Luke Lindenmeyer found himself in unfamiliar circumstances after day one of Nebraska football fall camp, taking center stage in the Hawks Center media room to discuss his position group, the start of camp and more.
“This is cool,” Lindenmeyer said. “I don’t know what to do. Should I make an opening statement or something?”
Lindenmeyer joined the program as a walk-on out of Papillion-La Vista High School, redshirted in 2022 and has gradually earned more and more playing time over the past two years. Now he’s set to be one of the leaders in the tight end room as a junior, and he’s looking forward to working more with new tight ends coach Marcus Satterfield, who transitioned to the role from offensive coordinator when Dana Holgorsen joined the program late last season.
“It’s been great,” Lindenmeyer said. “Coach Satt has been awesome. He said I’m like a son to him, and he’s like a little funny uncle to me … He trusts me to lead the guys, and he gave me the reins all last July to run tight end (individual drills) while he’s been gone,” Lindenmeyer said. “And now, it’s nice having him back, having him as a set of eyes to coach up, coach me up. I’ll take any coaching from him, and he’s a great offensive mind that I can learn from.”
With Satterfield’s transition, Lindenmeyer believes that the tight end room will have a lot of success this year.
“I was saying all spring that we were Tight End U, and seeing Carter (Nelson) and Mac (Markway) finally out there, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is Tight End U,’” Lindenmeyer said. “We’ve got guys everywhere. It’s exciting.”
Nelson and Markway have both missed time while recovering from injuries during the offseason but are back on the field, joining Lindenmeyer, former quarterback Heinrich Haarberg and the rest of the tight ends.
Last season, Holgorsen came to Nebraska to serve as the offensive coordinator for the last three games of the season. On Dec. 2, he signed a two-year deal keeping him in Lincoln.
Mastering the playbook has been something that Holgorsen’s been emphasizing to help the offense grow.
“It’s really detail focused and working on the same play over and over again and really mastering it,” Lindenmeyer said. “Sometimes it can get boring, but he just keeps saying, ‘Do not get tired of doing the routine play.’ It’s just helping us master it and not going into a game week being nervous about the play call because we’re just so used to doing it over and over again that it’s just engraved in our brain, that we don’t have to worry about it.”
During his sophomore campaign, Lindenmeyer made two starts while playing in all 13 games. He totaled five receptions for 50 yards but was mostly used as a blocker.
Lindenmeyer said that last season helped prepare him to play a larger role, and now he’s excited to showcase what else he can do on the field.
“That’s just how I had to carve a role for myself,” Lindenmeyer said. “My sophomore year, we played NIU, and we had a lot of 21 personnel stuff, and I was kind of like the 21 personnel guy. That’s just when I got Coach Rhule’s attention that I could play at this level, and I just embraced that. Probably not the role that I wanted, but it’s how I got on the field, so I just had to embrace it.”
Now that Holgorsen has had the chance to get to know the players better, Lindenmeyer said he’s looking forward to seeing the coach’s plans for the tight end group this season.
“I’m excited how he’s going to use us,” Lindenmeyer said. “Because he hasn’t had me, Heinrich, Mac and Carter yet, and just seeing how he’ll put us all in. He’s been going 12 a lot, and I’m excited how he’s going to use his creative offense to throw us in there.”
Over the offseason, Lindenmeyer has worked a lot to improve his body, quickness and stability to prepare himself for whatever Satterfield and Holgorsen ask of him.
“My parents live in Florida now, so I go back to Florida,” Lindenmeyer said. “And I have a trainer, Gold Feet, I work with him all the time. I brought Eric Ingwerson down there with me. He’s gotten a lot better because of that. And I just feel a lot more fluid, been working on balance, stuff like that and speed. This whole summer I’ve just been getting my body right. It’s been great.”
The two-minute offense is another area of improvement that the Huskers have been focusing on. They want to focus on the little things, so that they can maximize their potential and run it as effective as possible.
“I felt like we had a lot of stuff that could be called during two-minute, so I guess guys weren’t really as prepared, and Holgorsen getting the routine plays, has done a great job of giving us what he wants us to do and us just focusing on that and mastering that. We’ve been working on the details all summer, all spring; it’s been a huge emphasis. Whether it’s when to get out of bounds, when to catching it down, handing the ball to the ref, lining up, getting on the ball, we’ve emphasized those a lot.”
Going into the season, Lindenmeyer has high hopes and expectations for the offense. He wants to maximize their potential and believes that the Huskers will make a huge jump this year.
“It’s going to be fun,” Lindenmeyer said. “It’s going to be a fun year. We’ve got a lot of guys that are excited, a lot of talent on this team and just a lot of guys who are ready to lead the young guys. We’re ready to help the young guys, and we’re going to need everybody, so I think we’re all just ready to go.”
