Amie Just: Lessons learned from Eric Crouch help QB Jeff Sims lead for Nebraska

INDIANAPOLIS — It was triple-option day.
Late in spring ball, Nebraska legend Eric Crouch came out to practice and worked with the offense on the scheme that helped make the Huskers so successful in decades past.
When introducing him that day, coach Matt Rhule read off Crouch’s list of accolades. Among them: Heisman Trophy, Davey O’Brien Award, Walter Camp Award, Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, All-American, a litany of records that still remain atop the charts for both Husker football and the NCAA.
On April 18, Crouch didn’t focus on himself. He could have. He has the resume to warrant it. But that’s not the Husker way.
“That doesn’t happen without the team,” Crouch said in his speech. “It wasn’t anything that I did. It’s about what the team did. I just want to make sure you guys understand that. Relationships with each one of you guys, each other being leaders.
“I think that’s the biggest thing I want to say today, is encourage you guys to lead no matter what position you’re in. You don’t have to be a quarterback. You don’t have to be one of the star players. Everybody’s got the opportunity to lead and bring the team together.”
As Crouch spoke, quarterback Jeff Sims listened intently to Crouch’s message.
At that time, it wasn’t a guarantee that Sims would be starting this fall. Last year’s starter Casey Thompson remained in the program while rehabbing his injuries, as did Logan Smothers, who also sat out during the spring due to injury. Thompson has since transferred to Florida Atlantic and Smothers now plays for FCS Jacksonville State.
And with the season on the horizon, Sims is NU’s starter.
“It was definitely a cool experience to meet him and talk with him — especially him being like one of the greats at Nebraska,” Sims said of Crouch. “It was cool to hear what he had to say and just take some information from him.”
Crouch’s advice reaffirmed what Sims had been doing since spring began.
Bring the team together. Lead.
Where does that start? By knowing everyone’s name.
It sounds simple. Of course, you should know everyone’s name. But when you transfer into a program where you know essentially no one? It’s a daunting task, especially with a roster as big as Nebraska’s.
He studied the roster like his playbook, scrolling through the pictures while at home. He’d focus on the faces and try to pair the faces with the names. At one point, he just knew last names, but by the first week of spring ball, he felt confident in knowing everyone’s first and last names.
“I see myself as a leader and I knew before I could say anything to lead these guys, I had to know them,” Sims said. “I can’t go to a guy and try to tell him to do something when I don’t even know his name.”
While Sims was busy learning his teammates’ names, he remained incognito on campus. Not many people came up to him on the way to class, he said.
That changed after the spring game when he — the lone experienced quarterback who was healthy enough to play — completed 9-of-13 passes for 138 yards with six rushing attempts that brought in 7 yards.
Once spring was in the books, his presence turned heads on campus.
“There were a lot more people that knew me than I would expect to know me,” Sims said. “It hit me after that. I really love this fan base, and I’m ready to give them all I’ve got.”
That celebrity factor was something Crouch mentioned during his speech in April.
“Everybody’s looking at you guys,” he said. “But everybody’s got your back.”
That’s a little different than Sims’ days at Georgia Tech.
The attention he receives at Nebraska compared to the attention he received in Atlanta?
“It doesn’t compare,” he said. “At Georgia Tech, it was probably more Georgia Bulldog fans than Yellow Jacket fans.”
His family keeps him grounded, but his personality is pretty low-key, too.
He’s not posting each and every workout to social media. Before he posted some photos from Big Ten Football Media Days, his last Instagram post came in mid-June. The one before that? Late May. The one before that? The spring game in late April. In total, Sims currently has 10 posts on his profile.
He’s moving in silence like the G in lasagna.
The team, though, knows what he’s all about.
Nebraska’s two other representatives at media days, linebacker Luke Reimer and offensive lineman Ethan Piper, both spoke of how quickly he meshed with the team. Piper says he feels as if he’s played with Sims for years, while Reimer brought up how Sims is already representing Nebraska on a national stage — despite only being a Husker for a few months.
“I think everyone plays for him,” Rhule said. “The guys play for him — they want to see him be successful. He cares about all the guys on the team and spends a lot of time with all the guys on the team.”
That won’t change. In fact, he’ll be spending even more time with his teammates moving forward.
Camp starts Monday, and they’re truly camping: living in the dorms together rather than going home to their own respective places.
Camp will fly by as it always does, and the season opener will be here before we know it — and it’ll be Sims out there first for NU.
“Being the starting quarterback at Nebraska, I’m representing the whole state,” Sims said. “That’s something I don’t take (for granted). It’s a real honor, and I’m very blessed to be in that position.
“I’m just ready to give everything I have to the state of Nebraska.”