Going from big plays to big hits
Rusk native Cody Glenn joins Nebraska's 'black shirt' defense
BY JEREME HUBBARD

Cody Glenn celebrates a touchdown against Texas A&M at Kyle Field during a 2006 game. Glenn will be switching positions for his senior season at Nebraska, going from running back to linebacker. The Cornhuskers will play at Texas Tech in Lubbock Oct. 11.

Beginning with the 2001 football season, Rusk Eagle fans became accustomed to seeing Cody Glenn run over opposing defenders as a punishing running back.

Beginning with the 2008 season, Nebraska Cornhusker fans may become accustomed to seeing Cody Glenn run over opposing running backs as a punishing linebacker.

Glenn led Rusk to four playoff appearances in high school and was an all-state running back selection his junior and senior years.

During the recruiting process, many schools tried to recruit Glenn as a linebacker, but he wanted to play running back. Nebraska and coach Bill Callahan were willing to let him have his wish.

As a freshman in 2005, he carried the ball 45 times and scored four touchdowns, including two in a game at Texas Tech. His sophomore season was by far his best, collecting 370 yards on the ground, including eight touchdowns.

His best collegiate game came that year against Iowa State, as Glenn rushed 19 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns.

The whole nation saw Glenn's strong performance, as it was a nationally televised game on ABC.

Glenn averaged 5.2 yards per carry on 71 carries for the year. As a junior in 2007, injuries held Glenn back, when he only got 27 carries for the entire season.

However, as Nebraska hosted the topranked USC Trojans in another nationally televised game, Glenn starred again, rushing for two touchdowns in a Nebraska loss. Glenn was also honored in 2007 as a member of the Big XII Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll.

After the season, Nebraska fired head coach Bill Callahan, and hired LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pellini to be their next coach. Many players, including Glenn, felt relief when the switch was made.

Pellini, who was coming off of a season where he led the defense of the national champion, was brought in to toughen up the famed "black shirt" defense that struggled in 2007.

With the Huskers running back situation being pretty clouded and the linebacker corps needing some help, Glenn asked the coaching staff if he could move to the other side of the ball and play linebacker.

After some discussion and a brief protest by the running backs coach, Coach Pellini allowed Glenn to move to linebacker during spring practice.

"It was something that I wanted to try with Coach Pellini coming in because of his defensive reputation. I thought it would be beneficial to me and the team, so I asked him about it and he was cool with it," Glenn said. "I didn't make the move because of the running back situation necessarily, it was more of a situation where if I didn't like it I could go back to running back, but it's been a good thing and I think I'll be staying there."

It didn't take long for Pellini to find out what Rusk fans have known for a while now.

"He's just very instinctive. There are still some things that he doesn't know, but his instincts, his athleticism, it's showing up. He's tough. He can be a very good player. It's been a pleasant surprise in how quickly he's made an adjustment," Pellini said to reporters after a recent Huskers practice. "He's shown the ability that he can be a heck of a football player on that side of the ball."

Many people may wonder why exactly Glenn wanted to make the move to linebacker, and the answer is really pretty simple.

"I feel like the team can benefit from this move. We needed linebacker help, and I feel like the best chance I have of making it at the next level is at linebacker," Glenn added. "The team is really feeding off of the energy I bring to that side and they are stepping their game up.

"Coach Pellini has pretty much told me the same things he's said to the media, that I can be a heck of a player at linebacker and the team needs me at linebacker and needs me to be a big part of our success in the fall."

Most players who make a position change take a year or so to adjust to their new surrounding.

Unfortunately for Glenn, as a senior, he doesn't have that year to grow.

"He's going to be a senior so it's not something you want to make a long-term project into. It's either he shows it's a fit or it's not. So far he's done a lot of good things. He's made some plays," Pellini added. "But it's too early on to make a rash judgement. I do like some things I've seen out of him."

The move has been a good one so far, but it has created a lot of extra work for Cody during spring practice.

"I've had a lot of one on one time with the coaching staff and I've had to watch a lot more film. I've spent a lot of time talking with my position coach as well," Glenn added.

Glenn knew the decision would have to be made by him, but he placed phone calls to a couple of his former coaches, Wayne Mahaffey and Richard Tucker to get their thoughts on the move.

"Cody called me and asked me what I thought about him moving to linebacker. I told him that I thought it was a good move for him and that he was more than capable of playing linebacker at that level," Mahaffey said. "He's got 4.5 speed and that makes him the fastest linebacker at Nebraska.

"He could definitely play running back there, but at linebacker he could see 60 snaps a game and he is so physical, the coaches felt like they needed to get him on the field more."

Glenn will get his first taste of defense in an actual game situation on Saturday, April 19 when Nebraska has their annual spring game.

The Huskers will open their 2008 campaign Aug. 30 at home against Western Michigan.

Nebraska will play in Texas only once this season, Oct. 11, in a conference game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock.