Florida LB impressed

[Eric the Red]

Things always sound good but you really have to wait on these things. Most of these kids are only making their first visits to any of these colleges. There are certainly positives to being the first college these kids visit as opposed to one in the middle. The last one will be the tough one to overcome.

 

 

 

December 15, 2003

Gallon comments on his Nebraska visit

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rick Shaw

Huskers Illustrated

 

 

Rodney Gallon had never before ventured into the Midwest part of the country, but he had heard many stories about the winter weather in the Plains. The 6-foot-0, 210-pound outside linebacker out of Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida found those stories to be a bit overblown after spending this past weekend in Lincoln, Nebraska.

 

"I thought the weather was nice," Gallon said. "That was my first time seeing snow...which was pretty cool. It wasn't really that cold either. There were people making it seem like it was going to be like the North Pole. It was nothing like that. It was nice."

 

Gallon said that he enjoyed everything about his first official visit of the recruiting process...not just the weather.

 

"The visit went pretty good," Gallon said. "Nebraska is a great school. They had a good campus and the weight program was great. They showed me what they were going to do in rebuilding some of their facilities...I was very impressed. Their academics up there are great also. They really make sure that somebody's going to graduate."

 

"I like that they (Nebraska) take a lot of pride in their defense. The call themselves the 'Blackshirts'. I watched them practice and their practices were very intense. Nebraska had the number one rated defense in the country for the first eight or nine weeks of the season this past year."

 

Gallon, rated the eighth best outside linebacker recruit in the country (four-stars) by Rivals.Com, said that he really hit it off with the Nebraska players and coaches too.

 

"The coaches are great," Gallon said. "They are all really friendly and showed us all a lot of love. The linebacker coach...Williams...is a great person, but a demanding coach at the same time. He played in the league for ten years or so. He knows what he's doing."

 

"The players were great too. Brandon Teamer was my host and he was a great person to hang out with. He showed me a great time. I also met Demorrio Williams...Nebraska's weakside linebacker. We are both a lot alike...we have similar builds and physiques and we have similar playing styles. He's really funny...and I enjoyed walking around with him."

 

Gallon was accompanied on his visit to Lincoln by his father and step mother...in addition to four of his Lincoln High teammates.

 

What did the rest of the group think of their time in Nebraska?

 

"My parents liked it," Gallon said. "They were real impressed with the academics and stuff. My teammates all enjoyed themselves too...just like me. We all had a lot of fun. We hung out with all of the Nebraska players and went out to dinner and all had a great time. We ate a lot."

 

Was Gallon tempted to commit while on his visit to Nebraska?

 

"No sir," Gallon said. "I'm being patient. I'm in no rush. It's my four years of college I have to consider."

 

"I can't really tell you where Nebraska stands in relationship to everybody else, because I haven't taken my other visits yet. Once I take all of my visits, I'll know where I want to go...and I'll follow my heart."

 

Will location or distance from home play a factor in Gallon's ultimate decision?

 

"Nah, that doesn't matter," Gallon said. "I could live anywhere. That does't matter to me. I'll take all of my visits and evaluate it from there."

 

Gallon said the city of Lincoln scored points with him over the weekend...especially when he witnessed the outstanding fan support of the Big Red faithful.

 

"Lincoln is a great place," Gallon said. "The weather is nice and the city is not too big. It kind of reminded me of Tallahassee."

 

"The people there (in Lincoln)....Oh man...They are crazy about their football. They don't have any pro football around, so Nebraska football is their team. Nebraska probably has the best fans in college football."

 

When asked to rate his visit on a scale of "1" to "10", Gallon gave his visit to Nebraska a high ranking.

 

"I'd give it an '8'," Gallon said. "The only negatives at all were that I didn't get much sleep while I was there (chuckle). They had us so busy with meetings with academic counselors and tours and stuff. I'm a bit worn out now. It was a great visit."

 

Gallon was asked about the Nebraska coaching situation. He said that he is hopeful that current Nebraska interim head coach Bo Pelini is the man selected when all of the dust settles.

 

"Coach Pelini would be a great head coach," Gallon said. "The way he bonds with his team...he's a great person. He's real true."

 

"The players all want him to be the coach, but we all just have to wait. It could take another week or two before anything is finalized."

 

Gallon said he'll now turn his focus to the Florida/California All-Star game which is scheduled to be played on the West Coast soon after Christmas. He then plans to take four more official visits in the month of January before settling on a decision.

 

"I plan to visit Tennessee, Auburn, Miami, and Florida State," Gallon said. "I have the visits scheduled...I just can't remember when they all are."

 

Gallon said he'll consider a number of different factors in deciding on a school.

 

"I'll look hard at academics," Gallon said. "I'm not going to be playing football forever. I'll also look at atmosphere and how everybody gets along...the players and the coaches."

 

"The Nebraska coaches and players all worked together well. They had real good unity. The really bond and do it as a team. A lot of teams don't do that."

 

One other plus for Nebraska was the apparent opportunity for Gallon to come into the program and see early playing time at outside linebacker.

 

"Their weakside linebackers are seniors and are all going to be gone...even the backups," Gallon said. "It's wide open. I'd like to play early and it appears that I'd have the opportunity to do that there. At the same time though, if need be, I'll redshirt. I'm not scared of competition."

 

Did any of Gallon's teammates commit while in Lincoln?

 

"I don't know," Gallon said. "I don't think so...but I haven't talked to them about it since we left."

[bigredbob]

Wow. the weather was great?! must be a fairly tough kid. thats good, we need some hardasses. cant have those painsy doinks from the fruity FL that cant hack it. But I doubt he knows what a Jan NE windchill feels like! he'll be okay though. thick skin is a good thing to have.

[N Zone]

He is a great kid, but I'm afraid the only way we land this kid is if Pelini is named HC or is given co HC and still the defensive coordinator. Even still we have to beat out FSU and Auburn. That will be tough, but he did really enjoy his visit and he loved seeing snow for the first time. All of the Lincoln five had a great time, and if Bo stays or gets a promotion like I already discussed I see us landing 3 or 4 of the five. The odd man out is the one we need the most and that is Calvin Darity the #1 ranked guard in the nation.