As Heinrich Haarberg made the transition from quarterback to tight end for Nebraska football, the senior leaned on a former NFL player for guidance.
“Jay Novacek, he was a tight end for the Cowboys back in the day,” Haarberg told Hail Varsity. “He’s from Western Nebraska, so he and I connected over the summer, and I got to go work out with him down in Dallas for a little bit.”
Novacek hails from Martin, South Dakota, and later moved to western Nebraska, attending Gothenburg High School. He played his collegiate career as a tight end at Wyoming from 1982 to 1984. He was named a consensus All-American and first-team-All WAC in 1984.
The St. Louis-Phoenix Cardinals selected Novacek in the sixth round of the 1985 NFL draft. He spent four seasons with the franchise before joining Dallas in 1990. He was named to the Pro Bowl five times and won three Super Bowl rings with the Cowboys.
Haarberg said he spoke with Novacek pretty quickly after the transition.
“Jay and I connected before the bowl game last year,” Haarberg said. “He knew my dad, and they’re both from western Nebraska, so they connected, and Jay reached out to me, and we’ve had a dialogue ever since.”
Haarberg started at tight end in Nebraska’s bowl game against Boston College, catching one pass for 8 yards in the win. He said that he’d never played tight end before that, but he’s embracing his new role.
“Physically, I’ve had to put on a little bit of weight, but I’ve still kept my speed and gotten stronger in the upper body, just for blocking,” Haarberg said. “But along with that, I’ve had to learn techniques for different blocking and route running, stuff like that. So it’s honestly just been really fun. It’s honestly been kind of satisfying to see huge leaps and bounds of growth over the last couple of months.”
Former Nebraska offensive coordinator and now tight ends coach Marcus Satterfield worked with Haarberg a lot as a quarterback and now is teaching him the tight end position.
“Heinrich, from spring to now, is a totally different tight end,” Satterfield said during the preseason. “I’m really proud of the steps that he’s taken, from the spring to the summer camp, from week one to week two, from week two to week three. He’s working at it. He’s getting more comfortable playing the physical nature of the position. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does this season moving forward, because he’s just going to keep getting better and better. He’s got a lot of upside.”
Satterfield also pointed to some specific areas of growth he’s seen from the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Haarberg throughout camp.
“Just learning how to put his face in the block, just being in a box with eight large human beings, getting hit every play, at different places, falling on each other,” Satterfield said. “So it’s just a different world, it’s a totally different game than playing quarterback. I think he’s getting more confident in that role, he’s getting more physical. I think the understanding of football, and the time and spacing, that helps him going from quarterback to tight end.”
Haarberg could have looked elsewhere after the coaches told him he wouldn’t be playing quarterback for Nebraska in 2025, but he chose to stay for a few simple reasons.
“I think there’s two sides to it,” Haarberg said. “Part of it was that I want to be part of this, I want to be part of Nebraska. I’ve been wearing the N since I was born. My dad played here. I think that’s part of it, and then the other part is just I’m really big on loyalty, and I just I wanted to finish what I started here, no matter if it was at a different position or not. Also, I truly believe in what we’re building here, and I want to be a part of that, and be able to look back in 40 years and hopefully play a small part in a big resurgence.”
Haarberg didn’t catch any passes in Nebraska’s season opener against Cincinnati, though he did carry the ball twice as a quarterback, gaining 4 yards on a pair of sneaks to pick up two first downs.
Haarberg will next take the field on Saturday in Nebraska’s home opener at Memorial Stadium against Akron, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
