Linebacker John Bullock ready for what’s next in fifth season with Nebraska
Cashing that first scholarship check must have felt incredibly special for John Bullock. After four seasons at Nebraska, the former walk-on received his scholarship in May.
“It’s been a journey,” Bullock said. “I’ve been working for that moment my whole career here. It’s an honor that Coach (Matt) Rhule gave me that. I’ve always kept my head down and kept working. Whatever comes my way comes. I don’t expect anything back from what I give.”
Bullock redshirted during his first year in Lincoln in 2019. His first appearance as a Husker came in 2021 and he made five tackles on special teams. The Creighton Prep product played in 10 contests a season ago, all on special teams.
Throughout his career, Bullock was considered a defensive back. Rhule’s staff saw potential at a different position.
“My first three or four years here I always thought maybe there’s a chance I could be moved to linebacker because I’m a bigger body, but that never came,” Bullock said. “So, when the new staff got here it took them about two weeks and they’re like, ‘Hey, let’s move you to linebacker and try it out.’ So we try that out and I started fitting really well with the defense and what Coach (Tony) White was bringing and everything just kinda fell into place.”
Bullock said he did have to make some changes to his body following his move to linebacker. Previously, his playing weight had hovered around 210 pounds. The offseason has brought the addition of 15 more pounds to Bullock’s 6-foot frame.
Nebraska’s linebacker room features Jack, Will and Mike subsets. Bullock said he doesn’t quite have the body to play the Jack position that others like Chief Borders, MJ Sherman and Jimari Butler do. Instead, he rotates with Nick Henrich and Luke Reimer at Mike and Will.
Getting a grasp on White’s defense hasn’t been a huge hurdle for Bullock. He said a lot of the calls don’t rely on thinking as much as simply getting to the ball. There certainly are areas of complexity, plays with motion involved for example.
What’s next for Bullock?
Meeting the standards of linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek is also key. “R.D.V.” is the acronym there. Relentless, disciplined and violent.
“My expectation is that whoever is in that they play to the standard and that they’re relentless about what they’re doing, they’re disciplined and that they play violent,” Dvoracek said. “There’s only one standard for everyone in the room and that’s how we’re rolling right now.”
Bullock has earned the respect for his teammates, too. Borders is one of them. The Florida transfer met some of Bullock’s former coaches this spring and their hard-nosed descriptions of the junior have shown through this fall.
“He’s one of the guys that keeps everybody going,” Borders said. “Always making sure he’s checking up on everybody, flying to the ball, always laying a hit. That’s my brother, man. He’s a dog.”
So far, Rhule’s “What’s NExt?” mantra has stuck with Bullock throughout camp. It’s a mentality he feels the entire team is trying to adopt.
“I think of that like, if I have a bad play it’s just, ‘Next play, next play,’” Bullock said. “It doesn’t matter what happened on that play. You can’t be thinking about that.”
What’s next for Bullock? Based on comments from coaches and players an expanded role seems to be in the cards. For his part, Bullock said he just wants to have the best players on the field. He’s thankful for the chance prove himself.
“It didn’t take them putting me on the field for me to believe in myself,” Bullock said. “I’ve always had that belief but them trusting in me and giving me that opportunity has kind of opened things for me a little bit. I’ve been able to really show what I can do, which is awesome.”
The post Linebacker John Bullock ready for what’s next in fifth season with Nebraska appeared first on On3.
