• Video Below: Carl Pelini, Jared Crick and Mike Caputo address the media after Friday's Nebraska football practice.

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LINCOLN — The "buddy system" has Nebraska's defense a full week ahead of where it's been in previous Augusts, defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said Friday.

Husker veterans this summer pulled aside underclassmen and new players to help teach them the complex defensive schemes of The Brothers Pelini. So when camp began, Carl Pelini said, it was "amazing how advanced we were," grasping relatively advanced concepts on the run.

"There's still some busts out there," Pelini said, "but we'd rather correct at full speed than teach it on the chalkboard."

As a result, Nebraska's working on "checks and special stuff," Pelini said, just seven practices into August. NU typically used to wait until the week before the season opener before delving into its bag of tricks.

That means that there's more time for Nebraska to tinker with special packages that can improve run "fits" on certain downs, or pass rushes on others. Depth along the defensive line (where as many as eight Huskers could play) and the secondary (ditto) allows the defensive coaches to challenge opposing offenses expecting to see the standard Peso look NU often used in 2010.

Example: Four defensive tackles playing together. Or three ends. Opposite junior Cameron Meredith, who is likely to start at one defensive end, sophomore Jason Ankrah, junior Eric Martin and junior Joe Carter are battling for a starting job. And junior Josh Williams and senior Kevin Thomsen, technically working behind Meredith, are vying for playing time, too.

All of the ends expect to play, Ankrah said, with a nod toward their specific skills.

"We don't have grudges against one another," Ankrah said. "We're all out there helping each other. We're all going to have to contribute to this transition into the Big Ten."

It's no different at tackle, where, in the 3-4 look, junior Baker Steinkuhler or senior Terrence Moore could slide down to nose with the job of blowing up the opposing center, while senior tackle Jared Crick slides out to attack the end. And Meredith is strong enough against the run that he could slide inside in a certain 4-3 set.

"You can move Cameron around," Pelini said. "You can move Jared around. It's great."

In the secondary, Nebraska lost big names — Prince Amukamara, Eric Hagg, DeJon Gomes — but could have as many skilled athletes, including junior safety Daimion Stafford, who's picking up NU basics "really fast," Pelini said, after he joined the team just days before the start of August practice from Chaffey Community College in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

"It's amazing how well he's playing and how much he understands," Pelini said.

Pelini served as point man on Stafford's recruitment from Chaffey, having to fend off a late charge from USC to secure Stafford's services. He zeroed in on Stafford, he said, in part because Chaffey's coverage schemes were sophisticated for a junior college. The learning curve for Stafford — or Carter, who also hails from Chaffey — hasn't been quite as steep.

It's by design, Pelini said, to be "pretty selective" with junior college players. Especially their mental makeup.

"All the guys we've gotten have been mature," Pelini said. "Able to handle the grind and structure."

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Video: Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini addresses the media:



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Video: Jared Crick and Mike Caputo address the media: