Pelini and Suh at Media Day

I watched Bo Pelini's press conference through a live stream via the internet. Unfortunately the site did not show/talk with Roy Helu Jr. or Jacob Hickman but they did have a short interview with Ndamukong Suh.

One thing I really admire about Bo Pelini is his straightforward approach. He seems to be honest and present positive traits/abilities of players only when they are deserved. Here are some comments from Pelini at the conference:

"Zac is the clear cut favorite and goes into camp as the starter. He is a natural leader, athletic, and can complete all the throws."

"Kody Spano is 100% after his ACL tear in the spring."

On Cody Green: "We will see how fast he can develop and if he can get on the field."

As a team: "There is a lot of work to be done before we are where we want to be."

If he is satisfied with his defense in the offensively heavy Big XII: "We are not in the same galaxy to where we want to be defensively. We won't be satisfied until we are dominant."

When talking about what needed to be worked on most during last year on defense: "Level of execution wasn't at the level it needed to be consistently. Most of the time we were our own worst enemy. We did get better with the level of execution as time went on."

If Nebraska is back: "We are not as deep as we would like to be across the board and are young in some areas."

Pelini also mentioned he thinks Helu and Quentin Castille will be even better this year than in '08.

Ndamukong Suh was interviewed by the host of the Big XII Network video stream. Suh said, "I am looking forward to getting to the quarterback and stopping the running backs." Suh said the Blackshirts are "still not there but getting closer." He talked about how he was close to going to the NFL but decided he "wanted a degree and wanted one whole year to grow from Carl and Bo. When they were hired I only had six months of working with them. I want to see how much more I can grow." Even though Suh doesn't think Nebraska is at a national championship level, he did say "the team is moving into the role of a hunter, instead of a huntee."

Based on the comments of Bo and Ndamukong, Nebraska still has plenty of work to do but everyone is focused and ready to go. I was intrigued with Bo's comment about Zac Lee being able to complete all the throws. He seems to think the QB spot is a positive on the team. If that is true, Nebraska has a great chance of being successful this season. One final comment from Pelini, he did say, "The team will be better this year, whether or not it shows up in the win column."