Leon Jackson, a former all-state running back at Pasco, has left the Nebraska football program, according to a prepared statement read Monday by Cornhuskers coach Bill Callahan.

Callahan indicated in the statement that it was Jackson's decision to leave the program, but the coach did not say whether he intended to transfer to another school.

"We have been extremely supportive of Leon Jackson's development in our football program, and we are disappointed to see him leave so early in his career," Callahan said.

Jackson's departure stirred speculation that the 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore was frustrated with his role at Nebraska, where he played mostly free safety last year before switching to I-back this spring.

During the 2005 season, Jackson played in nine games as a true freshman at free safety and special teams, recording two tackles.

At the conclusion of spring drills it appeared that fellow I-backs Cody Glenn and Marlon Lucky -- who were part of the same vaunted recruiting class as Jackson in 2005 -- had overtaken Jackson, though there was no official depth chart.

"You get in a situation like that where there's a lot of competition -- I'm not sure he was up for that," said Pasco coach Steve Graff, who coached Jackson for two years. "They wined him and dined him and he thought he was going to be the guy. It's a tough situation."

During the Cornhuskers' Red-White spring game April 15, Jackson played for both teams, carrying the ball 12 times for 52 yards. Glenn -- a 6-0, 230-pounder from Rusk, Texas -- rushed 16 times for 98 yards, and Lucky -- a 6-2, 210-pounder from North Hollywood, Calif. -- had 84 yards on 15 carries.

 

In Tuesday's edition of the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star, Graff told reporter Steven M. Sipple that Jackson was a "high-maintenance" player while at Pasco.

"All around, Leon's a good kid," Graff said in the Journal Star. "But I didn't think he was very mentally tough. If things weren't going his way, it was usually someone else's fault. He was a high-maintenance player for me."

Jackson's father, Leon Sr., told the Journal Star that grades weren't the reason for Jackson's departure, but indicated he did have some work to do.

"He was struggling in a couple of classes and he had some work to do this summer, but his grades were going to be fine," Leon Sr. said.

However, the elder Jackson told the Tri-City Herald that he had not spoken to his son in nine months because of personal issues.

"It was a shock to hear that he was leaving," Leon Sr. said. "It was just as much a shock to me as any one else."

Before deciding to attend Nebraska, Jackson made official visits to California, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.

The Nebraska football team passed the midpoint of 2006 spring drills Monday with a two-hour practice in half pads inside the Hawks Championships Center. The workout was the eight of 15 practices leading up to the April 15 Red-White Spring Game.

Following the end of practice, Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove addressed the media, which had a variety of questions regarding an NU defense looking to replace four starters.

"I think we have guys who can make plays," Cosgrove said. "We’re flying to the ball. I see improvement in some of the younger guys who haven’t been on the field as much as the starters. I just like the attitude and the way we’re going about business."

While the Huskers lost plenty of experience at defensive tackle to graduation in three-year starter Le Kevin Smith and two-year starter Titus Adams, seniors Barry Cryer and Ola Dagunduro should step up in 2006 after receiving ample playing time last season.

"We should be strong up front," Cosgrove said. "We have a lot of returning starters back. We lose our two inside guys, but Barry (Cryer) and Ola (Dagunduro) have played a lot of football. Barry has made a lot of strides in the off-season. He’s gotten stronger, and he’s playing at a different level right now. I’m really impressed with those two inside guys.

The safety position is another area that Cosgrove singled out as showing marked improvement, as senior Andrew Shanle and junior Tierre Green look to replace former Huskers Blake Tiedtke and Daniel Bullocks.

"I’m also impressed with (Andrew) Shanle and Tierre (Green) are doing a lot of good things. They’re getting downhill faster and getting solid coverage. We’re still working hard to get them better, but I see the safeties improving. For having two new guys back there, if they keep coming around, I’ll be very happy."

Nebraska takes Tuesday off before returning to the practice field on Wednesday with an afternoon workout.

This time a year ago, Zac Taylor was just trying to keep his head from spinning.

Back then, Taylor was the junior-college kid from El Dorado (Kan.) Community College battling for Nebraska's starting quarterback job and trying to keep all the X's and O's in the Cornhuskers' massive playbook straight.He fumbled the football on drop-backs during drills and struggled on timing routes.

But after eventually earning the starting job and helping NU to an 8-4 record in 2005 that concluded with a three-game winning streak and a win over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl, Wednesday's first day of spring practice took on a noticeably different feel for Taylor.

