Jeremy Pernell: Transfers Join Fray to Fill Out Husker Secondary

There’s just one returning starter in coach Travis Fisher's group

Nebraska Athletics photo

Nebraska is replacing three multi-year starters from its secondary; cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt (29 starts) and safeties Deontai Williams (17 starts) and Marquel Dismuke (33 starts). It's actually four of five starters if you include nickel back JoJo Domann (26 starts) who rarely left the field.

The secondary has also seen its fair share of attrition throughout this staff's time at Nebraska. The pandemic lent a hand in the loss of four-star defensive backs Henry Gray and Jaiden Francois, along with Ronald Delancy III. Just this past December, freshman Malik Williams put his name in the transfer portal.

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These losses have poked holes in the roster and created some depth issues. Secondary coach Travis Fisher and defensive coordinator Erik Chinander knew they would need to overhaul the secondary this offseason. Luckily, it's not something new to them. When they first arrived at Nebraska in December 2017, they inherited eight scholarship defensive backs when they typically like to carry 15 or 16.

The Huskers were set to return just 10 scholarship defensive backs this season before coaches added to the room. Nebraska signed five guys from the high school and junior college ranks in their 2022 class and then added an impressive trio through the transfer portal. With only one starter coming back (cornerback Quinton Newsome), the competition to fill out the secondary should be intense this summer.

Tommi Hill / Nebraska Athletics photo

The betting favorite to start at cornerback opposite of Newsome is Arizona State transfer Tommi Hill. The former two-way standout from Edgewater (Fla.) High School was a consensus four-star recruit in the 2021 class. He chose the Sun Devils over a final group that also included Nebraska, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State. He held over 30 offers, with other notables coming from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Penn State, Tennessee and West Virginia, among others.

Fisher and tight ends coach Sean Beckton had Tommi Hill on their radars for a long time, having known about him since they were still at Central Florida. Early on, the staff was open to Hill playing on either side of the ball, and both coaches were involved recruiting him to Nebraska.

Hill first gained notice as a wide receiver, standing out early in his career. It wasn't until he was an upperclassman that his talents at cornerback drew more attention from schools. During offseason camp and 7-on-7 settings as a junior and senior, Hill would routinely dominate the competition as a defensive back. Still, generally listed by recruiting services as an "athlete," several schools continued to recruit him to play receiver as well.

Fisher made Hill a priority defensive back target early on, and the two formed a strong bond during the recruiting process. Hill had planned on visiting Lincoln in the spring of 2020, but in March the NCAA implemented a recruiting dead period in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Hill was never able to visit Lincoln and ended up committing to Arizona State in July.

He enrolled early in Tempe and impressed coaches with a strong spring. The Sun Devils were returning three upperclassmen with starting corner experience (Chase Lucas and Jack Jones were both selected in the 2022 NFL Draft), so Hill spent most of fall camp running with the second team, although he did see time with the top unit as well.

Hill played in 11 games as a true freshman last season with a start against Colorado. He saw 59 defensive snaps and 99 total snaps on special teams. According to Pro Football Focus, 36 of his defensive snaps came at the wide corner, 16 were in the slot and seven were inside the box, showcasing his versatility. He finished with nine total tackles and had four kickoff returns for 79 yards.

With Lucas and Jones moving on, Hill was considered a favorite to take over a starting spot opposite Timarcus Davis in 2022. However, there was a staff shakeup at ASU.

Last August, defensive backs coach Chris Hawkins was one of three coaches put on administrative leave because of their involvement in potential recruiting infractions that resulted in an NCAA investigation. The ensuing investigation uncovered several major infractions and resulted in five ASU assistants either being fired or resigning - Hawkins being one of them.

Hill had chosen ASU in large part because of his relationship with Hawkins. With the Sun Devil program mired in turmoil, Hill chose to enter the transfer portal on Dec. 8 and was regarded as one of the best defensive backs available.

Fisher and Nebraska contacted him immediately, but the Huskers certainly weren't the only ones. Hill had several other high-profile options. The first day his name was in the portal, he received 13 offers and had 25 missed phone calls. Along with Nebraska, Hill was contacted by Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Florida, Miami, UCF, Pitt, South Florida and several others. He visited Florida State, which had been the first team to offer him a scholarship back when he was a freshman.

