Nebraska football got back to practice today after holding its first scrimmage of spring practice Saturday. Defensive coordinator Bob Diaco spoke to the media following practice and gave his thoughts on how the unit is progressing.
Although the Huskers had the weekend off, Diaco said it was an incredibly productive practice.
"I'm excited, the energy has been really strong," Diaco said. "The guys are trying hard. Even on a day like today. We had an opportunity to install more defense. We had an opportunity to add a new critical situation. So a lot of moving parts today on what would be just like a Tuesday in the back third of spring ball."
Although the defense looked solid during the scrimmage Saturday, Diaco said there's still a long road ahead for a unit that is learning an entirely new scheme.
"We've got a long way to go, so much to coach" Diaco said. "we make our cut-ups at the end (of the scrimmage) to try to ring home all the teaching, the good, the bad and the ugly basically. There was a healthy amount on all those cut-ups, so we've got a long way to go."
The new defensive coordinator said there was one moment that stood out during Saturday's scrimmage that really impressed him. Diaco pointed out a situation where the offense had driven down to the 10 yard line on the first-team defense, but the group "bowed their backs" and made a play.
"What a great moment," Diaco said. "What a great learning opportunity about 'as long as the ball is on the field and we've got a place to stand, we've got a chance'."
The Huskers are back at practice Thursday, and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf will speak to the media afterwards.
Hear more of what Diaco had to say after today's practice here:
