Murillo aiming to lead by example
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
When he arrived to this football-frenzied place a year ago, Armando Murillo would have much sooner been in one-on-one coverage with a wide receiver before 85,000 people than in a one-on-one conversation with a guy pointing a TV camera at him.
“Truthfully, when I first got here, I had never been around an environment like this, a football environment where the fans are just buck-wild crazy for football and the media talks to you after practice,” Murillo said.
“So in the past, when they were all asking me questions and putting the camera in my face, I’d be like, ‘Uhhhhh.’ I was shocked about it, (like), ‘What the heck?’”
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When Murillo played high school football in Tampa, Fla., a couple hundred people went to the games. It was much the same when he played junior college ball in Arizona.
There were no interviews when the games were over. Maybe a box score in the local paper.
So you can imagine what a wild transition it was when Murillo came to Nebraska, where ice packs on second-stringers are cause for sounding alarms.
Add to that Nebraska had maybe its worst season in modern history — and the hysteria and firings that went with it — and it was quite an odd introduction for Murillo to Husker football.
But the senior Murillo has no regrets. He learned a few things during last year’s 5-7 campaign. Even the bright lights on those cameras don’t bug him so much anymore.
“You see the smile,” he said after Monday’s practice.
“God wanted me to take this path. I’ve taken it. I’m not complaining. I’m happy where I’m at. I ain’t perfect, but I’m trying to perfect what I have to work with.”
He’s gone from rookie to senior in a year. Having started 12 games last season, the 6-foot, 190-pound Murillo is suddenly the veteran, the old man in a secondary full of youth.
Lot of talent there, he tells you.
“But the thing with that is you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t know what you’re doing out there, that don’t even matter.”
He is admittedly not the type to bring a loud voice to the locker room, but that doesn’t mean he is shying away from a leadership presence.
“I try to do the right things so (the young guys) can see it, so coach can use me as an example, like, ‘OK, see what Mando’s doing on this play?’ ”
That he has set that as a focus is no doubt pleasing to secondary coach Marvin Sanders, who has said Murillo is “one of the smartest corners I’ve ever been around.”
If Sanders can get top effort out of a guy like Murillo, he figures it will elevate the play of those below him.
“Whatever level the older guys are at, the younger guys usually follow suit, so our job is to push the guys who have been around for a long time to that level,” said Sanders, who played in NU’s secondary two decades ago.
“I remember when I was coming up as a freshman watching guys like Neil Smith and Danny Noonan come through. I knew how they practiced, and I didn’t want to be embarrassed on film. That’s the kind of thing we’re trying to get back to.”
At the end of last year, many would have predicted Anthony Blue to start at the corner spot opposite Murillo this fall. But an ACL tear during winter conditioning has Blue potentially facing a redshirt season. Pelini recently said the top four corners are Murillo, Anthony West, Prince Amukamara and Eric Hagg.
And while it would seem to be a slam dunk that Murillo has a No. 1 spot locked down, the senior hasn’t been taking anything for granted this fall camp.
“That’s bull for a guy to be like, ‘I’m starting.’ I don’t go by that,” Murillo said. “I’m coming out here to work every day.”
Despite last year’s team travails, Murillo has kind words for Phil Elmassian, who coached the Husker corners last year and, according to the senior, “taught me way more than I ever knew.”
Last year, Murillo was fourth on the team in tackles with 71 stops — 43 of them solo — and was tied with Cortney Grixby with a team-high seven pass breakups.
No interceptions, though.
It is not lost on any of the DBs that Nebraska had a school-record 32 interceptions in 2003 when Bo Pelini was in Lincoln as a defensive coordinator and Sanders was the secondary coach.
“We’re going to attack the ball this year,” said Murillo, who had an interception in the Spring Game. “That’s what we’re going to do — no ifs, ands or buts about it.”
Sanders said he sees Murillo’s confidence growing, and confidence is the biggest thing for a cornerback.
“Armando knows the scheme. He started making some plays,” Sanders said.
And maybe most importantly: “He doesn’t make many mistakes. He really doesn’t.”
Cornerback skills run in the family. Murillo’s younger brother, Javier Arenas, could start at corner for Alabama this season.
Two boys at big-time programs makes for a proud mom. Arenas has already shined as a kick returner for the Crimson Tide.
“When it comes to punt returns and kick returns, that dude always had that — the shaking and the vision for that,” Murillo said. “But as for (defensive back), in high school I was playing receiver, he was always sticking me. That’s how he got better.”
Could little brother cover big brother?
Murillo laughed.
“He’d try. He couldn’t really cover me, but he could probably hang with me now.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
