Decked

The decomitment of Bookie stings and here are my reasons.  I was excited when he came to Friday nite Lights over a year ago.  Just looking at his size one might think he was too small for Div 1 football.  On the field his intelligence and athletic ability were evident.  His biggest asset however was his leadership skills.  He was always going to be the "bell cow" on this team.  A player who was always going to give 100% in practice and 110% in games.  I feel one thing we seriously lack on this team is leadership and Bookie was a player we need.  His goal was to play in the NFL and I think he took a look at the coverage skills of our DB's and the type of D we play and realized he wasn't going to grow as a player here.  Riley may have already told him he will be gone after the last game and Bookie wanted to play in what he saw is/was a family atmosphere.  Had things not gone south Bookie would have been remembered with the likes of Rex Burkhead, Grant Wistrom and scores of Husker legends.  It bites to lose him but I understand why.

ladyhawke, I get what you are saying.  But his decommit didn't affect me in the slightest.  When we fired Eichorst it was all but assured Riley would be gone too.  Recruits take notice of that.  Now we sit at an ugly 4-4 with mostly poor showings.  Are the poor showings and record why he decommited?  No.  It's because the guy he committed to is going to be gone.

Your logic is he should commit to a university.  Sorry, but those days are long gone until we start playing like a destination school.  There is zero reason to stay committed to a school when it could potentially hire a guy you don't want to play for.  Take your NU bias out of it and look at the situation, he did nothing wrong.

Hi Redux, I think my emotions may have gotten in the way of what I want to communicate. I look at these young men as university students first. College football, while entertaining,  is an extra curricular activity in my mind. First and foremost these young men are coming to college to gain an education. If they are only coming to school to play football I fear for them. What if they get hit or injured and can never play again? At least they will have a degree that they can use to get a job later in life.  So that is where I am coming from as an educator.  So yes I DO think these young men should commit to a university. There is pride in playing for something bigger than themselves.  Consider this: Bookie decides to come to UNL because he believes he can make a difference for this team.  Not to become an NFL player, not to play for a particular coach, but to grow as an individual and share his athletic and leadership skills with this team.  Wow. THAT kind of selfless person,is who I want on my team. Because no matter who the coach is, that person is going to stand out.  Rex Burkhead was that kind of player. Rex was always looking out for others.  That is one of the things we admired about him.

Bookie is very young.  At this stage in his life he really doesn't know what he wants.  Who knows-if he is the type of individual that Tony described he may be back.  I apologize for insinuating that he did anything wrong.  That wasn't my intention.  I was angry that he didn't fulfill his commitment to Nebraska.  But in hindsight he didn't sign any papers, he only gave a verbal commit.  

Thank you again for the discourse.  I learn things about myself and others through discussion.