LINCOLN — University of Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle can say a lot of things about James Dobson.

His former assistant is professional and hard-working, with a disciplined and thorough approach. He's big on injury prevention and, it goes without saying, on-field performance.

But Doyle saves what Nebraska fans want to hear for last.

"More than anything, you see guys who become physical," Doyle said Tuesday. "He'll develop ground-based power. There's a lot of similarities with what we do to what Nebraska's done over the past 30 years."

Dobson, 34, this week takes over the Huskers' strength and conditioning efforts for football. NU will start its winter conditioning program under his guidance on Monday.

After nine years at Iowa, Doyle said Dobson was poised to make a move. He compared Dobson to Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, both high-profile assistants who were ready to go out on their own.

"I knew he would be moving on to direct a program at some point, and that it was just a matter of time," Doyle said. "Because his role here was so highly valued, I think he was able to be selective. But if you asked around the country who the top assistants were, it's not a secret that James Dobson was a guy people knew about."

Dobson replaces Dave Kennedy at Nebraska. After working for former Husker coach Bill Callahan for four years, Kennedy resigned last month and was hired at Texas A&M.;

Dobson is a Wisconsin graduate and native of Mt. Horeb, Wis. He also spent two years at Southern Methodist before going to Iowa.

With the Hawkeyes, Dobson worked with current NFL players Dallas Clark, Bob Sanders, Robert Gallery and Chad Greenway.

"Everybody knew this day would come," Doyle said, "and everybody is really happy for James. He did a great job here, and he'll do a great job there."

At NU, Dobson will oversee all aspects of the Huskers' strength and conditioning efforts for football, including the winter program, summer workouts and in-season training.