because of that.”

ON BEING RECOGNIZED RIGHT AWAY, AS A FRESHMAN: “If you’re recruited here, almost everyone knows you by the time you get here. After my first game, we walked out of the locker room and there were all these fans waiting outside. All the freshmen go out first and walk by everybody. I figure they’re not waiting for me. But some high school kids stopped me and said, ‘You’re No. 88! You’re Ben Lester! Can you sign our shirt?’ And I was just like, ‘Holy geez, I just got here three weeks ago and these kids already know who I am.’ ”

ON WHETHER HE WAS THE SAME WAY, FANATIC ABOUT THE PLAYERS, WHEN HE WAS A KID: “Oh, oh yeah. But I had an advantage, because I was always around the team. I’d be up in the offices hanging out because of my grandpas. If was watching a game on TV, I’d be the one yelling at them like I was coaching them myself.”

ON WHETHER IT WAS IMPORTANT TO BRING BACK STAFF THAT WERE INVOLVED WITH NEBRASKA IN THE PAST AND KNOW THE TRADITIONS AND WHAT IT TOOK: “It helps a lot, I think, just to bring back the work ethic and the mentality it took. They were there. They were part of it. They know what it takes to be that great. They’re not just people saying, ‘This is how you should do it’ but they haven’t done it. No, everybody here has put in the time, won the championships. We know if we listen to them what the results will be.”

ON BEING ON A NEBRASKA TEAM LAST YEAR WITH A LOSING RECORD: "It was pretty difficult. It was not the same as it used to be. The energy level wasn’t there. Seeing everything that it used to be, that was a family. Then when you get on a team losing like we were, then people start going different ways, trying to do their own thing. Like, ‘I can do this to fix it’ and ‘Well, I can do this to fix it.’ It started going downhill real fast and we didn’t have a lot of guidance to get it back.”

ON WHETHER THAT IS BETTER NOW: “Most definitely. We have the right people and players have the right mindset. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but as far as the people and the mentality, it’s the way it needs to be.”

ON WHAT WOULD MEAN TO BE ON THE TEAM THAT STARTS NEBRASKA BACK TOWARD GREATNESS AGAIN: “It would give me a lot of honor. We’re the team that sets the tone for the rest of the time these coaches are here and this program’s being rebuilt. It’s going to take more than one year. But we say, ‘Alright, we’re the ones that started. It starts here, right now, with us.’ The next few years that I’m here, my class and me are the ones that started this back up.”

NEBRASKA WR/KR NILES PAUL

ON GROWING UP ON NEBRASKA FOOTBALL, ESPECIALLY AS THE NEPHEW OF FORMER HUSKERS STAR AHMAN GREEN: “I watched them since I was a little kid. It’s just a tradition. I felt obligated to go here. I didn’t take any other recruiting visits, really wasn’t paying attention to other schools. As soon as Nebraska offered me, I knew that was where I wanted to go. It’s the only thing in the state of Nebraska. When you grow up around here and all you hear about is how great Nebraska is, it’s every kid’s dream to come play here. It was my dream.”

ON WHO HE IDOLIZED FROM NEBRASKA: “Oh, Tommy Frazier. He was great. In the backyard, I thought I was Tommy Frazier. I tried to live Tommy’s life. I used to dominate in the backyard. I thought I was Tommy Frazier, and I used to get in trouble when I’d come home because I’d say something smart, like I was a big deal.”

ON THE COOLEST THING ABOUT A NEBRASKA GAMEDAY: “The atmosphere. And the V-Tech players are going to love it. It’s not like a bad atmosphere. The cheer for the team, and it gets loud at times, but it’s going to be a great atmosphere to play in.”

ON HOW HARD IT WAS TO WATCH THE PROGRAM STRUGGLE RECENTLY: “Very hard. Some of the older players last year took it a little harder. Todd Peterson, when he saw how bad things were, he kind of just broke down. This year, he’s nothing but smiles. He was really upset, I think after the Kansas game last year, and he wasn’t talking to anybody on the bus. He knew we weren’t playing Nebraska football. Every guy on this team wants to bring Nebraska football back to where it’s supposed to be.”

