Nebraska defensive line coach Mike Dawson has taken a job with the NFL’s New York Giants.
“Coach Dawson informed me late last week he had chosen to accept a coaching position with the New York Giants,” NU coach Scott Frost said in a press release. “Mike has been a key part of our staff the past three seasons at Nebraska and UCF. He is a man of great character, an outstanding teacher, relates well to players and is a tremendous asset for any coaching staff.
“When you are fortunate to have outstanding coaches on your staff, they are going to have other opportunities in this profession. We will miss Coach Dawson, but wish him and his family the best as he takes the next step in his career with the Giants.”
Dawson will coach the Giants’ outside linebackers.
Dawson made $475,000 last season. He had signed a contract extension in January from Nebraska that went through the 2020 season.
He’s the first coach to leave Frost’s staff after all of his assistants followed him from UCF to NU. He replaced John Parrella, a former Husker All-American who coached defensive line for two seasons at NU. Parrella, who recently took a defensive line coaching job with the Browns, was preceded by one season of Hank Hughes, who was fired in large part for struggles in recruiting.
The next defensive line coach will be NU’s fourth in five seasons.
Before joining Frost at UCF, Dawson coached in the NFL from 2013-15. He spent one season as a quality control coach with the Philadelphia Eagles and two seasons as the team’s defensive line assistant. Before that he had stops at Boston College (2009-11), Akron (2006-08) and New Hampshire (2000-05).
Dawson played collegiately at UMass-Amherst from 1995-97.
Nebraska football assistants, strength coach Zach Duval receive one-year contract extensions
All nine Nebraska football assistants, plus strength and conditioning coach Zach Duval, received one-year contract extensions, the Huskers announced Monday.
The new deal would not apply to defensive line coach Mike Dawson. On Monday, Nebraska announced Dawson had accepted a coaching position with the New York Giants.
The extensions — signed at various times over the last 30 days — put all 10 contracts at two years. The deals expire Dec. 31, 2020.
Based on the extension letter written and signed by Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos, none of the 10 received salary increases in the extensions themselves.
Husker coach Scott Frost has not yet received an extension, but he was working on an original seven-year contract.
Below are the annual salaries for each Nebraska assistant:
Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander: $800,000
Offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Troy Walters: $700,000
Offensive line coach Greg Austin: $475,000
Special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach Jovan Dewitt: $475,000
Tight ends coach Sean Beckton: $400,000
Quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco: $375,000
Strength and conditioning coach Zach Duval: $375,000
Defensive backs coach Travis Fisher: $300,000
Running backs coach Ryan Held: $300,000
Inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud: $200,000
Michigan State punter William Przystup announces transfer to Nebraska
There was a time William Przystup thought he would be kicking for Scott Frost at Central Florida.
The punter pounded footballs at Oviedo High School — only six miles from UCF’s Orlando campus — and watched the Knights go undefeated in 2017. Frost, special teams coordinator Jovan Dewitt and quality control coach Zach Crespo all knew who he was.
But Frost left for Nebraska, and Przystup eventually chose Michigan State as a preferred walk-on instead of joining UCF’s 2018 class. His future appeared set on a roster with little punting depth.
Now a year later, a flurry of circumstances led to Przystup announcing Monday he is transferring to Nebraska. He will begin as a walk-on and plans to appeal for immediate eligibility as soon as he enrolls in classes.
“He’s gotta earn the scholarship,” William’s father, Eugene Przystup, told The World-Herald. “With the coaching staff there at Nebraska, we just see great things coming. We saw what Frost did at UCF.”
Nebraska saw what William Przystup (pronounced PRISS-tup) did at Michigan State, too. The left-footer who measures 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds averaged 40.6 yards on 27 punts, handling duties in the final four games of the season after injuries to others provided an opportunity. He punted seven times at Nebraska on Nov. 17 and averaged 42 yards per try.
But Przystup, who can punt straight on or rugby style, put his name in the NCAA transfer portal in early January as it appeared playing time would be scarce. MSU veteran Jake Hartbarger is returning for a sixth year of eligibility. And the Spartans in December awarded a scholarship to Australia native Jack Bouwmeester, who had never played American football until recently.
