Now a safety, Green rolls with the changes
BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Tierre Green is fine with another position change. From I-back to cornerback to strong safety, Green simply adjusts and moves on.
He even jokes about it.
"It's a trend I'm trying to set," Green said, cracking a smile.
Nebraska defensive back Tierre Green gets some advice from secondary coach Phil Elmassian during spring practice last year at Memorial Stadium. (Ted Kirk)
But lest the Nebraska coaches start envisioning him in yet another spot, Green wants to make this position stick.
In other words, he isn't playing safety for the good of his own health. If he's going to play safety, he wants to be a good safety.
"I just want to be able to make plays," said Green, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior from Omaha. "You've got to be able to make plays to be a great secondary person. Knock down balls, get interceptions. That's the type of player I want to be ... not so much just be in there and be in position, but actually make plays.
"If I can do that, I can nail down a spot. Only time will tell."
Most players who make position changes before spring spend the first few practices trying to find their heads.
That's not entirely the case for Green. He got a jump start in December, when coaches, during bowl practices, approached Green about a switch and began giving him practice snaps at safety. They'd worked him into several nickel packages last season -- Green's first at cornerback -- and saw he could do many of the same things a safety does.
"Some of our plays, the corner is almost playing safety, at times," Green said. "It all depends on the formation and what kind of scheme we want to run against a certain team."
Knowing he was going to switch to strong safety for spring drills, Green played there during seven-on-seven workouts in winter conditioning. That's when he made a good impression on senior Andrew Shanle, now Nebraska's top free safety.
"He's picking up the changes and understanding why we're making the changes or adjustments," Shanle said. "He's coming along great. You would never know this was his first year."
And really, it's not like playing safety is totally foreign to Green. He played the position at Omaha Benson High School, earning several postseason honors.
"It's actually really similar for me," Green said. 'It's just a little more advanced (now) because there's a lot more reads you have to make and stuff you have to know."
Green, of course, certainly isn't polished in his new position. In Monday's practice, Green was twice beaten deep on passes during seven-on-seven. He also was on the field during a scrimmage play when Nate Swift, left uncovered, caught a 59-yard touchdown pass. Green said he'd have to see film of the play to identify what exactly went wrong in the coverage.
But Nebraska safeties coach Bill Busch is certain of one thing: With Green, it won't likely happen again.
'He's a one-time mistake guy," said Busch, basically repeating what cornerbacks coach Phil Elmassian often said about Green last season.
Both coaches marvel at Green's football knowledge and work ethic.
'You never have to coach effort with him," Busch said. "And football comes easy to him. He understands the whys, what we're doing. It's not like, 'Well, why are we doing this?'
"As multiple as our offense is, we get taxed awfully well. I've been around a lot of teams during the spring where you don't have to defend as near as much as we have to defend. So we're constantly tweaking everything, trying to do everything better than we did it before."
Green said he's catching on well, that he's trying to make things come easy and learn from his mistakes.
"Indecisiveness kind of messes you up and throws you off," Green said. "The most time I make mistakes is when I commit to something before I really see what happens.
"It hasn't happened that often. Like I said, I'm just trying to make it where it's easier and the game slows down."
As for the rash of position changes?
"This will be my last stop," he said, "hopefully."
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
