LINCOLN, Neb. — In an alternate version of the football season in which he’s living, Jalyn Gramstad could be starting at quarterback Saturday at Memorial Stadium. For Northern Iowa.
Gramstad, the reigning NAIA player of the year, won 24 of 25 starts over the past two seasons at Northwestern (Iowa) College and a national championship in 2022. He chose in June to look for something bigger from his final season of collegiate eligibility.
Instead of shopping his services — suitors would have called from the Division II and FCS levels — Gramstad looked only at Nebraska. He dropped into Lincoln unannounced in June, paying $25 to attend a post-graduate tryout camp, and joined the Huskers later in the summer alongside junior Heinrich Haarberg and freshmen Dylan Raiola and Daniel Kaelin.
Gramstad settled this month as the Huskers’ scout-team QB. He played the role of Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in practice last week and has continued to give the defense a great look, coach Matt Rhule said Thursday as No. 23 Nebraska prepares to face Northern Iowa on Saturday night.
With a possible future in coaching, Gramstad is living out a dream as a QB for the Big Ten team he grew up watching in Lester, Iowa.
“He’s just a baller,” Rhule said.
What are Rhule’s feelings in general about getting a player with Gramstad’s experience and “moxie,” as wide receivers coach Garret McGuire put it last month, in charge of the scout team?
“It’s unbelievable,” Rhule said, “a guy that I can’t wait to hire someday as a coach. You know what he is? He’s a guy with juice. Players respond to him. I really like quarterbacks who have ‘it.’ He has ‘it.’”
Measured in the summer at 5 feet 10 and 194 pounds, Gramstad played in the fourth quarter of the Huskers’ 40-7 opening win against UTEP. He directed two drives and shared a moment after the game with Raiola, the former five-star prospect who’s thrown for 423 yards in two starts.
“Both of our dreams came true,” Raiola said.
Said Gramstad of Raiola: “He’s way beyond what I was as a freshman.”
Gramstad also attended Nebraska’s spring coaching clinic in April with his brother, Korbyn, the defensive coordinator at Sheldon (Iowa) High School, and their father, Kjert. When 22-year-old Jalyn came back for the camp in June, some of the Nebraska coaches recognized him.
They took notice. Soon after Gramstad joined the program in July, he received the nickname Jalyn Football around the coaching offices.
“He’s obviously had success at his other stop,” Nebraska quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas said. “And that success gives him credibility in our room. He’s got a great personality, great character. He’s humble. He just wants to fit in and help in any way he can.”
Coaching can wait.
“Now that I’m here as a player, I want to play,” Gramstad said.
As Rhule watched Gramstad operate Thursday in practice, equipment manager Jay Terry turned to the coach and remarked that Gramstad’s dominance against NAIA competition must have been a sight to see. After playing defense for two seasons at Northwestern College, Gramstad’s passing numbers were gaudy. Over two seasons, he threw for 6,192 yards and 60 touchdowns on a 68 percent completion rate.
If he appears in four games or fewer this season, Gramstad could return in uniform next year. He said he’s unsure about his plans to play beyond this season.
The QB said he soaks up teaching from Thomas, who worked as an offensive assistant for the Pittsburgh Steelers last year and coached for the Atlanta Falcons from 2008 to 2014. The quarterbacks went to Thomas’ house on the Thursday night before the Aug. 31 opener.
“He’s great at his craft and makes it simple for us,” Gramstad said. “He’s been awesome to get to know.”
Gramstad marvels at the attention to detail in Rhule’s program. For instance, he said, players face consequences if they show up late for a meal, no different than for a meeting.
“How you do one thing is how you do everything,” Gramstad said.
Three months ago, Gramstad had a dream. He didn’t imagine this, he said. An opportunity could arise Saturday night for him to play in a second game in three weeks.
“I believe Jalyn Gramstad could move our team and score,” Rhule said. “I believe that with all my heart.”
(Photo: Dylan Widger / USA Today)