“(Przystup) was fourth in line there, and I thought he did an outstanding job for us,” MSU coach Mark Dantonio told local media. “Tremendous job.”
Said Eugene Przystup: “At the end they said, ‘Gosh, we wish we would have played you sooner.’ William, he did so well that they did offer him a couple semesters of scholarship. He just thought it would be better to move on.”
Nebraska endured struggles at punter last season. Caleb Lightbourn began the year as the starter but lost his job after averaging 29.5 yards on two punts in the fifth game of the season. Walk-on Isaac Armstrong took over after that and finished the year averaging 43.6 yards on 32 punts. Both will be seniors this fall.
Eugene Przystup said Florida was another potential suitor after his son won both the punting and field-goal competitions at a kicking camp there in 2016. Out of high school, his offers included Army and Air Force.
William Przystup earned a five-star rating by Kohl’s Kicking out of high school and was No. 20 overall in the nation, according to Kornblue Kicking’s Fab50.
Excited and honored to announce my transfer to the University of Nebraska. Blessed to become part of @HuskerFBNation and this talented program. Go Big Red!@coach_frost@CoachZachCrespo@Coach_Dewitt pic.twitter.com/PRfBtazKxF
— William Przystup (@WPrzystup) February 11, 2019
Nebraska announces kickoff time, TV information for Husker spring game
The 2019 Husker spring game will kick off at 1 p.m. on April 13 and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
The time and TV information had not been released before Monday’s announcement. This will be the the second straight year the spring game is broadcast on the conference’s network.
It will also be the second straight sellout. The NU athletic department announced Saturday that all tickets for the game had been sold. Last year’s spring game — Scott Frost’s first as the Huskers’ head coach — set a school attendance record with 86,818.
Sutton OL Garrett Nuss to walk-on with Huskers. ‘You can’t get a better atmosphere than Lincoln’
Sutton offensive lineman Garrett Nuss announced Monday night that he will walk-on at Nebraska. Nuss is the 25th known walk-on in Nebraska’s 2019 class and the 21st in-state walk-on.
“It’s Nebraska. Every kid from Nebraska wants to go there,” Nuss said. “I like all of the coaches that I have talked to, and you can’t get a better atmosphere than Lincoln.”
Nuss, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound offensive lineman, played both offensive tackle and center for Sutton.
He was on the sidelines for three of Nebraska’s home wins last season — Oct. 20 against Minnesota, Oct. 27 against Bethune-Cookman and Nov. 10 against Illinois.
He also attended the Huskers’ “Homegrown” walk-on event in December.
“The facilities are grade A and the football atmosphere at Nebraska is crazy,” Nuss said. “It is completely different being on the sidelines for a game than just a fan in the stands.”
Nuss chose to walk-on at Nebraska over scholarship offers from Division III Nebraska Wesleyan and NAIA schools Midland, Concordia, Hastings and Doane.
Nuss made the announcement via Twitter.
After a lot of thought, I have decided that I will Walk-On at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln next year!!! I would like to thank everyone that has helped me get to where I am today!!#HomeGrown #B19RedRevival pic.twitter.com/0ZCaeKO6Ck
— Garrett Nuss (@GN3346) February 12, 2019
Former Husker Spencer Long signs three-year deal with Buffalo Bills
Former Husker Spencer Long signed a three-year deal with the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday, one week after he was released by the New York Jets.
Long was cut on Feb. 5 as a cost-saving move by the Jets, who would’ve owed him an additional bonus of nearly $3.5 million had he remained on the roster. Financial terms of Long’s new deal with the Bills have not been released.
Buffalo could have two former Huskers on the starting offensive line next season. Jeremiah Sirles signed a one-year extension with the Bills last month after starting five games for them last season.
Long started all 13 games for the Jets in 2018, the first of a four-year contract. He played both center and guard.
Long was a fourth-round draft pick of the Redskins in 2014. He played in 40 games with 31 starts for Washington before going to New York in 2018.
A graduate of Elkhorn High School, Long was a three-year starter for the Huskers at right guard, though his senior season in 2013 was cut short due to a knee injury.