Time to enter the Wayback Machine, although it’s not “way back,” just a few years, mid-April 2019, an interview with Husker redshirt freshman Cam Jurgens.
Yes, “the” Cam Jurgens, center for the Philadelphia Eagles, who will play against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX Sunday in New Orleans — jersey No. 51.
He wore No. 44 at the beginning of his Nebraska career, as a tight end. “I was just rolling with 44 all last year (2018),” he said in 2019. When he was asked to move to center, he needed to change numbers.
“So I just picked 51,” Jurgens said.
Ironically, he would be the 51st player taken in the 2022 NFL Draft, second round.
Enough of trivia, though; consider Jurgens’ transition to center.
He played in the Huskers’ 2018 opener against Troy, as a tight end, before suffering a foot injury, which resulted in a redshirt. “About a few games in,” Coach Scott Frost asked him to move to center.
“Everything about the center position was confusing to me,” said Jurgens.
“So I had to sit in the meetings not knowing the stuff … we were just kind of going over game-plan stuff, so I just kind of sat and learned little by little.”
The offensive line was “kind of a brotherhood,” Jurgens said. “So when I got in the o-line room, everybody kind of … welcomed me in. I don’t know, I fell in love with the position, really enjoyed being with that group and the coaches. It’s been all fun for me.”
Sean Becton was his tight ends coach; Greg Austin offensive line.
Jurgens didn’t leave campus during spring break in 2019. He stayed to rehab a broken foot and met with Austin “for a couple of hours, and just went over game details, making calls, making plays,” he said. “We kind of covered everything. It was really beneficial for me to stay back and just get healthier.”
He also had to get heavier. Jurgens said he weighed around 235, at most, as a freshman. The 2019 roster listed him at 6-foot-3, 285 pounds. When he learned about the position switch, “I was just thinking about how I was going to gain all that weight, honestly,” Jurgens said. “That was a big thing on my mind. But I kind of trusted in what he (Frost) said. “And everything’s worked out great.”
Jurgens is now listed as 6-foot-3, 305 pounds.
He was an early Husker commit out of high school in Beatrice, Nebraska, where he was a multi-sport athlete, competing in basketball and track and field as well as football. He was ranked the No. 4 tight end recruit nationally by ESPN as a senior and also took an official visit to LSU.
Jurgens was regarded as the top recruit in Nebraska in 2018 — again, as a tight end. He didn’t see the position switch coming.
“Coach Frost came and talked to me, asked what it meant to play for Nebraska, and I was like, ‘Oh, maybe he’s thinking, like, (moving to) d-line or something,’” Jurgens said.
He also played linebacker in high school.
But Frost “pulled out center,” Jurgens said. “So I’m like, ‘All right, yeah.’ I kind of went with it, trusted him, and now I’m here. I’ve never played o-line before, so everything’s all kind of new to me.”
He paused, then added: “I guess I played o-line way back in the third grade.”
Jurgens had no regrets about switching positions. He started 31-of-32 games over three seasons (there were only eight games in the 2020 COVID season) and earned third-team All-Big Ten recognition from the conference coaches in 2022. In 2019, he was the first Nebraska freshman to start at center since the NCAA reinstated freshman eligibility in 1972.
“Playing for Nebraska, it doesn’t really matter me scoring touchdowns or anything,” he said. “I don’t really care about that. It’s just playing for, like, home state.
“And any way I could help this team out, I was on board with it.”
That was in spring 2019. Time to step out of the Wayback Machine.
Jurgens is the Eagles’ starting center, moving from guard this season after Jason Kelce retired. Though dealing with back issues that kept him sidelined during the NFC Championship game until his back-up was injured, Jurgens is expected to start in the Super Bowl.
He’s certainly come a long, long way.
