The Nebraska Football team's first few days of fall camp has had quite a few people paying attention to the offense. That might be changing over the next few days as more defensive players get mentioned by new defensive coordinator Bob Diaco. One player that has already stood out from the pack, according to Diaco is safety Josh Kalu. While Kalu has had some problems in his career when it comes to one-on-one coverage from the corner position, it appears the Husker coaches are incredibly pleased by the way he's handled himself at safety.
The reports from Diaco are good news for a couple of reasons.
For one thing, there are bound to be plenty of Nebraska football fans who are a bit worried about the transition to the 3-4 defense. This will essentially be the third defense the upperclassmen on this roster have had to learn since they came to Lincoln. There is also an inherent distrust of Diaco and the rest of the coaching staff after what has been a pretty bad defense in the Mike Riley era.
Kalu making Nebraska football coaches take notice
According to Huskers Illustrated, Josh Kalu has played safety so well early on, Diaco has officially knocked down any talk of him moving positions again. The Nebraska football team is looking for someone to step in for injured corner Chris Jones. There had been talk Kalu would be the one to step in.
It turns out the Husker coaches don't have any such plans.
"We believe that from an evaluation standpoint and a future standpoint. That he would be a very, very good corner. Maybe a great corner. There’s no doubt that he is and or will be one of the best safeties in the country, if not the very best safety in the country. That’s the mindset.” Diaco said of Kalu after Tuesday's practice.
That appears to mean that while they think he could handle the position change again, the team feels as though they are best with him at safety.
Nebraska football star learning his old position once again
For Kalu, everything old is new again. The player had been at the safety position in High school but has played almost 40 games at corner since coming to the Huskers.
It seems to make sense that the coaches want a veteran to line up in the safety position. While the Nebraska football team thinks corners are very important, safeties are even more so. Kalu appears to be comfortable at his new position. He'll be playing alongside Aaron Williams who has also be getting some very nice words of encouragement from his coach.