CHICAGO — Cornhuskers linebacker Mohamed Barry wants to pay it forward as much as possible, because he feels like he has a debt to the University of Nebraska.

The linebacker feels Nebraska gave him the tools that he’s used to grow mentally and physically, as well as become a multiple year starter on the football field. Barry said those things are the driving factors as to why you’ll hear his name come up so often with football recruits visiting campus.

This spring alone linebackers like Malik Reed and several other visitors have remarked how active Barry has been in discussions about why he chose Nebraska and what it means to him.

The linebacker seemed incredulous when asked at Big Ten Media Days why he’s so adamant about meeting and talking with the potential players that will join the program after he departs in December.

“Everything I am is because I’ve developed as a man, mentally and physically through this program,” he said. “For me to be selfish and say I’m done when this year is done, is stupid. I owe this team. I owe this program a lot. I want to make sure this program is great from here on out.”

One thing Barry wants to make known to any recruit that will listen is to find a school that has a plan. Nebraska had a plan for the linebacker to get eligible in 2015. He trusted the people at Nebraska and to Barry that’s why he was even in Chicago in the first place, and not somewhere else, potentially missing out on the opportunity to even play Big Ten football.

“They gave me a chance when other schools didn’t,” Barry said. “I was almost going to be a junior college product. Nebraska believed in me and gave me a clear cut path to get eligible and to come to this university.”

Barry’s conversations about the future of Nebraska certainly extend beyond the recruits. Besides the chance that Jackson Hannah and Nick Henrich might be called upon to help as early as this season, Barry said he also believes it is his role to explain things to the freshmen and make himself constantly available, so that one day they’ll be in the position to do the same for the next crop of future Blackshirts.

All of it comes back to the sense of debt Barry believes he owes Nebraska.

“It is for me to mold young linebackers in this room, to make sure they have the right mentality and that they know when it is their turn they’ve got tell this young guy this, so we keep on going,” he said.

“I owe this university everything. It’s an honor to be here. I’m going to continue to give my all for this school.”