Turner Gill cited continuity of the coaching staff as one key to Nebraska establishing itself as a consistent national powerhouse that he intends to bring to Kansas University.

Consider the position coaches of Patrick Dorsey, a junior defensive tackle for KU: Bill Young during Dorsey’s 2007 red-shirt season; Joe Bob Clements in 2008; Tom Sims in 2009; Buddy Wyatt this season.

Despite the constant turnover of teachers, Dorsey has been such a good learner he starts despite standing only 6-foot and weighing 273 pounds.

“If you look at his size, he does not look like a Big 12 defensive lineman, but he plays like one,” defensive coordinator Carl Torbush said.

Good pupils tend to make good teachers, and Dorsey said he has an interest in coaching.

“I think he could be a good coach,” Torbush said. “He’s a hard-working, blue-collar-type individual. He reminds me of guys who have come from small colleges and just worked, worked, worked, and that’s the reason they’ve ended up being good college coaches.

“And he’s a good person with good people skills, and that’s important too.”

Spending a few minutes interviewing football players one-on-one sometimes results in coming away thinking, “That’s a smart guy.” Dorsey, quarterback Quinn Mecham, cornerback Isiah Barfield and injured offensive tackle Jeff Spikes, to name a few, trigger such thoughts.

“I tell guys all the time: ‘You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.’ Pat Dorsey makes a good first impression,” Torbush said of one quality that would make him good in a living room on a recruiting visit. “He has a great personality, meets people well, has good manners. He’s a good-looking young man.”

But can he judge talent? Yes. He said with credibility he was not at all surprised to see Mecham, who started the season as the third-string QB, vault to starter.

“He’s a great guy,” Dorsey said of Mecham. “I always knew from the time he came here he was going to be something.”

How did he know?

“Just the way he practiced whenever he did get reps,” Dorsey said. “The way he took it and learned from the guys who were already here, from (Kale) Pick and (Jordan) Webb. I just saw it in him. I knew he had something good in him, no matter if he played now or later on down the line. I knew he was going to do something.”

Asked to name a player to look for in the future, Dorsey didn’t hesitate.

“Keba. Keba Agostinho,” Dorsey said of the defensive end. “Look for that guy. I like how he’s progressed throughout the season. He’s a true freshman. He still has room to grow. Look for that guy. He’s going to be something. He has great hands, and he has great speed.”

If Dorsey ever becomes a coach, he said all the recruits he decides to target as worthy of a scholarship, regardless of position, will share a trait.

“Good guys,” he said. “Overall good guys. It’s always important to have that in your program because guys with negative attitudes can always bring the program down.”

Dorsey’s one of the good guys. One day, he’ll make somebody look smart for giving him his first break in the coaching profession.