There are question marks surrounding the Nebraska football defense heading into 2025 considering the key pieces the unit lost, but defensive coordinator John Butler wants his team focused on themselves.
“We don’t care what anybody else says outside of this building,” Butler said. “We really don’t even address that there is a narrative.”
The main message to the players has been to strive to get better each day and each practice rather than focusing on what they’ve done in the past.
“What the outside says about any of us, really doesn’t have an impact on what we’re doing,” Butler said. “What has an impact on what we’re doing, is what we’re doing here every single day about our execution, our physicality, our techniques, our ability to finish plays, and our ability to develop players and get them to believe.”
On Dec. 10, 2024, Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule announced that he had promoted Butler to defensive coordinator after the departure of Tony White. During the 2024 season, Butler served the secondary coach for the Huskers. According to him, the thing he’s missed the most is the time spent with the athletes.
“The biggest difference is just the opportunity to get around the players on a daily,” Butler said. “But I’ve got to make that happen more. Whether it’s me being in meetings when I can be or me eating with them at meals, interacting with them maybe outside of the football arena on the field. Ceyair Wright came to me the other day and told me he missed me. I think he was joking, but that was his way of probably busting my chops a little bit about that I’m not in his meeting room yelling at him like I was last year, but I made sure that I took it out at him on the field the last couple of days.”
With the loss of defensive linemen Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher, this year’s line has big shoes to fill. Butler is happy with what he’s seen thus far.
“This is a process and development program, so everybody is going to keep getting better every single day, the d-line specifically,” Butler said. “We all know, to be good on defense, you’ve got to have a good d-line. So that’s what we’re going to keep working towards.”
Another area Butler has seen growth in is in the linebackers room. This year’s team has a lot of depth which will help with rotation throughout the season.
“I think they’re developing,” Butler said. “I think they’re good. I think they’re young, they’re getting better. I think the guys we’re rotating — really, we have a three-deep right now. Our oldest player’s Javin (Wright). We’ve got some good young players that have juice and have energy and play physical and are getting a lot of reps.”
The secondary is one area that might look a little different than last year, with new secondary coach Addison Williams taking over. Butler said he’s pleased with the progress he’s see so far.
“I think Addi’s very smart,” Butler said. “I think one of the best things about Addi is, whether it’s with me or with Coach Rhule, whatever the message is, it’s ‘I got it,’ and he understands it, and he then brings it to the players. Pretty happy with how he’s been working with the DBs.”
Williams has enjoyed his time at Nebraska so far, especially due to the team’s strong bond.
“This is no knock on anybody — I’ve been some really great places, and worked for some really good football coaches — but the culture here is unbelievable,” Williams said. “And just the locker room … just how close the guys are in the locker room, and how we can go out there and we’re battling every single day, but soon as the whistle blows, Coach calls everybody, everybody’s hugging, and they in the locker room playing around and joking around. It’s really, really powerful to see the guys coming together like that.”
The team’s willingness to compete every practice has been a huge point of emphasis throughout camp. Butler wants his players to understand the importance of remaining competitive all throughout practice in preparation for the season.
“You have to find a way to compete every day,” Butler said. “Nothing about what they do out there is easy, right? So it’s easy to compete on game days, because there’s 86,000 people there and everybody’s watching, and obviously the new opponent. But, it’s these dog days of training camp where you have to compete every single day to build up that stamina. You’re not just saying, ‘Well, I’ll wait until game day.’”
The Huskers’ offensive line is a strong group that challenges the d-line throughout practice. Butler believes this competition will help motivate his guys to improve every day.
“Going up against a strong unit like that every day can only improve that competitive stamina, that toughness that we’re trying to build, that physicality,” Butler said. “Because at the end of the day, I think that if practice is the hardest thing you’re doing, when you go into the games you’re going to have an opportunity for success.”
The Blackshirts are continuing to work on their strength, run defense and execution to be the best unit they can possibly be. They are working together to grow and develop as a whole each practice.
“It’s really about just working that process, holding the players to the standard, and then building that unit constantly of — just like I talked about the o-line — how well they work together. A great defense collectively as 11 all work together. They know where the strengths and weaknesses of each call are, they play to them, and then they work like hell every day to communicate and work together.”
