Since Zach Duval took over the strength and conditioning program for the Nebraska football team, there have been waves and waves of people singing his praises. When he first took over in Lincoln, there were plenty of Cornhuskers talking about how much harder they were having to work than they did with previous administrations. Now we can count a recent grad transfer to the list of players that have been blown away with what they have had to see and do in order to live up to the new Husker expectations. Darrion Daniels recently took to his Twitter account to make it clear that what he was having to do in Lincoln was far and away more and better than what he was doing at Oklahoma State.
Darrion Daniels' comments stand out
One of the things that have raised more than a few eyebrows about the comments from Daniels is that he isn't a former Husker who is talking trash about the Mike Riley administration. This is a player that was a starter on a program that won ten games for three straight years not that long ago. A couple of those ten-win seasons were anchored by Daniels. In short, a program in much better shape than the Nebraska football program.
For him to be undergoing his first winter conditioning program in Lincoln and already talking about how much more he's had to work than when he was in Stillwater is ... interesting at the very least. It's also the kind of comment that could certainly draw other players.
That includes grad transfers like Daniels and new recruits such as Wandale Robinson. The Kentucky all-purpose back has shown he has no problem with hard work and versatility. Coming to a school that has the reputation Duval seems to have brought to the conditioning efforts can't hurt.
Nebraska football slowly building back up
There is very little doubt that the reputation the Huskers are slowly building with Zach Duval is one that had to be repaired. While Mike Riley has taken the brunt of the blame for the way the program has fallen, he's clearly not the only culprit. Talk of the Huskers being a bit slower and a bit weaker than the rest of the league dates all the way back to Bo Pelini and Frank Solich.
What most Cornhusker fans saw last year was a team that still appeared to be falling short of strength and speed of their opponents. That is, of course, because the kind of fundamental changes Duval wants in the Nebraska football program isn't going to happen overnight. Darrion Daniels appears to believe they're coming sooner, rather than later.