Steven Sipple: Jimari Butler saw fear in his teammates’ eyes, and addressed it. “It was a big eye-opener for me, just seeing how everybody looked at me as I spoke up.”

Jimari Butler saw fear in teammates’ eyes.

In that tense moment, the Nebraska defensive lineman felt a pull to say something.

To step up as a leader.

Most Nebraska fans remember the period well. Michigan came to Lincoln late last September and put a 45-7 beating on the home team. The next day, as has been well-documented, Matt Rhule put Nebraska through a taxing 96-play scrimmage.

What hasn’t been well-documented is Butler’s key moment as a leader on that fateful Sunday.

“That was probably the hardest practice of my life,” the 6-foot-5, 260-pound junior said last week. “You just kind of saw the fear in everybody’s eyes before we even went out to the field. So, I kind of gave a speech. I was like, ‘If you’re all not going to take it seriously, I’m not against you, but just don’t come out (to the field) because you know what type of day it’s going to be.'”

What kind of day (and night) was it? Well, consider that Butler didn’t get to his house until 12 a.m.

Yes, it was a memorable time for essentially everyone in the program, and certainly for Butler.

“It was a big eye-opener for me, just seeing how everybody looked at me as I spoke up,” he said.

Steven Sipple: Leader of Nebraska’s DL room? Terrance Knighton’s answer may surprise you

Butler joined by Fidone in key leadership moment

Of course, as also has been well-documented, Nebraska followed the Michigan loss with a 20-7 road win against Illinois, a triumph that featured a critical goal-line stand by the Huskers. Rhule’s squad then won its next two games. The first-year head coach’s decision to put his team through the ringer on that certain Sunday paid off.

If Nebraska experiences success under Rhule in years to come, we’ll always look back at the Sunday practice following the Michigan loss as a landmark moment — with Butler and tight end Thomas Fidone playing key leadership roles.

“Jimari and Thomas Fidone , it was those two guys who kind of took the lead,” Nebraska defensive line coach Terrance Knighton told me earlier this summer.

Granted, Michigan, the eventual national champion, was far superior to Nebraska. But, as I said right after the game, Nebraska didn’t lay it on the line that day. I saw the Huskers being a bit too passive at times, and Rhule obviously saw it, too.

“We went in (to the football facility) on Sunday, and we watched one play, and then he said, ‘Y’all meet me on the field,'” Butler recalled. “As we were walking down to go on the field, you could just kind of feel the vibe.”

If you’re a Nebraska fan, it would have been incredibly interesting to be a fly on the locker room wall that day.

“That whole week was probably the hardest week of my life,” said Butler, noting the 96-play practice preceded a Friday night game at Illinois. “I don’t know how to explain it. It was a you-had-to-be-there moment. Although it was football, coach Rhule kind of tested us as men.”

“It was basically like playing three games in one week.”

Key player says defense has chip on shoulder

Looking back, Rhule’s rather bold move — putting his players through a rare Sunday heater — paid dividends that still are helping the program. Butler makes that clear.

“For us to accept the challenge that he was kind of hinting at, I feel like that brought us closer as a team,” Butler said. “After I gave that speech and said, ‘If you don’t want to be here, you can leave,’ nobody left. Everybody was out there getting reps. That was major.”

Butler had a major impact on the defense last year — his 8 1/2 tackles for loss and 5 1/2 sacks both led the team — and I’m guessing he will break out in a bigger way this season.

Keep in mind, the Alabama native put up good numbers last season while playing at a significantly lighter weight — arguably too light for the Big Ten trenches.

“This is probably the most I’ve weighed since I’ve been here,” Butler said. “People don’t know that I played all last season at like 230.”

“It was a struggle for sure,” he added. “I feel like my adrenaline kind of helped.”

Fight or flight. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Butler always will be ready to fight.

It appears we can now say the same about Tony White’s defense, the Michigan game proving to be an aberration as the Huskers wound up the 2023 season 11th nationally in total defense.

“There’s definitely a chip on our shoulder,” Butler said. “We know we were a top defense last season. But I look at the media — I don’t try to really get into it — but I see how they talk about us. There’s definitely a chip on my shoulder.”

Butler’s comment about the media surprised me.

“I mean, I feel like we were a great unit, and we don’t get the respect for that,” he said.

The unit certainly responded well to the Michigan loss, a 96-play scrimmage clearly helping matters.

Butler will never forget it.

“Everything was live, everything was live,” he said, repeating himself for effect.

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The post Steven Sipple: Jimari Butler saw fear in his teammates’ eyes, and addressed it. “It was a big eye-opener for me, just seeing how everybody looked at me as I spoke up.” appeared first on On3 .