Blackshirts, just saying the name makes the hair rise on a Husker fans neck. It brings to mind all the great defenders of Nebraska history. From the first great blackshirt Wayne Meylan in the mid 60’s, to Larry Jacobsen and Rich Glover in the 70’s, Broderick “the sandman” Thomas in the 80’s, Grant Wistrom in the 90’s, and Ndamukong Suh in the new millennium, all have worn the revered black practice jerseys during their collegiate careers.
11 Huskers Receive Blackshirts
With how revered and iconic the blackshirt name is around Nebraska, it is almost comical when you realize how humble the beginnings of this tradition was. In 1964 the NCAA passed a rule allowing teams to use a two-platoon system, meaning there were now offensive and defensive units. After playing ironman football in the season opener against South Dakota, coach Bob Devaney made the decision to switch to a two-platoon system. He sent assistant coach Mike Corgan to a local sporting goods store to buy some new practice jerseys, Corgan returned with 11 black jerseys. The reason behind Corgan buying black jerseys? they were the cheapest, and Corgan hated spending money. The name black shirts caught on with the local media and gained national attention due to Nebraska’s defensive success, as the newly named blackshirts finished the 1964 season with the #2 defense in the nation.
When Tom Osborne became head coach in 1973, he and Monte Kiffin tweaked the blackshirt tradition slightly, setting the stage for what it is today. Under Bob Devaney, the competition for a blackshirt never ended, players were given the blackshirts at the beginning of practice and were instructed to return them at the end of practice. If they played well that day, they would get black shirts the next day, if they played poorly, they would stay in grey. Under Osborne and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, the blackshirts were handed out at the end of fall camp, and the players that earned them would become a part of an elite fraternity of Husker defenders.
Nebraska introduced the 2015 blackshirts to the world today, as defensive ends Jack Gangwish and Greg McMullen, defensive tackles Maliek Collins, Vincent Valentine and Kevin Williams, linebackers Dedrick Young and Josh Banderas, and defensive backs Daniel Davie, Joshua Kalu, Nate Gerry, and Byerson Cockrell all received the coveted black practice jerseys. The Nebraska football media team released a video of some of these men seeing their blackshirts for the first time on their twitter page. If you haven’t seen this video, I strongly encourage you to watch it, as it shows several young men experiencing the joy of accomplishing one of their life goals. You will see Daniel Davie break out of his usually stoic demeanor into a broad smile upon seeing his jersey, you will see the relief and joy on the face of Josh Banderas when he realizes he has earned back the blackshirt he lost last season, and you will see Jack Gangwish, 5th year senior and walk on from Wood River, weeping with joy upon seeing his blackshirt. This video captured some of the happiest moments of these young men’s lives and whetted the appetite of a nation of Husker fans eager to see the newest edition of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
While this was a great moment for the 11 young men and a time of excitement for thousands of Husker fans chomping at the bit for the start of the season, it does raise some interesting questions. The first question is, where is Michael Rose-Ivey? Rose-Ivey was Nebraska’s best linebacker in 2013, as the redshirt freshman stabilized a struggling Husker defense in the 2nd half of the season and shattered Barrett Rudd’s freshman tackle record. Rose-Ivey was expected to form a dominant linebacker corps in 2014, but a torn ACL sidelined him for the season, and the Husker linebackers struggled for most of the 2014 season. Rose-Ivey resumed playing on a limited basis in spring ball and was firmly atop the WILL linebacker depth chart and was expected to be the leader of a young linebacker group. When asked about Rose-Ivey, Defensive Coordinator Mark Banker stated that while Rose-Ivey was being productive in practice, earning a blackshirt was “not all on the field”.
Rose-Ivey’s omission from the blackshirts as well as Banker’s comments fuel speculation that Rose-Ivey is one of the five unknown players that will be suspended for the season opener against BYU. This would mean that the starting WILL linebacker against the BYU cougars will likely be redshirt freshman and converted safety Luke Gifford. That would mean that Nebraska would start a true freshman and a redshirt freshman at outside linebacker against a BYU offense led by dark horse Heisman contender Taysom Hill.
