Steven Sipple: No-nonsense safety Isaac Gifford expects Nebraska secondary to thrive under “super talented” John Butler

Nebraska safety Isaac Gifford doesn’t mince words. He gets to the heart of matters as quickly as he gets to ball carriers.

So, his rather blunt assessment of the Huskers having to replace their secondary coach earlier this month is to be expected.

“It stinks, obviously, to lose a coach, right?” Gifford said last week during Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis. “But it’s a business at the end of the day. Stuff happens. You lose a coach, and it’s the next guy up.”

That’s Gifford — straight to the point.

“Coach (Tony) White is still here,” Gifford said of Nebraska’s second-year defensive coordinator. “The defense is still here. We’ve still got the same guys. We’re just going to go to work.”

Let’s be clear: It was far less than ideal for Gifford and company July 5 when Evan Cooper , Nebraska’s second-year secondary coach and defensive passing coordinator, announced his resignation due to “personal reasons.” Husker head coach Matt Rhule said last week that Cooper’s reasons for leaving “are his story to tell.”

Rhule had to act quickly to find a replacement. After all, Nebraska’s preseason camp begins Wednesday. Remember, this is a Husker defense that finished seventh nationally in 2023 in yards allowed per play (4.62). It’s a unit that returns nine players who started at least five games. Much is expected of White’s crew in 2024 — yes, even with the loss of a respected secondary coach.

“Us older guys got together and talked about it,” said Gifford, a fifth-year senior from Lincoln, Nebraska. “We were like, ‘Hey, man, we’ve got to keep going. It is what it is. You can’t control it. Just do what we can every day and keep going.'”

Butler and Rhule both enjoy their beach time, and now they’re ready to work together

Gifford offers his thoughts on John Butler

Gifford doesn’t seem like the type to get overly sentimental.

He seems only interested in pushing forward.

Along those lines, Gifford seems genuinely impressed with former Buffalo Bills assistant John Butler , who on July 11 was formally announced as Nebraska’s new secondary coach/defensive passing game coordinator.

“I’ve talked to him a little bit here and there about what we want to get done,” said Gifford, who led the team in 2023 with 86 tackles. “His football I.Q. is so high. He comes in and doesn’t skip a beat. Knows exactly what we’re talking about — our terminology.

“He’s going to be great for us. He’s super talented.”

Rhule said he’s known the 51-year-old Butler for several years and raves about his football I.Q. But it also must be said that Butler’s current challenge is in some ways enormous. I mean, he’s had less than a month to learn White’s rather complicated scheme while also doing a crash course on Nebraska’s personnel.

“The things that Tony does aren’t exactly (easy),” Rhule said. “We’ve got like 37 defenses.”

I think he was exaggerating, but you get the point.

“What you don’t want, in terms of the players (in the secondary), is have them walk in and have to learn a whole new way of doing things,” Rhule said. “You also don’t want your secondary coach to have to teach something he doesn’t know.

“One of the things I respect about John is he spent the time to kind of learn. He had to learn first.”

Gifford wants more from Husker defense

Butler inherits a secondary that returns plenty of talent and experience. In addition to the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Gifford — who started all 12 games last season — the Husker secondary room has returning veteran starters in Malcolm Hartzog (10 starts last season), Tommi Hill (eight), and DeShon Singleton (five).

Singleton is recovered from a season-ending knee injury that occurred late last September against Michigan. Nebraska also has a veteran standout in Marques Buford , who was limited to the final four games last season after suffering a knee injury late in the 2022 season.

Bottom line, Butler has plenty of strong material, as does Nebraska’s entire defense.

Gifford, though, once again shows his straight-to-the-point approach as he discusses what he expects from the unit this season. In short, he expects more than it showed in 2023.

“I’m not going to put numbers on things, right?” he said. “But, obviously, we need more turnovers. We need better third-down efficiency, and then it’s about stopping the run.”

Nebraska surrendered only 2.97 yards per carry last season, which ranked sixth nationally. But the Huskers allowed offenses to convert third downs 36.7% of the time, and they forced only 14 turnovers (tied for 106th).

It should be noted that White’s crew often was put in precarious situations by a turnover-prone Nebraska offense.

“I was very happy about how we played,” Gifford said. “But there were still those games here and there where we didn’t play well.

“So, we’ve got to fix that.”

A plan for forcing more turnovers

Gifford doesn’t mince words as he discusses how Nebraska will try improve on its minus-17 number in the turnover margin category.

It can’t get much worse offensively, to be honest — NU gave away the ball 31 times last year (132nd nationally) — but the defense also must do its part to help get the team on the “plus” side.

“It comes down to a bigger focus off the field, I think,” Gifford said. “You speak it into existence almost. Then, you take it to practice. You’re punching at a ball any chance you get. You’re knowing offenses super well so you know what the reads are, right? That’s how you get interceptions. You know the other team well.

“But, for me, it’s speaking it into existence, and just knowing we’re going to get it done.”

Gifford strikes you as someone who you can trust.

Those 86 tackles last season — 35 more than anybody else on the team — certainly suggests reliability.

To be sure, Butler inherits a room with ample veteran leadership, which could help smooth an inherently challenging situation for the incoming coach.

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