Kansas State football coach Jim Dickey was commenting on Nebraska’s Junior Miller in the late 1970s. If that was “Junior,” Dickey said, he’d hate to see “Senior.”
Actually, “complimenting” would be better than “commenting on.”
Miller, listed at 6-foot-4, 242 pounds, was a tight end, a starter in 1978 and 1979. He earned first-team All-Big Eight recognition both seasons and was a unanimous All-American in 1979.
Dickey’s compliment followed Miller’s performance against Kansas State in 1978. He earned recognition as the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Week, after catching five passes for 124 yards and a touchdown in Nebraska’s 48-14 victory against the Wildcats.
The touchdown pass was a 54-yarder from Tom Sorley.
Miller, who came from Midland, Texas, caught 55 passes for 1,045 yards and 12 touchdowns during his Husker career and is on Nebraska’s All-Century Team.
The Huskers have never had a more decorated tight end. But others come to mind. Johnny Mitchell and Tracey Wistrom, Grant Wistrom’s brother, were two-time first-team all-conference honorees, Mitchell in 1990-91, Wistrom in 1999-2000. Austin Allen was the most recent tight end honoree, earning Big Ten Tight End of the Year recognition in 2021.
Mitchell is not far behind Miller. He had to delay enrollment because of Proposition 48, so he worked and took classes part-time in 1989 before earning Big Eight Co-Offensive Freshman of the Year, as well as first-team all-conference, in 1990. He was Nebraska’s second-leading receiver, with 11 catches for 282 yards and a Big Eight-best seven touchdowns, all in the final six games.
The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Mitchell ran the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds.
Nebraska’s leading receiver among tight ends is Mike McNeill (2007-10), who caught 82 passes for 1,072 yards and 11 touchdowns. The 82 catches are tied for 16th on the Huskers’ all-time list. Matt Herian (2002-06) ranks first among tight ends in receiving yards, 1,243 and 12 touchdowns, on 65 catches.
These names were among those—there were several others—that came to mind Tuesday, when Nebraska’s media availability included offensive-coordinator-turned-tight ends coach Marcus Satterfield and quarterback-turned-tight end Heinrich Haarberg.
Dana Holgorsen, as you recall, replaced Satterfield as offensive coordinator late last season. Satterfield has adjusted to the demotion. “I’m having the time of my life. It’s great,” Satterfield said. “To get to learn from Dana, an offensive like Dana, I get to coach the greatest position in football, the tight end, which you get to run, you get to run-block, you get to pass, you get to catch balls, like, you get to coach the whole game.”
Plus, he has “a really great room, a really close room,” said Satterfield. “And again, I’m happier now than I’ve ever been coaching.”
The current roster includes eight tight ends, three redshirt freshmen, three sophomores, a junior and Haarberg, a senior. Luke Lindenmeyer is a junior.
Sophomores Carter Nelson and Mac Markway aren’t practicing because of injuries.
Lindenmeyer has “taken a step as a leader,” Satterfield said, “not just in our room . . . and not just on the offense, but the overall football team. He does everything the right way, socially, academically, personally. He’s a pro, comes to work every day. He leads our young guys. He coaches our young guys.”
At Thursday’s media availability, Holgorsen also commented on Lindenmeyer’s leadership.
In addition to Nelson and Markway, the young guys include sophomore Cayden Echternach and redshirt freshmen Ian Flynt, Eric Ingwerson and Danny King.
Though a senior, switching to tight end is “almost like being a freshman all over again, except I have some shortcuts, knowing the offense, knowing what the quarterbacks want . . . what an offensive coordinator kind of wants, what a quarterback wants from the tight ends,” said Haarberg.
As with Satterfield, Haarberg seems comfortable with the change.
With Dylan Raiola settling in as the starting quarterback, “I think last year maybe I started to diverge a little bit, I started to, not wander but just look over the possibility of switching and continue my career at a different position,” Haarberg said. “I don’t think it was ever hard for me to accept the fact. I think I just kind of viewed it as, like, a new challenge, a new opportunity.
“And that made it a lot easier to transition mentally.”
Welcome to Nebraska’s tight end tradition. The position doesn’t always get recognized because it’s not just about catching passes as its primary function.
