Nebraska: Joe Dailey

(Note: THI is naming the greatest former UNC football or basketball player from each of the 50 states. The criteria is the player had to live in the state he represents at some point before arriving at UNC. The duration doesn’t matter, he just had to live there. College and pro careers were factored with a lean toward their UNC accomplishments.)

Searching for former UNC football and men’s basketball players from each of the 50 states is not an easy process, as we learned. So, some tweaking to the guidelines was in order, and really, it makes a lot of sense.

Transfers are included because any athlete that played a year or two at a school in a different state lived in that state, so it counts. And with that in mind, our Nebraska representative is former Cornhuskers and Tar Heels quarterback Joe Dailey.

After playing two seasons at Nebraska, which included him becoming the first Cornhuskers quarterback to pass for 300 yards in a game, Dailey transferred to UNC.

Originally from Jersey City, NJ, Dailey played for Frank Solich at Nebraska starting every game as a sophomore while also serving as one of the team’s captains. But when Solich was fired following a 9-3 season, Bill Callahan came in from the Oakland Raiders and installed a new offense, so Dailey transferred to UNC. He redshirted and played under John Bunting his first year and Butch Davis his final season.

In 2006, he started seven games at quarterback completing 112 of 195 pass attempts for 1,316 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The following season, after Davis replaced Bunting, Dailey moved to wide receiver and caught just two passes for 38 yards.

Following his playing career, Dailey got into coaching, starting out at Buffalo working under Turner Gill, who recruited him to Nebraska. Dailey spent two years there, a season at Kansas, one at Bethune-Cookman, seven years at Liberty and he’s currently in his first year at New Mexico where he’s the offensive coordinator working under Lobos’ coach Bob Davie.

Dailey’s 12-year career as a college assistant has seen him climb the ladder, and he’s regarded as a potential head coach down the road. He’s given tremendous credit to what he learned at Nebraska and UNC for enhancing his career before it even got going. He played for four head coaches and five offensive coordinators, but it was his three years in Chapel Hill that inspired Dailey to go into coaching more than anything else.

“I learned from three former NFL coordinators and learned a great amount of football — more than I did at Nebraska,” Dailey told the Beatrice (NE) Daily Sun. “I really digested the things I didn’t learn at Nebraska and learned the game from a whole other perspective.”

Note: There is no entry for the state of Nevada. New Hampshire is next.