Any Nebraska Football fans who are not familiar with Tavita Thompson should start familiarizing themselves with the graduate assistant in the very near future. The Cornhuskers are one program that is anxiously awaiting the expected rule change that will allow a 10th full-time assistant coach to be added to the staff. The school knows exactly who will be filling that slot, once the slot exists. The Huskers' Executive Director of Player Personnel Billy Devaney talked about the future plans of the position in a recent interview.
The Nebraska football GA is going full-time
Tavita Thompson might just be a graduate assistant for now, but Devaney told the Journal star, his work has been exemplary when it comes to helping the full-time staff. Thompson has taken on the role of a kind of unofficial position coach that handles the tight ends for the Nebraska football team. Devaney told the paper that there's very little doubt that when they can add the GA to the paid staff, he will be collecting a paycheck.
Delay possible for the addition
One problem, when it comes to adding Thompson to the staff, is that there now appears to be a bit of a gray area on when the addition might come. While there had been talk that it could be as soon as this spring, other rumblings might delay the rule change until December.
"That wouldn't be cool because we've got a heck of a coach here, Tavita Thompson, that we have earmarked for that spot. He does a great job with the tight ends, and hopefully, that does get approved in April, and we're ready to roll." Devaney told the paper.
Thompson hasn't been a lifelong Husker the way other GAs who have rolled through the program have been before.
He played under Riley at Oregon State before eventually taking a grad assistant position at the same school, although he does have full-time coaching experience -- one year as the defensive line coach at Pacific. When he becomes a full-time assistant for the Nebraska football team, it will be a significant step up in his career.
