Greatest Husker to wear 58: Harry Grimminger, Offensive Guard, 1981 - 1984
In our unofficial quest to figure out why Nebraska football was so good for so long, we've touched on several key factors:
Two legendary head coaches and a fairly stable roster of assistants who were excellent technical instructors.
A gigantic walk-on roster, largely filled with in-state kids who would do anything to contribute to Nebraska's continued success.
A cutting-edge strength and conditioning program that was the envy of the sport.
(Today's topic)
Number four is where these things all tie together. Four is the unappreciated reason Nebraska was an absolute model of consistency that seemed to simply reload after graduation, an injury, or player going for the NFL.
Four.
Today, almost every school runs a two-station practice during the season: the offense practices against a scout team defense, and the defense faces a scout team offense. If a team runs 75 plays in a practice, the starters will likely get 80% or more of the snaps while the backups stand and watch.
Throughout the majority of the Osborne era, Nebraska usually had 150 (or more) players on the roster. And let's be clear: The guys at the bottom of the roster did more than collect free gear and use their status as Nebraska players to hit on coeds. During practices they didn't just stand around and watch. Osborne and his staff ran four practice stations.
In a four-station system, there is an additional offensive and defensive station working against a second platoon of scout teamers. The benefits were immense.
Let's start with the old "it takes 10,000 repetitions to master a skill" axiom. If the non-starters are only getting a handful of non-scout team reps, how long will it take them to replace an all-conference player? The extra set of practice stations doubled the number of reps the players on the roster received, giving them more experience and more opportunities to improve.
The extra stations increased the amount of daily competition within the roster. Iron sharpens iron regardless of where it occurs on the depth chart. Backups pushed the starters and third- and fourth-string players pushed the backups. And when you're practicing side-by-side with the same guys over the course of a season, you're going to build chemistry that carries over to game day.
When a player would get hurt, or struggle, or graduate, there was somebody else ready to step in. The talent level might drop off, but if the backup has been running the offense in practice for over a year, you know he'll have confidence.
So, why doesn't Nebraska - or any other school - run a four-station practice today? For all of the benefits, there are downsides as well. Mainly, logistics, costs and bodies.
Let's start with logistics and costs.
With 150+ players, everything becomes a logistics puzzle. Locker rooms,* practice fields, weight room, meeting rooms, training staff, equipment staff, graduate assistants, and on and on. That doesn't even account for the human element of trying to keep track of everybody, or the costs associated with equipment and other expenses.
*During the Osborne era, the top units dressed in the south stadium locker room. Freshmen, walk-ons and scout teamers were crammed into an older locker room in the Schulte Fieldhouse on the north side. Players from that era talked about making the move to the varsity locker room much like a minor league baseball player getting called up to the majors. It was a sign of hard work being recognized.
Finding enough willing bodies is another reason four-station practices don't happen outside of spring ball. Setting aside roster limits, imagine trying to sell this to a high school kid today. "Son, for the next five years, you're going to get beat up every single day by NFL-caliber players. You will likely only play at the very end of 63-7 blowouts. And you won't be on scholarship, so you'll have to pay for college yourself." Where do I sign, coach?
And yet, dozens of walk-ons every single year willingly volunteered to do just that. I read an SEC blog post that dismissively referred to Nebraska's bottom-of-the-roster players as Cornhusker "cannon fodder." Expendable fuel to keep the Big Red Machine running. I find that an overly crass characterization of players who - even as seniors - may not have been above third string. It's easy to dismiss them as space fillers and human tackling dummies, but their role in the overall development and success of their teams should not be minimized.
For every player profiled in this Greatest list, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of players who were more than willing to literally take one for the team. Many of them earned championship rings. Most will tell you they made lifetime bonds, even if their game time was limited to a few snaps in the non-conference. They were Huskers. More than that, their hard work help define and set the program's culture.
And finally, It takes an incredible amount of organization (and patience) to do what Osborne did. Keeping track of everybody, having practice plans, and working through injuries and other issues would be a full-time job. But when those in-state walk-ons turn into starters - or stars - that's where the magic happened.
Harry Grimminger was a mainstay – and a force – on the left side of some dominating offensive lines in the 1980s.
Offensive linemen arguably benefited the most from a four-station practice, as it gave them more opportunities to practice their technique in a gamelike setting.
In a 2018 interview with KETV, Grimminger said he was a "guy of average talent - at best - and I just worked really hard." He's being modest. An all-state guard on a Grand Island High team that won a state title, Grimminger brought plenty of ability to Lincoln.
But he, like so many of his teammates, understood what could happen if they put in the work on the practice field.
As a redshirt sophomore in 1982, Grimminger backed up Dean Steinkuhler. He broke into the starting lineup in 1983, helping to pave the way for the Scoring Explosion to set numerous offensive records. As a senior, Grimminger earned All-Big Eight and All-America honors.
Harry Grimminger, who was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2003. approached every Husker practice with a simple goal: "Try every day to be better than the day before."
With four practice stations, that goal was easier to obtain.
