Following the loss to Texas Tech in the Ticket City Bowl, coach Pat Fitzgerald had a message for his upcoming senior class: step up.
That message hit home for not only the two rising senior linebackers on the Wildcats, but also some of the younger players.
“It was just motivation for everybody,” junior linebacker David Nwabuisi said. “It always starts at the top, starts with those guys, the guys that lead the group. You can’t just magically turn on the magic button when you’re a senior. You need to start while you’re young and really start working hard at a younger age and you really start leading as you get older.”
The NU linebackers will need to replace the senior leadership roles that were vacated by Quentin Davie and Nate Williams. That process started in the winter when senior Bryce McNaul said the team came together and discussed what they needed to do to improve.
“We took an initiative collectively to really push the pace and call each other out in a constructive manner that isn’t afraid to push the guy next to you and get better,” McNaul said.
While it is never easy to replace seniors, McNaul said that he is working on trying to take more of a position as a leader. McNaul said that while Davie and Williams led quietly on the field, he is not sure he can contain his enthusiasm to mimic their style.
“One of the things I can to a fault be like is kind of a yeller and a screamer because I have so much energy out on the field,” McNaul said. “I feel like I need to yell my head off.”
Leadership is not all about on-field actions either, and McNaul said he recognizes that. For McNaul the goal is to lead by example, something he says he feels confident he can do.
“I want to be a guy that other guys look to and say that guy shows up,” McNaul said. “He’s doing his job, he’s ready to go, he’s making plays.”
Randy Bates said that McNaul has accomplished that goal thus far. The linebackers coach said he has been impressed by what McNaul has been doing in trying to be vocal and lead the defense.
While McNaul may have already locked up a starting spot on next year’s team, there are still two positions at linebacker that need to be filled. While Bates said he would have a good idea of who would start by the time spring practices finished with NU’s annual spring game on April 16, the final decision won’t be made until the fall. In the interim, Bates said he is looking for players to step up and make plays and, most importantly, learn.
“The number one thing is to just learn from what they’re doing out here,” Bates said. “You can’t do anything to get experience other than to come out here in practice.”
Fitzgerald said he sees the Cats linebackers having a lot of success in the future and that with time they will all come into their own.
“The future’s really bright with those guys,” Fitzgerald said. “I like the group, they’re just young. They can’t get enough reps, they can’t see things enough.”
