Bob Wager resigns as Nebraska football tight ends coach after receiving DUI citation

Nebraska's new tight ends coach Bob Wager speaks during a news conference on Thursday at Memorial Stadium.
On the brink of the start of fall camp, Nebraska is undergoing a change at tight end coach.
Assistant coach Bob Wager is resigning from his position barely seven months after coming aboard as part of coach Matt Rhule’s staff. In a statement released Friday afternoon by the athletic department, Wager said it is with “great remorse” that he steps down from his post.
“Earlier this week I received a citation for a driving offense that I regret immensely,” the 52-year-old Wager said in the release. “I am grateful for the opportunity extended to me, and sincerely sorry for any negativity my poor decision has brought to my family, our team, our staff, and all those that I have disappointed.”
According to a list of citations issued by the Lincoln Police Department, Wager was pulled over at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday near the area of Pinnacle Arena Drive and Q Street. He was cited on suspicion of first offense DUI with a suspected blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher, which is about twice the legal limit. He was also cited on suspicion of careless driving, possessing an open alcohol container in the vehicle and refusing a preliminary and chemical test, according to LPD citation logs.
Wager hadn't yet been formally charged as of Friday afternoon.
Replacing Wager will be 35-year-old Josh Martin, who joined NU earlier this year as a special teams analyst. Martin has coached at the FBS level for seven seasons with stops at SMU — throughout which he worked with tight ends — and Arizona State, where he began as an offensive graduate assistant in 2014 and later helped with running backs and tight ends. He was a senior offensive analyst for his final two seasons at ASU in 2016 and 2017 before the move to SMU.
Martin has experience becoming an FBS assistant right before a season. His first job at Arizona State came in August 2015 when the then 27-year-old moved up from grad assistant to fill in after the abrupt resignation of ASU's running backs coach. His father, Joe Martin, is a former longtime Texas high school coach and now the executive director of the Texas High School Coaches Association. Joe Martin has been in some form of leadership position within that organization — one that Rhule makes a point of speaking with regularly — since 2003.
Josh Martin is a former offensive lineman who played at Tarleton State. He spent 2022 at Little Elm High School in Texas as a teacher in addition to being the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Tight end has the look of one of Nebraska’s deeper groups this season after assistant Sean Beckton guided the group the past five years. Nate Boerkircher was elevated from walk-on to scholarship player in the offseason, while former top national recruits Thomas Fidone and Arik Gilbert are also atop the mix.
Wager met with reporters multiple times in the spring. He spent the previous 17 years at Arlington (Texas) Martin High School, during which time he won a school-record 210 games and never missed the playoffs. ​
— The Omaha World-Herald's Evan Bland contributed to this story.