Nebraska’s coaching staff met with the media on Tuesday morning. Special teams were a topic of conversation with head coach Matt Rhule and coordinator Ed Foley discussing the injury to last year’s kick, Tristan Alvano.
Alvano will be limited to start training camp, but Rhule is comfortable with the other kickers on the roster.
“Between (Jacob) Hohl and Nico (Ottomanelli). I think the thing we realized is that the close games this season are going to come down to kicking. We know what we have in Tristan (Alvano) so it’s better not to rush him and get him healthy. Nico was a high-priority recruit for us. We had a chance to coach Hohl’s brother who was a fantastic young man and Jacob has a strong leg. They will all compete for the starting role and we will see what happens.”
Nico Ottomanelli is a freshman out of Old Tappan, New Jersey, while Hohl is a transfer from Iowa Western Community College. Ed Foley believes that Alvano is making progress as the training camp begins.
“I watched him kick the other day, it was a rehab thing so I was watching from afar, just to see what it looked like and what his reaction was. I was more looking at it from an evaluation standpoint and he was fine. He’s kicking, he’s just not at the point where he’s going to kickoff right now in terms of that kind of push. As of right now, I’m not overly concerned.
Last season, Alvano went 9-of-15 with a long of 55 yards. He was also 27-of-27 on extra points.
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