Good thing Phillip Dillard has a sense of humor.

Nebraska assistant coach Mike Ekeler said Dillard was the target of some unflattering film spliced together by former linebacker Blake Lawrence before a Thursday position meeting. Dillard was a good sport as his teammates laughed at the mix of cut-ups.

The film showed Dillard playing nose tackle in a 2007 game when Ekeler guessed he was around 270 pounds. It showed Dillard in an old Colorado game when Ekeler said “he looks like somebody just put the air hose in him and pumped him up.’’

“It was comical to watch him,’’ Ekeler said. “He couldn’t move. He couldn’t move at all.

“Phil was sitting there and I say, ‘Phil, what do you got to say about that?’ And he goes, ‘Wow, that was bad. But I was sexy.’ ”

Ekeler further illustrated for a Big Red Breakfast crowd Friday the progress made by Dillard, the Huskers’ leading tackler over the past four games.

The senior from Tulsa, Okla., dealt with some weight and injury issues in his first three years at NU. The 6-foot-1, 240-pounder then clashed with the new staff late last season and fell as low as No. 4 on the depth chart in spring practice. He started this season with the scout-team defense and didn’t play until the third game.

“I would never in a million years have thought that Phillip Dillard would have done what he did this year,’’ Ekeler said. “I mean, the kid has made such a tremendous change in so many different aspects.’’

Ekeler called it one of his “neatest experiences’’ in coaching to watch Dillard make eight tackles and intercept a fourth-quarter pass in the 10-3 win over Oklahoma, his home-state school. Last month, Dillard made 12 tackles in consecutive games against Texas Tech and Iowa State.

Ekeler told an estimated 225 at the Holiday Inn convention center that a lot of credit for Dillard’s physical transformation goes to James Dobson, the Huskers’ strength and conditioning coach.

“To see Phil and how he moves now, compared to a year ago when we first got here, it’s night and day,’’ Ekeler said. “And scratch all the weight. He got down last year and lost a bunch of weight but didn’t move like he is now. His hips have loosened up so much and, I don’t know how he does it, but he’s gotten a lot faster and he’s playing so much faster.’’

Other Husker linebackers, Sean Fisher and Will Compton, were sophomores in high school when Dillard played as a true freshman back in 2005.

“Everyone claims he’s been there for 30 years,’’ Ekeler said. “When we played the 300th game (throwback uniforms for the consecutive sellout milestone), they were giving Phil a hard time and said, ‘Hey, Phil, how’s it feel to wear your jersey from your freshman year?’ He said, ‘It’s a little tight.’

“Last Thursday, Will Compton comes up and is like, ‘Fellas, we’ve got to give everything we’ve got. This is Phil’s 16th and final game against Oklahoma.’ ”

Some other Ekeler comments from the Big Red Breakfast:

• On NU usually using just Dillard at linebacker in Big 12 play: “I may be on the unemployment line because we don’t play with any linebackers anymore. This conference is ridiculous. We’re playing nickel and dime (packages) every week.’’

• Regarding the development of Fisher: “He still doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. He’s got a chance to really, really grow into being a tremendous player.’’

• Praising the Memorial Stadium crowd for last Saturday: “When you walked in there, it was like somebody just turned on the electricity. I mean, my hair was standing up. It was pretty awesome.’’

• On coach Bo Pelini’s message after the OU game: “We’ve got kind of a second chance to go out and finish this thing off the right way. Bo said it right after the game. Yeah, it was nice, but that Oklahoma game’s done with now. Put that baby in the scrapbook and let’s move on.’’

• Ekeler played for Bill Snyder at Kansas State, and was asked about Snyder’s first-year success in his return to the Wildcats: “He’s a pretty darn good coach. He does a great job. I’m impressed with what they’ve done. I’d be lying if I said anything different.”

Contact the writer: 444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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