• last year
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to the Caterpillar Chronicles, the people show.
00:11 Checking the pulse of Husker Nation brought to you by DPS Construction.
00:14 Ladies and gentlemen, I've got a special guest.
00:16 He was a team captain in 2022.
00:19 He earned a single digit number this past fall, a three-time black shirt, a four-time
00:24 academic All-Big Ten performer, Mr. Nick Henrich.
00:27 If you want to show some love to Nick, tell him thank you for his time and what he accomplished
00:32 here at the University of Nebraska.
00:33 Smash that like button.
00:34 How you doing, my friend?
00:35 Doing good.
00:36 I appreciate you having me on, boss.
00:37 Yeah, man, I appreciate you taking the time.
00:40 Now, you're currently a junior, but you just announced yesterday that you'll be hanging
00:45 up your cleats.
00:47 Okay.
00:48 Now, most people know you've battled some injuries the past couple of years.
00:51 Is that what kind of led to this decision?
00:53 Was there other factors?
00:54 And how hard was this decision for you?
00:56 Yeah, I mean, it was a really hard decision.
01:00 This was pretty much all based on how my body was doing and just having conversations with
01:05 doctors and how long it would take to recover from this.
01:09 My latest surgery again, which is on the same knee as my one from the year before.
01:15 So yeah, I mean, it wasn't an easy decision, but I know my heart was the right one.
01:23 So I remember, and I know you remember this too, I remember interviewing you four or five
01:27 years ago right after you first committed.
01:30 You know, you've had quite a career, right?
01:32 Like I listed, a black shirt, a captain, you're a single digit number.
01:36 During the past four or five years, from then until now, do you have a favorite memory during
01:42 your time as a Husker?
01:43 Oh, gee, that's a great question.
01:44 Obviously, it's, you know, the big plays in the games are something you're never going
01:53 to forget.
01:54 But I'd say overall, just like meeting all the amazing people I've gotten to and the
02:00 experience and all the great members on staff and just how much I've grown as a person would
02:05 probably be the thing that I'll look back on and be most proud of.
02:09 There was one play in Illinois where we had a nice fourth down stop, I think we had two
02:15 fourth down stops and I didn't want to go wide and I didn't want to be like 50 yard
02:19 line when they were driving in.
02:20 Like moments like that when you're just running off the field with your boys, knowing you
02:24 got it done is pretty incredible.
02:27 That is pretty awesome.
02:28 Now, the defense made big improvements this past year as everyone knows.
02:33 My question is this, now that the guys on defense don't have to learn a whole new playbook,
02:36 a whole new coach of what the coach wants, what the expectations are, this whole new
02:41 3-3-5 scheme, now that they can just come back, do it again and get better and better
02:45 at it, how much better do you think the defense can even be in year two?
02:49 Oh man, the sky's the limit like you said because in year one they're so focused on
02:55 just learning where to line up and learning what the coaches want.
02:58 You notice the verbiage of the defense, everyone calls different formations, different things.
03:03 So you try to learn a million things and now that you have that base you can really do
03:08 more in the defense as well as just be so much more comfortable out there.
03:12 So I'm sure you're going to see more big strides out of them next year.
03:16 Alright man, this is the hard hitting question that everybody wants the answer to.
03:20 Are you ready for it?
03:21 Yeah, let's hear it.
03:22 Alright, in your guesstimation, is Tony White staying or is he going?
03:27 That is a very heavy question.
03:30 I don't know.
03:31 I have no idea but I'll just say this about Coach White.
03:35 He's an incredible coach and a great guy.
03:38 I personally really hope he stays.
03:42 But I'll support him whatever he does.
03:43 I'm just grateful that I got to learn under him.
03:47 So that actually leads me to my next question because the defense absolutely played their
03:51 butts off this year.
03:52 What is it about Tony White that got you guys to buy into so much of what he's doing, that
03:58 got you guys to believe so much, that want to play so hard for a guy like that?
04:04 Yeah, I mean, he just demands excellence out of everyone.
04:09 And no matter what, he's kind of the same guy every day where he's just, you know, he's
04:13 on one.
04:14 He's yelling, he's screaming, he's high energy, he's so passionate.
04:17 It's just that it's really easy to play for a guy like that when he's just got his hair
04:23 on fire all the time.
04:25 How much pride for a guy like you, or the guys on the team in general, do you guys take
04:30 in wearing the black shirts and restoring some of the black shirt legacy this past season?
04:35 Oh yeah, I mean, that means everything to us.
04:38 It's been, especially like my class, something we've been trying to do for a while, is have
04:43 a defense at the state and all former black shirts.
04:49 People can really take pride in that.
04:51 I think obviously still have more strides to go, but it was a step in the right direction
04:56 this year.
04:57 Now, when Matt Ruhle first introduced the single digit tradition that he had at Temple
05:02 and Baylor and other places, I'd never heard of that in my life.
05:05 So I'm curious, okay, how much, through your experience, has the team bought into Matt
05:11 Ruhle's single digit tradition, and what did it mean to you to earn a single digit number?
05:16 Yeah, I mean, I think the team was completely bought into it.
05:20 It's something everyone was chasing.
05:23 And I think you see, like he always said, you can have the option of keeping your old
05:28 number, because he was like, "Luke, I know you've been 28 for a while," or, "I've been
05:33 42 for a while, but we're all just immediately like, 'No, we want to be a part of this tradition.'
