As Scott Wright was watching game film during a postseason evaluation of the 2009 football season, the Blue Valley West head football coach saw something that made him stop and sit back.
That’s when it hit him.
Photo courtesy of Admire family.
Future Nebraska Cornhusker Dylan Admire.
"'Son of a gun. He is a great football player,' " Wright said he was thinking while watching offensive lineman Dylan Admire dominate his man on what seemed like every single play. "I always knew he was good. Our offensive line coach (Josh Keorkenmeier) always said he was special. But it wasn’t until I saw him on film that I realized just how good he is. He is just damn good.
"During games there are so many things going on at one time and I guess I really didn’t get the chance to just watch him. He moves his feet so well and he just smothers people. He is just a damn good football player."
When Admire was a sophomore, Wright caught a glimpse of how special the Nebraska commit is. But a broken arm ended the 2008 season for Admire and Wright wasn’t sure how well he would bounce back.
Admire, who is following in his father’s footsteps by working part-time as a prep chef at Houlihan’s restaurant in Olathe, took to the weight room, recovered and has since made a name for himself as one intense football player.
Wright said Admire, who was also considering Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Missouri, often has to be dragged out of the weight room.
"He’s mean," Wright added of Admire’s play on the field. "He’s a good sportsman. But he plays tough. He relishes the idea of getting a pancake (block) and just dominating the other guy. He brings a nasty toughness to the offensive line. We’re looking to transition into more of a running game this year because he helps with our run blocking. He brings a sense of intense toughness that we just haven’t had here."
His calling card is that nastiness. That, Admire said, is what he thought caught Nebraska’s eyes.
"They loved my aggressiveness," Admire said of the Husker coaching staff. "They told me that they can’t coach heart or passion and I have both. I just gotta do my job and trust that the guy next to me will do his. I try to be physical on every play."
After visiting Nebraska in early February, Admire decided he would attend the newly acquired Big 10 program’s junior day February 27. It was during that weekend trip that the Jaguar committed to play for Bo Pelini.
Once he arrived in Lincoln, Admire got caught up in all of the tradition and lore. But the experience was much more than that for Admire, whose grandparents are Husker alums and reside in Lincoln.
"They have a great coaching staff in place there," Admire said. "They’re young but they have a great deal of experience. (Head strength coach James) Dobson stuck out for me. He was bouncing out of his seat. The coaching staff at Nebraska has a lot of energy. You just know they’ll make you better.
"They have amazing facilities. And the fans are great. It’s absolutely nuts there. They’ve sold out 300-plus straight games. I haven’t found anything that I don’t like."
When Admire committed to Nebraska, the Huskers were set to compete against a Big 12 schedule indefinitely. Now, though, he’ll be banging heads with defensive linemen from the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin and Iowa. Admire has no desire to reconsider his decision.
There is a sense of loyalty that won’t allow him to re-open his recruitment following last week’s conference realignment news. Besides, Admire’s game is probably geared toward the blue-collar league. He’s a tireless worker that loves smashmouth football.
"He approached me once the realization set in, and said, 'Coach I get to play in the Big House and the Horseshoe,' " Wright said in reference to the stadiums that field Michigan and Ohio State games, respectively.
"I committed to Nebraska, not to the conference," Admire added.
Now that he has made his college choice known, Admire is concentrating his spare time on making the 2011 Husker recruiting class the best that it can be. While he can’t join the Big Red recruiting staff, Admire can put in a good word to fellow recruits with whom he comes in contact.
Admire is one of four highly ranked offensive linemen that will pave the way for future Husker quarterbacks, joining Ryan Klachko (Sacred Heart Griffin/Springfield, Ill.), Tyler Moore (Countryside/Clearwater, Fla.) and Ryne Reeves (Crete High School/Crete, Neb.) up front in the class of 2011.
The 2009 first team All-Eastern Kansas League lineman is now in pursuit of the correct signal-caller to protect, and he thinks he has the perfect field general in mind. Gardner-Edgerton quarterback Bubba Starling is hot on Nebraska’s list for both football and baseball.
Photo courtesy of Admire family.
Admire is one of four Class of 2011 lineman headed to Lincoln.
The two Kansas City-area prospects have known each other since third grade, having played with and against each other at AAU basketball tournaments. Now the 6-foot-3, 273-pound Admire hopes the duo will join forces to drive opposing defenses nuts for Pelini.
The Jaguars will open the 2010 football season against Starling and the Trailblazers.
"He was talking at camp about being sacked only twice," Admire said of his friend off the field. "I said, 'I'm going to go crazy against you.' He said, 'Bring it.'
"I've tried to persuade him to go to Nebraska. If he doesn’t commit after his visit in a few weeks, I suppose I’ll give him a shout."
Once Admire arrives in Lincoln and hits the practice field in a little over a year, he said he’ll be moving to the interior of the line, possibly center. Wherever he ends up, Admire has the work ethic to prepare himself for the rigors of big-time college football.
But before he worries himself with a career on the collegiate gridiron, Admire and his Jaguar teammates have some unfinished business to take care of in the Kansas prep ranks. A 3-6 mark in 2009, including an 0-5 record in the EKL, just won’t suffice for a program that won a Kansas Class 5A state title in 2007.
"We’re definitely not doing that again," Admire said of last season’s record. "We’re going to have a better season and then we’ll build off of that. We’ll have 24 seniors on the team this season, including 15, 16 guys that started last year."