\u201cJust alignment in approach, alignment in how he sees the game of football, believes in stopping the run,\u201d Manning saidabout his relationship with Aurich, with whom he spent the 2025 season. \u201cI think that\u2019s big.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look over the course of my career, I\u2019ve worked for a number of different coaches and different philosophies and you take different things from everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut getting around Rob, just a week or two when we met, it was pretty clear that he placed a huge priority on stopping the run, and I believe in that personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Good strategy<\/p>\n
Nebraska ranked 98th<\/a> in the nation in stopping the run last season, getting gashed for 175.4 yards per game. San Diego State allowed 129.5 yards per game, 39th in the nation.<\/p>\n The Huskers\u2019 run defense provided a stark and troubling contrast to their pass defense, which was third in nation, allowing 154.1 yards per game.<\/p>\n San Diego State was sixth in the nation in pass defense, allowing 164.2 yards per game.<\/p>\n Nebraska had just 22 sacks in 13 games last season, tied for 98th in the nation. San Diego State was 33rd in the nation with 32 sacks in 13 games.<\/p>\n Pressuring the quarterback<\/a> is a sure way to get your defense off the field. A quarterback under pressure isn\u2019t going to be as efficient and he\u2019s more likely to make mistakes. Teams prioritize rushing the quarterback \u2014 college defenses and the NFL.<\/p>\n Roy Manning watches a spring game during his time as an assistant at Oklahoma. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n \u201cEither you have the personnel to do that [pressure the quarterback] or you have to earn your check and figure out ways schematically to pressure him,\u201d said Manning, who has coached at USC, Oklahoma, UCLA, Washington State, Michigan and Cincinnati. He played outside linebacker at Michigan from 2000 to 2004.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we did a combination of both honestly last year. I think we identified those skills and those guys that like, hey, this guy, he has some one-on-one ability and then we put them in those scenarios as much as possible schematically as best we could.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so that\u2019s the challenge right now. We\u2019re identifying those guys, right? So, Day Three, we\u2019ll see. But I\u2019m excited. That\u2019s the journey. That\u2019s the process. And that\u2019s what\u2019s most exciting for me as a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n Manning mentioned UCLA senior transfer Anthony Jones, and sophomore Williams Nwaneri, who played in all 13 games for the Huskers. Nwaneri, who is 6-foot-7, 265 pounds, had 27 tackles, five tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and five quarterback hurries.<\/p>\n Nebraska defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri (96) is congratulated by teammates after returning a fumble for a touchdown against Houston Christian. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images<\/p>\n \u201cI think Will\u2019s a great example [of having length but not utilizing it to the best of their ability]. If you\u2019re drafting guys in a lineup, you want Williams, right?\u201d Manning said. \u201cAnd not just from a size standpoint, but you watch him move around.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s fluid. He\u2019s kind of savvy. So, he\u2019ll be a great \u2014 I won\u2019t say challenge \u2014 he\u2019ll be a great, it\u2019ll be a great opportunity to work with him for me because I know he has traits, right?<\/p>\n \u201cAnd now it\u2019s like, OK, skill development and skills are built, right? Traits you\u2019re born with.<\/p>\n \u201cYou wake up, you\u2019re 6-5. That\u2019s the genetic lottery. But the skills have to be built. And in my opinion, everything about football is building skills.\u201d<\/p>\n Matching the new personnel<\/p>\n Part of Manning\u2019s job will be getting his Huskers players to fit the new scheme.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s always a challenge, right?\u201d Manning said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re coming in with a scheme change is answering that question. And so all those guys, they\u2019re individual and bring different talents and skill set.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s our challenge this spring is is to cultivate that. At its core, football is still football. And so, there\u2019s nothing overly unique about what we do, but it\u2019s just teaching those guys how to do it.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd really ingrained in those guys like, hey, here\u2019s the core principles. Because their techniques have changed and will change from what they\u2019ve done the last few years. So but that\u2019s why they pay me \u2014 get them to execute.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir jobs and responsibilities within this system and scheme. So I\u2019ve been really pleased with the room. I don\u2019t like comparing, but from an attitude and approach standpoint, they remind me of the group I just coached a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cBunch of eager, willing guys that just want to get better, improve, and be a part of the good. So, I\u2019m excited to continue to work with those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Elevating current players<\/p>\n New coaches face many challenges. One of Manning\u2019s will be to get the most out of his roster.<\/p>\n \u201cHeck yeah, man. I feel like that\u2019s part of the belief in who you are,\u201d Manning said. \u201cYou always feel like you can pull it out of a guy, or get him to play at a higher level. At least I feel that way.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t speak for all coaches, but that\u2019s my challenge. Hey, I\u2019m going to get this dude to play. Hey, I\u2019m going to get this dude to be more effective in his capacity, whatever that is.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo, yeah, do we have enough? Yeah, we have enough. I got to coach my tail off and we got to learn what we\u2019re doing and how to do it. Just from a pure, walk through the door, hey do you have enough in here get up in the quarterback? Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n Expectations for his edge players?<\/p>\n Coaches want accountability. What does Manning want and expect from his players?<\/p>\n \u201cBlame no one, expect nothing, do something. It\u2019s that simple,\u201d Manning said. \u201cThis is a results business. This is a leave-all-your-stuff-at-the-door business \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCoaches, players remove your egos. You know, hey, Coach Manny, you\u2019ve been here, you\u2019ve been there. That\u2019s all great. That doesn\u2019t mean anything right now.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here. I\u2019m a Nebraska Cornhusker, right? And you are my guys. I\u2019m your guy.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s kind of the Day One stuff, just letting those guys now, hey, it\u2019s a blind faith journey we\u2019re on a little bit right now because we\u2019re still learning each other.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to take you somewhere. And you got to trust in me even though we still have to learn and grow and cultivate our relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, a lot of those things, but I want them to know number one, I believe in you. I think that\u2019s important.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m going to be me unapologetically and just trying to set the tone and the temperament of the room that I always say speed of the leader, speed of the pack. So, they\u2019re going to follow my lead and so just being clear on the expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI<\/a>, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube<\/a> and visiting HuskerMax.com<\/a> daily.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nebraska\u2019s new edge coach Roy Manning knows the priorities of his job, and it\u2019s what Huskers fans will…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":617154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-617153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116136145550038662","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Roy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kjbdc72zk82e99wven.jpg\" "\\"Roy")
<\/p>\n![\"Nebraska](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kjbdkf82eerqk7c9q9.jpg\" "\\"Nebraska")
<\/p>\n