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Suh will be back for senior season
LINCOLN -- University of Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh announced Monday that he will return for his senior season with the Cornhuskers in 2009.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Suh led Nebraska in tackles, tackles for loss, sacks and interceptions in 2008, and was a first-team All-Big 12 selection.
"I have made the decision to return to school to complete my degree and play for Nebraska in 2009," Suh said. "After discussing the issue with my family and my coaches, I know that coming back to Nebraska is the right thing for me.
"First, you can't put a price on graduating from college and I will leave here with my degree. Second, I have learned so much in the past year from Coach Pelini and his staff and I look forward to another year of development at Nebraska.
"I do have aspirations of playing in the National Football League, but the best way for me to enhance my chances of having a successful pro career is to spend another season at the collegiate level. I look forward to helping Nebraska continue to take steps toward returning to the elite of college football in 2009."
Suh was the first Nebraska defensive lineman to lead the team in tackles since 1973 and his 76 total tackles were the most by a lineman since 1992.
He added 19 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, and scored touchdowns on interceptions against San Jose State and Colorado.
Suh's return gives the Nebraska defense seven returning starters for the 2009 campaign.
Nebraska finished 2008 ranked second in the Big 12 in total defense at 349.8 yards per game.
Press Conference Quotes
Ndamukong Suh
On when he knew for certain
he would return to Nebraska
"Coach Bo (Pelini) came out and saw me, and he had dinner with my family and whatnot. I think that night I was pretty sure. Obviously I wanted to think about it a little bit more, but I was about 100 percent that night. It was very casual. He just basically put out all the pros and cons.
"He was very even-keeled about it. He wasn't pressuring me to come back. He wasn't pressuring me, obviously, to leave. It was just all-around good conversation of what the pros and cons are of me leaving. Obviously coming back for another year, he expects me to be a leader and take that rein, so I'm definitely up for that challenge."
On when he told Coach Pelini
"I showed him where his hotel was downtown, and I told him before I left there, because I knew it was kind of getting late and I knew he had to catch a flight the next morning."
On why he decided to return
"School is a huge thing with me and my family. I definitely want to graduate from the University of Nebraska. Also, although the seniors had a great start in pushing this program the right way, I think I can help push it even more into the right direction this upcoming season."
On how much another year will help him
"Obviously you've seen the turnaround this season with these coaches, especially Coach Carl Pelini, me working with him a little bit one-on-one. My technique has just tremendously turned around and I've gotten on the right page. I think another year will help me that much more."
On what the NFL Advisory Board told him
"It was early-second, late-first (round), somewhere around there. Like it is with all the Big 12 announcements and awards like that, that's what it is and that's what it's left it. The person that I spoke to just told me what my projection was, and he asked me if I had any questions. I really didn't have too many questions for him.
"Obviously I think that Coach Bo is very skilled and understanding. I'm sure he'll have everything when I sit down and talk with him this upcoming week of what I need to get done outside of football and inside of football.
"I've always thought if I can have great technique, I mean there's nobody who can really ever stop you if you have great technique, because that is something that you can't take into account. Obviously if you have physical abilities they can hurt you and they can help you, but if you have great technique, you're kind of an unstoppable player."
On what if the advisory board had told him something different about his draft status
"I probably would've thought about it a little bit more. But that wasn't the case, so that's all up in the air."
On if he struggled with the decision
"Not really. I'm really close with my older sister. We talked about it a little bit before we got into bowl preparation after the season, but not too much during bowl practice, but a lot right when I got back home on that Friday after the game.
"I sat down with my dad when he got off of work and my mom, because they started back up that week that I got back.
"It was just conversations here and there with the family. Then obviously when Coach Pelini came out, we had a big conversation, and just laid everything out on the table and got it done. I realized that it is in my best interest to come back for another year."
On how Coach Pelini has helped
him become a better player
"Like I said, technique was a big thing with me; obviously understanding the system and knowing how I can play within that system and get everything done, and then giving me a little bit more of leeway of what I can do and what I can't do in the system."
