Cory Hollinger’s family isn’t big on checking cell phones at the dinner table.

But when a direct message from a member of Nebraska’s football staff came through, he couldn’t help himself. It was from Sean Dillon, the Huskers’ director of player personnel, and he wanted to chat.

“My parents hate when I look at my phone at the table, but I looked at it and showed them. They weren’t too mad about it that time,” Hollinger said with a laugh.

The conversations eventually turned into plans. Now Hollinger, a 2022 6-foot-5, 225-pound tight end/defensive end from Cross County (Stromsburg, Neb.), has a one-hour private workout scheduled for this Friday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. He’ll be tested in combine-style events, like the 40-yard dash, vertical jump and pro-agility run, as well as position-specific drills. 

“I want to show out. I want to prove that I have what they’re looking for,” Hollinger said. “I’m excited and there’s definitely going to be some adrenalin flowing.”

Because of shoulder surgery on March 19, Hollinger will be a bit limited at the workout. His shoulder is close to being fully ready, but will be “about 90 percent” for the workout. That’s the part that irritates him.

“It’s definitely frustrating because this is the biggest month of my life so I want to show them what I can do,” Hollinger said. “So when you can’t show them all of what you can do, it’s definitely frustrating.”

Hollinger has had communication with head coach Scott Frost, inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud and director of football and recruiting Trent Mossbrucker. He remembers the first text he got from Frost well.

“It was pretty cool. I was in class, and my buddy Carter (Seim), he saw it and he shouted out loud,” Hollinger said. “But we talked about the spring game, how the energy was and how exciting it was.”

Like many kids around the country, Hollinger has a busy schedule in front of him. He’ll compete at invite-only camps at Iowa State on June 9 and Kansas State on June 12. He’ll also attend camps at North Dakota State and South Dakota State later this month. A camp at South Dakota will be sometime in July.

The senior-to-be Hollinger, who’s already surpassed 1,000 career points on the basketball court at Cross County, has been an important part to a Cougar football program that’s appeared in the Class D-1 state semifinals the last two seasons. 

As a junior last fall, Hollinger was third in tackles with 84 and caught eight passes for 161 yards and six touchdowns in head coach Hayden DeLano’s run-heavy single-wing offense.