05:37 And how cool is it that we were the first class that got to be single digits at Nebraska
05:44 for this brand new thing?"
05:45 So I think the team bought into it right away, and it's a really cool tradition that I'm
05:50 sure will last a while.
05:52 Now what's it like playing for a guy like Matt Ruhle?
05:55 He seems to be very demanding, hard-nosed but relatable, highly inspirational.
06:01 But what's it like playing for a guy like Matt Ruhle?
06:04 And the key question, the second part to that question, is he the guy to get Nebraska back
06:08 to competing to the level the Husker fans are hoping for?
06:12 Yeah, I mean, he's a really, really, really easy guy to play for.
06:17 He's just, like I said, he's very similar to Coach White in that aspect of he just demands
06:23 excellence from everyone, and that includes his staff.
06:27 Everyone's held to the same standard, and if you don't meet the standard, you're going
06:30 to get yelled at.
06:31 And that's a good thing.
06:32 It makes for everyone being on the same page, and I absolutely think he's going to be the
06:40 guy to bring Nebraska back.
06:42 Obviously, as seniors this year, what we wanted was to flip the page and go to a bowl game
06:51 and compete for the Big Ten West.
06:53 And when we do that, I think we can be proud of laying a solid foundation that Coach Ruhle's
07:01 first year, and just enjoy watching them win the games that they will in the future.
07:07 Do you have any behind-the-scenes stories that you're comfortable sharing about whether
07:12 it's Coach Ruhle or Coach White, or maybe something that happened this past season that
07:16 you think the folks at home might find interesting?
07:18 Yeah, I mean, I think everyone kind of knows about it already, but we did, after Michigan,
07:24 where we didn't play well at all, we had a Sunday night football scrimmage right after,
07:30 and everyone was so sore and crazy, but he was like, "You guys don't want to play?"
07:35 And we were like, "Yeah, we'll play Sunday."
07:37 It was kind of exactly what we needed.
07:40 It's just an example of how adversity teaches what we need to know to move forward.
07:48 We ended up going and getting a big victory on the road that week in Illinois, so that
07:53 was a time I wasn't very excited about looking back, but I have good memories of that with
07:57 the guys at home.
07:59 Dude, I remember when I heard about that, I had never heard of anything like that.
08:03 I was like, "Wow, Coach Ruhle's pissed."
08:05 I was like, "A coach doesn't do that if he's happy."
08:08 Yeah.
08:09 All right, so winter conditioning is right around the corner.
08:12 All right, so I'm curious, what was different from winter conditioning last year under new
08:17 strength and conditioning coach Corey Campbell versus the previous strength and conditioning
08:22 staff, and what do the guys, when January rolls around and winter conditioning starts,
08:26 what do the guys on the team next year have to look forward to when winter conditioning
08:30 starts?
08:31 Yeah, for sure.
08:32 I mean, there's this new strength and conditioning staff that had a huge emphasis on mobility
08:37 and just proper form, which was really good to kind of dial in on, as well as for me personally,
08:45 because I was coming off an ACL last year, it was really cool to see how they bridged
08:51 the gap between the training room and the weight room, and they did a great job.
08:55 Let's say your shoulder's banked up, your knee's banked up, not just like, "Okay, you're
08:59 not just spending time in the training room.
09:02 You're going to come lift, but we're going to modify everything for you."
09:04 So that was really cool to see from me.
09:06 As far as the guys coming in for the winter this year, they're going to work probably
09:13 harder than they ever have, and they're also going to see results like they've never seen
09:17 before.
09:18 So I know those guys are going to be excited to put on a lot of size and strength and speed.
09:22 All right, now coming out of high school, you were the Nebraska Gatorade Player of the
09:26 Year and the number one recruit in the state.
09:28 You're from Omaha, and your opinion, how important is it for the Huskers to get in-state
09:35 Nebraska kids that are good football players to come play for the Huskers?
09:39 I think it's absolutely crucial, and I think Nebraska's done a pretty good job of that.
09:45 If you get a Nebraska guy to come to this home state and play, he's just going to play
09:51 with so much pride, and he's going to be a great culture guy.
09:54 Seeing those guys, some top Nebraska guys go to other schools, it's pretty hard because
10:01 why wouldn't they want to come here, right?
10:03 I think it's very crucial.
10:05 All right, man.
10:06 What's next for you?
10:08 What's next on the docket for Nick Henrich, now that you've put football in the past,
10:12 so to speak?
10:13 I know it's very recent, but what's next for you?
10:16 Yeah, I've got some pretty good options.
10:19 Right now, I just had surgery a couple days ago, so I'm going to take a couple weeks and
10:24 get off crutches and reflect and analyze what I really want to do with my future.
10:30 I've got some good opportunities, and I couldn't be more excited.
10:34 Okay, I've got some questions for you fine folks at home.
10:37 Number one, in your opinion, simply yes or no, will Tony White be back?
10:41 Let me know in the comments below.
10:43 Number two, do you think the Blackshirts will be a top ten unit next year?
10:47 Again, just let me know yes or no in the comments below.
10:50 All right, and number three, if you just want to leave a message for Nick, tell him thank
10:54 you or whatever you'd like to say to him, shoot that in the comments below.
10:58 Always be sure to check out DPSconstruction.net.
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11:10 And Nick, my friend, thank you for joining me.
11:12 And until next time, Husker Nation, Go Big Red.
11:17 And always remember, Red Bones.