On the coaching staff
"It's nice to have them. I'm just thankful to God that they are here and that I have the great coaches behind me and a great team that I see only moving up and bettering ourselves this next season."
On playing with next year's defensive line
"I'm ecstatic. We've got a great line coming back -- Barry (Turner), who would've helped us tremendously this past season but obviously had his injuries, Pierre (Allen) is just sprouting into an amazing player and I think Jared Crick and (Terrence) Moore are definitely two guys that have a chance at fighting for that next defensive tackle spot.
"Just seeing what they've done in fall camp and throughout this season in practice and in the games that they did get playing time in, it's going to be exciting to play next to them."
On how he can help the other defensive
tackle by taking pressure off him
"I'm more than happy to take pressure off that guy, just so he can ease himself into the game. But the way I feel about Jared and Terrence in that spot, I don't think they'll need it.
"I think they've grown; I believe this is their third year here, obviously only their second year of playing. I don't think they'll really need that.
"I think they might just have a couple jitters as a normal human being would, stepping into a starting position.
"I think they'll just blossom, whether that's me taking a little pressure off getting double-teamed and them just single-blocked. I don't think it will be a huge factor for them, just because I know what kind of players they are."
On if he thought about what NU's
defensive line would be like without him
"Yeah I definitely thought about it, but Coach Bo always told me you need to do what's best for you and your family. I definitely did think about the team and my position, but I took his advice and I really had to, not necessarily just look out for myself, but for me and my family.
"I don't think this team would've been that hurt if I had left, but the thing is I'm not, so that's something they don't have to worry about."
On the potential of being regarded as the best defensive tackle in the nation next season
"It's a great honor for them to say that, but then again I have to go out there and prove it. It's a great challenge. I love the challenge.
"That would be a goal to maintain that. I don't even know if I've reached that yet. But it's a goal to reach and when I think I have achieved it, then it's a goal to maintain that."
On if he hopes his decision will impact future Husker players who face a similar decision
"Everybody's situation is different. I wouldn't mind somebody asking me questions if it's a year from now and somebody's in the same situation. I think you can just look at different situations.
"Obviously I looked at Glenn Dorsey's situation, him being close with Coach Pelini and whatnot. It's nice to have examples in front of you so you don't really have to just be out there and not knowing what to expect. I think it's always great for somebody to come back if you have that year left. Like I said, it has to do with people's situations."
Head coach Bo Pelini
On meeting with Suh at his home
"I think big Suh described it pretty well. I never have and never will tell a guy you should come back. I said you have to do what's best for you and your family.
"I laid out the pros and cons. I talked about his situation. I talked to the NFL Advisory Board, as he did. I also talked to some people about what that could mean for his future next year, that type of thing. I just said it's on you; I'm going to support you either way.
"He ended up electing to come back. We're thrilled that he's coming back because he's a great player, a great person, tremendous leader. I think at the end of the day, the most important thing I said to him was if you're coming back, you need to come back for the right reasons.
"And the right reasons are not NFL-oriented. The right reasons are to get his degree, to play tremendous football to help this program in the future, and it's about team. It's about Nebraska. It's about what we have going on here.
"He was totally on the same page as I was. He's an unselfish football player, a great person and the kind of person we want to be a focal point of our football team.
"He made the decisions for the right reasons. When you have the character and the ability that he has, he'll never regret anything, because he's only going to better himself.
"Guys like him who have the kind of work ethic he has, the type of attitude and the type of character, don't take a step back. I think a year from now, everybody will be saying he made the right decision."
On how Suh's decision
reflects on the program
"I think it's a testament to what we have going on, to what the program is right now, the type of attitude that's in the program.
"I said it to somebody today, I believe our kids are working harder than they ever have in our program, probably since they've been here, but they're doing it with a smile on their face, and they're enjoying what's going on. That means we're doing some things right around here."
On how Suh's return
will help the defense
"It's huge. You have to be good down the middle. Obviously he's a big force in the middle of our defense.
"He's a tremendous player. We'll be a better football team and a better program because of it."