During the past six weeks, as the 26 major league baseball teams have gone through the paces of spring training, the catch-phrase “undergoing a youth movement” has popped up a few times.

Over at Huskie Stadium, the NIU football team has a youth movement of its own going on. Spring practice is a time for last season’s red-shirted players to step up and bid for recognition.

But while Cub President Dallas Green laments about finding spots for his kids in left and center fields, Huskie Coach Jerry Pettibone said he likes the extra competition.

Of the 96 players on the Huskie roster, 12 are 1986 red-shirts. Although any of the dozen can make his own impression, Pettibone singled out four that he said “have a chance to play.”

Defensive end Cary Caliendo, offensive lineman Eric Fiene, tight end Claude Royster and wide receiver Maurice Brown were listed in a rough order by Pettibone as being his top prospects.

Caliendo, a 6-foot-3-inch, 220-pounder from Brookfield, Wis., came to NIU after an All-Area senior season as nose tackle at Brookfield East. He was a three-year starter on the gridiron, along with winning three letters on the wrestling mats.

Speaking last fall at the Huskie Club luncheon, NIU defensive line coach Ted Huber mentioned Caliendo when asked who would come along to fill the shoes of departing linemen Doug Bartlett, Gene Belz and Vernon Sims. Pettibone affirmed that statement.

“He’s got a lot of quickness and speed. He’s very aggressive,” Pettibone said of Caliendo, who notched 32 sacks in his final two prep seasons. “He’s got a bright future here.”

Royster also graded highly in Pettibone’s estimation.

“Claude was recruited as a wide receiver, and we moved him to tight end,” Pettibone said. “He’s a big guy (listed at 6-4, 185) with good hands. With the talents he has, he should be able to fit in our offense. A guy has to be able to block and run routes.”

As a wide receiver at Palatine High School, Royster spent his senior year winning team Most Valuable Player honors and spots on the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune first-team All-Area squads. He was rated the number-one athlete in the Northwest suburbs on signing day 1986.

Fiene was a linebacker at Dakota High School, but his 6-4, 200-pound frame found him a home on the offensive line. Brown lettered in track at Davenport, Iowa’s Central High, and moves from free safety to receiver.