ON HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS TO BRING IN A COACHING STAFF WITH TIES TO THE PAST: “They always tell us stories about the old players, the way they worked. They’re inspirational stories. It makes us want to get out there and play hard.”

ON BEING AMAZED THAT FANS REMAINED LOYAL: “Very. I love that the spring game was sold out. Everybody’s still on the Husker team. It definitely felt like we were on the verge of bringing it back. Hopefully we can make a statement this year: That we’re back, we’re the Huskers.”

NEBRASKA FB JUSTIN MAKOVICKA

ON WHAT NEBRASKA FOOTBALL MEANS TO HIM, AS ONE OF FOUR BROTHERS TO PLAY FULLBACK THERE: “Just hard work. It’s what you always dream of doing, just coming here and working hard like everybody else does.”

ON HOW BIG NEBRASKA FOOTBALL WAS GROWING UP: “It was about all you knew growing up. Every Saturday, everything shuts down for Nebraska football. And every day during the week, it’s just one more day counting down to the game. It’s that way pretty much around the whole state.”

ON WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A NEBRASKA FOOTBALL PLAYER AROUND LINCOLN: “We’re pretty much the biggest gig in town. Everybody recognizes you. Not just in town, but across the state. We’re pretty much the celebrities here. It’s kind of a good thing and a bad thing, I guess.”

ON WHETHER HE HAS EVER BEEN RECOGNIZED IN THE GROCERY STORE: “A few times. People say hi. They look at you differently.”

ON WHETHER IT’S MORE SIGNIFICANT FOR HIM PLAYING NEBRASKA FOOTBALL, HAVING HAD SO MANY MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY IN THE PROGRAM: “I thinks so. Even if they didn’t play here, it would be a big honor. But it’s pretty cool that we’ve all played here. I want to every game, home and away, when my brothers played. I saw (Virginia Tech) when they played us in that bowl.”

ON SEEING ALL THE SUCCESSFUL NEBRASKA TEAMS, THEN WATCHING IT DETERIORATE: “It was tough on the whole state. We were so high, and that’s all we knew, and then it declined. Not just that. We were getting beat by teams that we used to destroy, teams we used to kill. Then all the sudden we would’ve been happen just to beat them. It broke everybody’s heart. It wasn’t Nebraska football anymore.”

ON WHETHER THE TRADITION IS ON ITS WAY BACK: “I think so. Coach Pelini is doing a good job bringing it back. A lot of the old staff came back, and they brought some of the attitude and tradition with them. I think it was very important. Those old teams at Nebraska did things differently than everyone else. That’s what made them good. They weren’t always the best or most talented teams, but they always worked hard and had that attitude. And we’re starting to bring that back.”

ON THE WALK-ON PROGRAM AT NEBRASKA: “There’s a lot of kids in high school around this state that would do anything to play here. Coach has done a good job bringing that back, getting back that blue-collar work ethic.”

ON WHETHER THAT WAS MISSING IN RECENT SEASONS: “I think so. They’ve had some (walk-ons) but not the numbers there had been before. I think we lost a little bit with those declining numbers.”

ON WHAT THE MUST-SEE THINGS ARE TO GET THE ESSENCE OF NEBRASKA FOOTBALL: “Definitely come see a game. Even if you can’t get in the stadium, which is hard, since we’ve sold out about 290 games. With all the fans, I think it becomes the third-largest city in the state, which is pretty cool. The coolest is the tunnel walk. A lot of people try to copy that, but it’s really special to us. It started in like 94, 95, when they got the video screens after the first national championship. The locker room is under the stadium … once they got the big screens, they wanted to show the fans the experience. So they started broadcasting the walk over the big screens. It kind of took off from there. Now they have a video with it that shows highlights. And they play ‘Sirius,’ the song the Chicago Bulls come out to (by the Alan Parsons Project). It’s pretty exciting.”

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