But the Huskers immediately vaulted to the top of his list because of his longstanding relationship with  Fisher. When Hill was finally able to visit Lincoln Dec. 10-12, he was blown away by the renderings of the new facilities being built. He also liked the opportunity of playing early that Nebraska provided. Hill announced the Huskers as his choice Dec. 13, a day after his trip ended.

The 6-foot, 200-pounder caught everyone’s attention when he first arrived in Lincoln in January with his talent on the field, work ethic, and natural leadership. While participating in NU’s Pro Day in March, which coincided with spring practices, Cam Taylor-Britt told reporters he'd heard from his teammates that Hill was really standing out.

Hill has the skillset to play every spot in the secondary. But he'll be heading into fall camp looking to build off an impressive spring and earn a starting cornerback spot this fall. Hill's future is extremely bright. It will be fun to watch his development over the next few years to see if he can fulfill the promise Fisher sees in him.

Omar Brown / Nebraska Athletics photo

Another addition to the room, Omar Brown, comes to Lincoln with the most accomplished résumé of the portal group outside of edge rusher Ochaun Mathis. Coming out of North (Minn.) Senior High School, Brown was considered a huge recruiting win for Northern Iowa in the 2019 class. A three-star recruit, Brown was seen as the best defensive back in the state and was named the Minnesota State All-Star Game Defensive MVP following his senior season.

He chose UNI over an offer from Indiana, as well as a handful of FCS programs that included North Dakota State. He also received serious interest from Iowa, Minnesota and Arkansas State.

Brown arrived on campus at UNI in the summer of 2019 and made an immediate impact. He played so well during training camp that he took away a cornerback spot from a returning starter. He then took the FCS by storm, recording 77 tackles and six interceptions in 15 games. For his performance, Brown was named third-team AP All-American, FCS Defensive Freshman of the Year and first-team All-MVFC.

Northern Iowa's 2020 fall season was postponed to the spring of 2021 and reduced to seven games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once again, Brown played a big role in Northern Iowa’s defense. By this time, opponents were actively avoiding throwing to his side of the field. He finished the spring season with 30 tackles, five pass breakups and an interception on his way to being named honorable mention All-MVFC.

This past fall, Brown played in seven games, totaling 33 tackles, with a forced fumble and an interception. Unfortunately, he sustained a back injury in the seventh game that kept him out the remainder of the year. Despite the abbreviated season, he again earned honorable mention All-MVFC honors and was named to FCS All-America All-Sophomore Team.

Brown developed a reputation as a lockdown corner early in his UNI career and was widely regarded as one of the best defensive backs at the FCS level. He started all 29 games he played in for Northern Iowa, finishing with 140 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, 13 pass breakups and eight interceptions.

Brown decided to put his name in the transfer portal hoping to finish his career at the Power Five level. He wanted to spend the next couple years testing himself against better competition in the hopes of increasing his NFL draft stock.

Several schools got in contact with Brown, but one of the first people he talked to was his former teammate at UNI, Chris Kolarevic, who transferred to Nebraska after COVID postponed UNI's 2020 season. From there, he got in contact with Travis Fisher.

Nebraska worked extremely fast with Brown, who entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, Jan. 18. With the final day mid-year enrollees could join the Husker roster being the 25th, coaches had Brown on campus and enrolled by the weekend. His intent to transfer to Nebraska was made public on Saturday the 22nd.

The accelerated time frame played into Nebraska's hands thanks to several connections between Brown and the program. The most important was probably Kolarevic - whom Brown moved in with after transferring to Lincoln. Kolarevic was able to give Brown a first-hand account of the program after being in his shoes a year earlier.

Brown also has an uncle who played at Nebraska in Charles Rucker, and that connection helped him further learn about the school and history of the football program as well. You throw in the fact UNI's wide receivers coach is former Husker quarterback Joe Ganz, and Marques Buford was already an acquaintance, and the comfort level came pretty quickly.

Unfortunately for Brown, he missed the majority of spring and was limited by the same injury that ended his 2021 season with Northern Iowa. After spending his initial arrival at corner, Brown will move to safety when fall camp opens. This is probably an attempt by Fisher to get his best four guys on the field. With Quinton Newsome, Tommi Hill and Braxton Clark, I think Fisher is confident in the cornerback spot.

