LINCOLN, Neb. (KMTV) — Nebraska's youngest assistant is also arguably the Huskers' most energetic. Twenty-four year old Garret McGuire is settling in as NU's wide receivers coach.
"I'm having the time of my life," said McGuire following Tuesday's practice. "Not only because the room. Everyone asks what I love about Lincoln. The first thing I say is my players. But then #2, I get to be around Coach Satterfield & Coach Rhule everyday. Me getting to wake up everyday and go see those two guys, it's a dream come true for me."
"He's had a lot of people question him, which really honestly hurts us in recruiting," said head coach Matt Rhule. "We're out there recruiting and people are following us and they're like 'well I keep hearing this narrative'. It's coming from our own people. So we have to battle that a little bit. But I always look at things in life like would I want my son to play for him? And I'd want my son to play for Garret. As he starts to churn out NFL prospects, the top recruits in the country will realize that if they play for Garret, they're not just going to get someone who's a hype guy. They're going to get a really good coach who's also going to care about them off the field."
McGuire says the relationships he's made with his wide outs is night and day different from when he first got here, which was helped by offering what college kids often fall for: food.
"A lot of people laugh at the snacks but that's real," said McGuire. "When you have Arik Gilbert in there at 8:30-9 o'clock. A tight end coming to join my room just to freaking grab some hot fries. That's their office, not necessarily mine. So when you see Billy Kemp, Josh Fleeks sitting in my chair running the remote, it's a lot more powerful than me sitting there teaching them."
"Coach McGuire's super smart, super intelligent." said junior receiver Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda. "One of the smartest coaches I've ever been around. Everybody always talks about him being young how that was going to be a thing but I like it a lot because when he's coaching us, he's not only relatable to us but he also wants us to be active in our meetings. So he's constantly keeping us on our toes, asking us questions."
NU's spring game is April 22.
