Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 61

Dave Feit is counting down the days until the start of the 2025 season by naming the best Husker to wear each uniform number, as well as one of his personal favorites at that number. For more information about the series, click here. To see more entries, click here.

Greatest Husker to wear No. 61: John McCormick, Offensive Guard, 1984 – 1987

Honorable Mention: Bob Brown, Dennis Emanuel, Spencer Long, Tom Novak, Clete Pillen, Erik Wiegert

Also worn by: Brady Caskey, Dallas Dyer, Mike Huff, Mike Keeler, Brandt Wade, Bruce Weber, Delbert Wiegand

Dave’s Fave: Brandt Wade, Offensive Guard, 1994 – 1998

What made Tom Osborne’s option offense so good in the 1980s and 1990s? Nebraska regularly led the nation in rushing and was near the top in scoring. Nebraska seemingly replaced one amazing player with another, year after year after year. Once the Big Red machine started churning, it was hard to stop – let alone slow down.

There are a host of reasons why, some of which we’ve already touched on. The technical brilliance of Milt Tenopir’s offensive lines. Boyd Epley’s strength and condition program. Another key reason is coming up at #58.

Today, we’re going to hit on two more reasons why Nebraska seemingly reloaded every year. But first, a question:

Does size really matter?*

*Get your mind out of the gutter, this is football discussion.

Football coaches have been wanting players with specific measurements at certain positions since before the first 40-yard dash was timed. Picture a coach looking at a list of potential recruits holding a “you must be this tall to ride” sign. An offensive tackle must be 6’5″ or taller. Guards should be pushing 300 pounds. Wide receivers and defensive backs need to run 40 yards in 4.4 seconds or less. Wanting measurables works in reverse too: How many great running backs can you name that are taller than 6’3″?

There’s nothing wrong with coveting certain measurables. If ten players have the same height and weight, current Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule is likely to ask, “Who is fastest?” But part of the brilliance of Osborne’s system was it allowed him to have flexibility in who he signed.

John McCormick | Nebraska Football Media Guide

In a passing or balanced offense, coaches covet taller offensive linemen. Tall bodies usually come with longer arms, which allows them to engage with defenders sooner, keeping defensive hands away from the lineman’s body. Taller frames can cover more ground and often have more leverage. But in a primarily run-based offense, linemen are going to be asked to drive defenders back instead of forming a protective pocket for the quarterback.

At “just” 6’1″, Aaron Taylor was considered too small for most big-time programs. The majority of his college offers came from I-AA schools. Tenopir and Nebraska saw a guy who could become a mauling road grader. Nebraska was right: Taylor was a two-time All-American.

The other factor was located in Nebraska’s backyard. During the 1980s and 1990s, how many Nebraska high schools ran an option-based, power running offense similar* to what Nebraska was doing?

*Heck, I’ve seen posts suggesting that multiple high schools were running Nebraska’s exact offense, right down to the blocking schemes. I’m not an expert on the offensive playbooks of Nebraska high school football teams in the 1980s and 1990s, but given that Nebraska hosted an annual coaches’ clinic, I’m apt to believe it.

John McCormick in action against Michigan in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl. | Nebraska Football Media Guide

As everybody knows, Nebraska’s in-state talent pool has always been shallower than almost every other major college team. I won’t say that having numerous teams in the state running your system was like Nebraska’s “farm system,” but it sure made it easier to find a fullback or guard who fit your system – and knew it because he ran it in high school.

The depth charts from Osborne-era teams were filled with Nebraska kids who maybe were a bit shorter than the mythical “standard” but who showed up in Lincoln familiar with what the offense was trying to do. From there, Osborne would need to find his quarterback,* a good I-back (often from Omaha Central High), and other skill position players wherever they might be.

*The biggest reason why Nebraska went away from – and has not gone back to – the option is the lack of difference-maker option quarterbacks. Even in the late 1990s and early 2000s, they were getting harder and harder to find. High schools – even in Nebraska – were shifting to passing offenses.

John McCormick, an offensive guard from Omaha, is a great example of this. At 6’0″ and 250 pounds, McCormick may have lacked the measurables some coaches required, but he did not lack for talent – he was a Parade Magazine All-American. I don’t know for sure what offense McCormick’s high school (Gross Catholic High in Omaha) was running, but let’s just say that I wouldn’t be shocked if it featured more fullback traps than trips formations.

McCormick followed the offensive lineman progression that should be very familiar by now: Freshman team, redshirt year, playing as a third-year sophomore. The notable difference is that McCormick was a starter.

I love this quote from Tenopir (in 1985) about his guards (McCormick, and fellow Gross alumnus Brian Blankenship (6’1″, 270)): “They’re stubby guys, but they’ve got a little punch in their hind ends. They’re kind of coach look-alikes – they’ve got little potbellies like coaches have.”

In 1986, McCormick’s junior year, he was second-team All-Big Eight and an honorable mention All-American. Instead of poking fun at his gut, his coaches were saying he was Nebraska’s best guard since Dean Steinkuhler.

As a senior, McCormick did his best to live up to such high praise, earning All-Big Eight and All-America honors in 1987. In the 1987 game at No. 12 Oklahoma State (a 35-0 Husker victory), McCormick graded out perfectly on his 65 snaps. He was named the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Week, the first time in 16 years that an offensive lineman won Player of the Week honors.

John McCormick served in the Omaha Fire Department for 30 years, rising to the rank of assistant chief. In a 2014 story by KETV in Omaha, they reported at least seven firefighters were former Huskers.

***

If you played high school football in Nebraska, you likely have a story about a future Husker that you (or your team) faced.

Mine involves Brandt Wade, an offensive lineman from Platteview High in Springfield.

It would be fairly easy for me to tell a story about how I got the better of a future Husker. It’s been over 30 years since we played. I doubt any grainy VHS copies of that game still exist. Brandt Wade likely doesn’t read what I write. The odds are in my favor!

But a few inconvenient (and indisputable) truths remain.

Truth #1: I was not very good.

I possessed the desire to be a football player. The size to be an offensive and defensive lineman… and that was about it. I may not have been the strongest guy, or have the highest football IQ, but I did have poor technique and painfully slow feet.

Thankfully, I attended a small Class B high school that didn’t cut anybody. I was on the team!

Truth #2: I did not play a lot.

This is very directly related to Truth #1. I played – mostly on special teams and as a backup – enough to letter multiple years. But I started only one game in my high school career, against Platteview, as a senior.

Truth #3: I don’t specifically remember playing against Wade.

I remember one particular drive where it felt like the Platteview Trojans repeatedly ran the ball directly at me, all the way down the field. Maybe it was the future Husker who kept kicking my ass. Maybe it a freshman from the cross country team. Honestly, it could have been either.

Regardless, the touchdown run went directly over the top of me. If Wade was on the field for that drive, this is likely the moment where he jogged off to laugh at how easy it was to block #71.

Truth #4: When Platteview scored, I was mad and ashamed and not looking forward to talking to my coach when I got off the field.

I was on the PAT defense, so I decided to channel my frustrations into that play. At the snap, I burst through the line, put my arms up, and somehow blocked the PAT. I’m guessing there was a bad snap that caused the kicker to shank the ball. Honestly, all I remember is a football-shaped red mark on my forearm for the next few days.

That play turned out to be the difference as my Gretna Dragons won the “Sarpy County Shootout” rivalry game in 1992 by one point. It remains the greatest moment of my athletic life, topping the time I won a third-place ribbon in the softball toss at my elementary school’s annual Track & Field Day (sadly, this is Truth #5).

More from Nebraska on SI

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.