``Last year, I wouldn't say we were inexperienced, but guys hadn't played a lot,'' Taylor said. ``We don't have that excuse this year. We have a lot of guys with experience and they know what to expect from spring ball.``I didn't have a gauge last spring of how that felt because I was new myself, but this spring it just feels like there's confidence everywhere guys are really excited to put the pads on.''

This year's spring practice will be one of many firsts for NU Coach Bill Callahan's team.

For the first time, Callahan has an established, returning quarterback in Taylor. The program also appears to still be moving forward thanks to the positive feelings gleaned from NU's three-game winning streak to end the 2005 season.

``There is a big difference,'' junior linebacker Corey McKeon said. ``I wouldn't really call it momentum from the season, because nobody is feeling momentum going into spring ball, but we're all just looking forward to getting on the field. Nobody has been looking at spring ball with a negative attitude, we're all just looking forward to it, and you don't find that a lot, and I think that's a big move for our team.''

Maybe the biggest settling factor for Nebraska is that they have an established quarterback to run Callahan's West Coast offense. In 2004, Callahan spent the spring tutoring Joe Daily on the finer points of the WCO, while Taylor went through the same growing pains in 2005.

Now Taylor has the luxury of fine-tuning his techniques and improving his recognition of defensive coverages and calls at the line of scrimmage.

``To have a guy like Zac Taylor come back and lead this offense, we're very, very excited about what he's capable of doing,'' Callahan said. ``Now we just have to improve everybody else around him.''

Improving the people around Taylor will be easier this spring with one more year under the tutelage of Callahan's staff.

A year ago, the Huskers were fitting young players into key roles on both sides of the ball. And while still young, those players have a whole season of experience to build upon.

``A lot of the guys hadn't played before and weren't sure how things would go, and were maybe a little tight, but now they can focus on the football and not worry about anything else,'' junior linebacker Bo Ruud said.

For the first time in nearly five years, the Nebraska football team has been almost free of coaching changes, the exception being the hiring of Shawn Watson to replace Tight Ends Coach Scott Downing, who took the head coaching job at Northern Colorado.

Offensive Coordinator Jay Norvell said the continuity and familiarity would help development during the spring.

``We've got some linemen that we've had, we've got some quarterbacks that we've had, we have some wide receivers that we've had and we haven't had that since we've been here,'' Norvell said. ``That's exciting that we can build on the understanding that we developed last year and take it to another level.''

Though Nebraska's season-opener is still almost six months away, it didn't stop some from looking ahead to next season's goals. Sure, any team across the country can say in March that they want to contend for conference championships and BCS bids, but some on the Nebraska football team are already saying this is really their year.

Let the spring begin.

``We have a lot of returning people, we're familiar with the system,'' senior defensive end Adam Carriker said. ``There's really no reason we shouldn't expect to be playing in the Big 12 title game next year.''

Louisiana Tech will open the 2006 football season against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, the university's athletic department announced today.

Head coach Jack Bicknell's Bulldogs will kick the season off Sept. 2 against a Nebraska program that finished 8-4 last year, including a memorable 32-28 victory over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl.

"We're excited about going back to Nebraska," said Tech athletic director Jim Oakes. "Memorial Stadium is the site of one of the most memorable games in Bulldog football history. Nebraska is a class institution with great fans, and we are looking forward to playing against a program with such a great history."

The game will mark the second time in the last decade that Louisiana Tech will open at Nebraska as the 1998 team fell 56-27 in the Eddie Robinson Classic despite Bulldog quarterback Tim Rattay and wide receiver Troy Edwards record-setting performances against the Cornhuskers.

In that contest, Rattay passed for 590 yards and four touchdowns while Edwards set the NCAA Division I record with 405 yards receiving on 21 receptions.

The addition of the Nebraska game is the third confirmed out of conference contest for Louisiana Tech next season along with Texas A&M and North Texas.

Oakes said firm dates for all of the out-of-conference contests have not been finalized due to possible ESPN broadcasts.

Oakes also said that the dates for the Western Athletic Conference schedule wouldn't be known until sometime in February although Tech does know it will play Fresno State, Nevada, Utah State and Idaho at Joe Aillet Stadium while traveling to Boise State, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Hawaii.

Ball State continued to upgrade its nonconference football lineup Wednesday with the addition of Nebraska to its 2007 schedule. The Cardinals, who play in the Mid-American Conference, previously scheduled Indiana, Purdue and Michigan for the 2006 season and Navy in 2007 and 2008.

The game is set for Sept. 22, 2007.

Nebraska was 8-4 last season after a 32-28 victory over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl. The Cornhuskers haven’t been ranked in the Top 25 since the end of the 2003 season. Ball State was 4-7 last year.