The safety position on the other hand is a concern after losing Deontai Williams and Marquel Dismuke. The duo had started most of the past 2-plus seasons together and Fisher hasn't quite lined up their replacements. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Brown helps stabilize that position and he'll challenge Myles Farmer, Marques Buford and DeShon Singleton for a starting spot.

I can't help but wonder how it would have turned out had Brown been healthy enough to be full-go this entire offseason. I think there was potential this spring for an intense competition between Brown and Hill for the open cornerback spot that just didn't come to fruition because Brown wasn't able to take a legit swing at it.

Now that the team is transitioning into training camp, coaches need to get guys situated so they can get their core groups figured out. Could the competition be revisited next spring? Ideally, both Hill and Brown thrive in their current roles and it's a moot point moving forward. Brown has two years of eligibility remaining, plus a potential redshirt season if needed, just in case his back injury flares up or isn't quite 100%.

Kaine Williams / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

A late addition to the room was Kaine Williams, a transfer from Alabama. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Williams was offered by Nick Saban back in June 2019 after a standout performance at a Crimson Tide camp. A consensus four-star recruit out of John Ehret (La.) High School in the 2021 class, Williams had over two dozen offers and chose the Tide over LSU and Texas A&M. He also had notable offers from Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas, among others.

Williams arrived in Tuscaloosa last summer and joined a stacked secondary. Crimson Tide coaches viewed him as a strong safety, and Bama was returning Jordan Battle at that spot. Battle would go on to earn third-team AP All-America honors last season. The secondary also featured prominent safeties DeMarcco Hellams, Brian Branch and Malachi Moore - all of whom had previous starting experience. As a result, Williams would appear in just one game last season as a true freshman, seeing action on special teams in the national championship game against Georgia.

Williams decided to enter his name in the transfer portal on April 25 after participating in Alabama's spring practice. He quickly received offers from Kansas, Indiana, Tulane, Temple and others, with the Huskers joining that group in late April. Two members of Nebraska's staff, Mickey Joseph and Bill Busch, had recruited Williams while they were on Ed Orgeron's staff at LSU.

Kaine's father, Carlon Johnson, happens to be cousins with Mickey Joseph. After Williams entered the transfer portal, there were conversations between them about how the defender should visit Nebraska to see exactly how he could fit in the program.

After visiting Kansas the week prior, Williams decided to check out Lincoln the weekend of May 13. He'd planned on taking a visit to Indiana the following weekend but saw all he needed to at Nebraska. On May 15, Williams announced on social media that he would be transferring to Nebraska.

There's a lot to like about Williams as a young prospect. With Myles Farmer, Marques Buford, Omar Brown, DeShon Singleton and Noa Pola-Gates, it might be difficult for Williams to see the field on defense this coming season. I do, however, expect him to be a prominent special teams player in 2022. Down the line, with four seasons of eligibility remaining, he could prove to be one of the more important transfer additions in this class.

Williams brings a lot of versatility to a defense, something Nick Saban covets within the back seven of his Alabama defense. Fisher and Chinander prioritize this trait as well, and knowing Saban personally targeted Williams carries a lot of weight.

When Joseph and Busch were at LSU, the Tiger defensive staff envisioned Williams as an in-the-box safety, something he spent a lot of time doing in high school. Looking at his film, his frame and skillset seem best suited for that role in the Big Ten.

When Nebraska updated its roster in mid-July, they debuted the new "NICK" position designation that is basically the nickel back spot JoJo Domann mastered. Like Domann before them, the NICK features players who are hybrid linebacker/safeties who will be asked to play the outside run while also covering tight ends, slot receivers and running backs. The plan seems to be starting Williams out at safety, but I think his best position will prove to be the NICK.

Williams is comfortable close to the line of scrimmage and isn't afraid of playing downhill and filling allies. But he also displayed some ranginess in coverage and has good instincts and ball skills in high school. As a sophomore, Williams played more deep safety and didn't move predominantly closer to the line until his junior season when he put on almost 20 pounds of muscle. He recorded 13 interceptions and forced seven fumbles in three years as a starter at John Ehret. Williams has above-average functional athleticism, but his top-end speed and short-area quickness are reasons why several schools envisioned him as a weak-side 'backer.

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