At the dog park this morning Husker Ray told me he’s excited about junior LaTravis Washington, moving from linebacker to QB.

He said, “The guy can throw the ball 80 yards and he’s accurate.”

Here Washington is facing the camera after the Red-White game last month:

Samuel McKewon of Nebraska Statepaper liked much of what he witnessed on the field this spring. He likes Pelini’s approach to coaching too. Read on…

“Let me tell you, it was a long, physical spring,” Pelini said. “The practices were long; the practices were physical. The competition was there. I think we’re a deeper football team because we have more guys that know what’s being asked of them. We’re nowhere near being a finished product and we’re nowhere near being game-ready. But we made a lot of strides in a lot of areas.”

Why’d Pelini do it? Well, mental toughness and stamina is part of the man’s signature. It’s why the Huskers got better in the second half of games last year. It’s why NU busted wide open a close Kansas game, survived an upset-minded Colorado and came back on Clemson, Baylor and Texas Tech. Those second-half performances were forged in the heat of practice, when players wanted to give less, and Pelini wouldn’t allow it.

We know something about playing smash mouth football in Nebraksa. We lost our way under Loserhan, but now we’re counting pancake blocks again and we’re toughening up the minds and bodies of our offensive line under the guidance of coach Barney Cotton.

According to the Omaha World Herald:

“We just want to be the most powerful we possibly can be,” offensive tackle Mike Smith said. “Even though it looks sometimes with the zone reads that it’s kind of like finesse, you still need to come off the ball and you need to get removal off the line of scrimmage. And that’s really what (offensive line coach Barney Cotton) preaches.”

“We just want to be like the old (Husker) teams, teams like ‘95, and how they came off the ball,” Smith said. “I think deep down every offensive lineman wants that kind of style of running.”

Yes, and it’s exactly that “style of running” that dominant teams are made of.

Cotton was all-state selection as a senior at Omaha Burke High School, and he played for Nebraska from 1975 to 1978, earning second team All Big Eight honors as a senior. It sure is nice to have someone who knows the value of coming off the ball strong leading our young men into battle.

ESPN’s Big 12 Blog is reporting the compensation doled out the Big 12 Athletic Directors.

You might note that Tom Osborne is at the bottom of this pile. By design, I might add. He could make more if more was needed, but more isn’t needed. And few things say “NEBRASKA” louder than that.

T.O. also negotiated the new long-term extension with Bo Pelini without the use of agents or trustee members. ESPN notes that this old-school approach is a marked contrast to most high-level contract negotiations today. Something tells me these two could shake on it and that would be fine.

Salary reductions and layoffs are becoming a commonplace reality for journalists, money pushers, auto manufacturers and many others, but that’s not the story at memorial Stadium.

According to Lincoln Journal Star’s HuskerExtra.com, Coach Bo Pelini will receive a 68 percent bump in pay that makes him the highest paid coach in Husker history.

Pelini’s five-year contract, handled similarly to his previous one a year ago without agents, will elevate his annual sum to $1.851 million.

Tom Osborne said, “It’s a very large raise. But on the other hand, when you look at the fact that last year football provided 85 percent of the revenue of the whole athletic department, you realize that there’s a lot of responsibility that goes with this job and that he needs to be paid accordingly.”

Osborne said it was important to note that Pelini did not come to him asking for a new contract, saying Pelini is not a guy driven by money.

The team’s assistant coaches will also fair much better in 2009. Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson will make $375,000, or $150,000 more than he made last year. Six coaches — Carl Pelini, Ron Brown, Barney Cotton, Marvin Sanders, Ted Gilmore and Tim Beck — will make $208,360. Second-year assistants Mike Ekeler and John Papuchis will make $150,000.

According to Rich Kaipust of the Omaha World Herald, “Nebraska could be as young at linebacker as any time in recent memory.”

“It’s go time, and it’s got to be perfect,” said Mike Ekeler, the Husker linebackers coach. “I don’t think on Saturdays (next season) you’re going to put an asterisk by it and say, ‘Aw, you know what, Will Compton’s a freshman. We’ll let that one go. He missed that play.’ It’s all for keeps. We’ve got to demand and expect perfection.”

The accountability comes with something just as prominent: Opportunity.

Fisher, Whaley and Compton can be considered legitimate threats to win starting jobs next season.

This year’s recruits received a list of 10 alphabetized reasons to become a Husker. Each recruit was then asked to rank what single factor influenced him most in his decision to sign a letter of intent, with 1 being the most influential factor and 10 representing the least influential factor.

Based on that system, the consensus of the recruits willing to share their individual priorities is:

1. Coaches

2. Game-day atmosphere (fan loyalty/quality of people)

3. Tradition/culture (bowl history, major award winners, success in the NFL)

4. Strength and conditioning program

5. Academic support/life skills program

6. Athletic Director

7. Major degree offering/campus atmosphere

8. Facilities (including locker room, weight room, etc.)

9. Players (past, present and future)

10. Nutrition/medical services

[via Huskers.com]

Steve Hanway at Big Red Network put together a nifty little graph that shows the relationship between the number of All-Americans on a Nebraska squad and the coach’s winning percentage.

Hanway suggests that Ndamukong Suh could be named an All-American this fall and that the team’s winning percentage will likely follow the well established pattern.

At Coach Pelini’s press conference yesterday, he said what’s he’s looking to get out of spring ball.

I think we have a better handle this year on what we have on our roster and what we want to do. I think we have a better plan on both sides of the ball on where we want to go. I told the team yesterday that we have to make some giant steps in 15 practices. Last year there were a lot of unknowns and this year we have a better idea entering spring ball. I know that we are a better team this year entering spring ball then we were last year.

A better team this year. I like to hear that.

What do you say Husker fans? Is this team ready for 10+ wins? I know I’m ready.