SIGNED: LB C.J. Zimmerer

[DeathCultArmaggedon]

IMO I think that NU could have gotten him to walk on, the talent level that Gross Catholic isn't very good. NU always has had good walk-on fullback. But hey until the coaches lose games I guess everyone will trust them.

I agree with this statement.

[RedDenver]

FYI, I read on another board: Sean Callahan says he's one of the top 5 fullbacks in the nation.

[Danimal]

So is he going to be a FB and Bodtmann a Will? That would be my guess. One must be a fullback and the other a LB, but which one?

[HUSKER 37]

IMO I think that NU could have gotten him to walk on, the talent level that Gross Catholic isn't very good. NU always has had good walk-on fullback. But hey until the coaches lose games I guess everyone will trust them.

 

Is that why he was only listed at 10% odds of being a Husker?

 

Player: C.J. Zimmerer

Hometown: Omaha, NE (Omaha Gross Catholic)

Position: LB

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 215 lbs.

40 time: 4.6

Bench max: 285 pounds

Squat max: 400 pounds

Vertical: 27 inches

Shuttle: 4.60 secs

 

Odds of becoming a Cornhusker: 10%.

 

[Ohio Pete]

So does this mean the FB will actually be doing something in the NU offense next/coming year(s)?

 

Omaha Gross fullback says he'll sign with NU

 

BY RICH KAIPUST

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

 

C.J. Zimmerer beat some obvious odds when Nebraska assistant coach Barney Cotton asked him Tuesday night if he would come play football for the Huskers.

 

Nebraska doesn't routinely offer scholarships to fullbacks, last signing one in 2002 (Dane Todd).

 

NU even less often comes calling on Omaha Gross players, last signing one in 1983 (John McCormick).

 

No wonder Zimmerer didn't have to think about it for long. The junior called back Wednesday and became the fourth Husker commitment for the 2009 recruiting class.

 

"I didn't think there'd be a whole lot of thought going into it," Gross coach Tim Johnk said. "I knew he would wait a day or so to let it all soak in, but I knew it would be a pretty quick decision."

 

Zimmerer is a 6-foot-1, 215-pounder who rushed for 701 yards (7.97 per carry) and 11 touchdowns last season. He carried the ball about half as often as Cougars tailback Brandon Winkelmann, a 1,200-yard rusher, as Gross finished 10-1 and made the Class B quarterfinals.

 

Zimmerer made The World-Herald Class B all-state team at linebacker, where he totaled 89 tackles, five sacks, one interception and one blocked punt.

 

"They're definitely recruiting him as a fullback," Johnk said. "They said they wanted to sign a fullback in this class."

 

Zimmerer managed to circumvent some of the stress and time that go along with the recruiting process. That wasn't likely to pick up until he started attending summer camps.

 

"Going from just getting generic mail to the next week getting an offer, it's all pretty crazy," Zimmerer said.

 

McCormick was a 1982 All-Nebraska offensive lineman for Gross who went on to be All-Big Eight, academic all-conference and a Husker captain. Former Cougar linemen Brian Blankenship and Bob Sledge also turned into All-Big Eight players for NU in the 1980s, but Blankenship started out at UNO and Sledge at South Dakota.

 

"It's great for our school," Johnk said. "It helps, obviously, to attract kids to our school, that they know they can come here and have a chance to be a Division I scholarship football player. We've also had some success the last couple years and that always helps, but he's a big part of why we've had success."

 

Johnk said the Nebraska staff just evaluated Zimmerer's film in the past few days. He called his player tough, athletic and with a high football IQ — things that work at both linebacker and fullback.

 

"I was kind of leaning towards linebacker, just because I thought that would be a little easier to get recruited at," Zimmerer said. "I love linebacker because I love hitting people and tackling, but fullback is sort of the same way."

 

As a fullback, Zimmerer also will be following in Johnk's footsteps. His head coach walked on at NU out of Schuyler, Neb., and was granted a scholarship after a redshirt season in 1987.

 

Gross quarterback John Dostal, a senior last season, already is scheduled to enroll at NU in January as a walk-on.

[T-BONE]

I think this kid is a strech IMO. I think he would have been a good one to let just walk on. Hopefully he works out for us and turns into a gem!!

[huskerindallas]

This is my little cousin, and I can tell you first hand, growing up with him he was always a monster. He will be a good fit at Nebraska.

[NevadaHusker27]

Awarded by Scout.com. Also the #9 FB.

[Overland Park Husker]

and #5 in-state per Rivals.

[Husker_x]

Awarded by Scout.com. Also the #9 FB.

 

Fuuuulllllbaaaaack, hmmmm? I seem to remember that position...it's like a fog coming over my mind. Long ago there was someone who did...something.

 

Ah, it's useless. It will be interesting to see what this "full back" does.

 

Is it modern?

 

[Danimal]

He is a 5.4 2* on rivals(5.5 is 3*), could get the third * with a nice season. No it doesn't mean much(several All Big12 guys were 2*) but it'd still be kinda cool to peruse our commits and see nothing but 3* and above on both the big recruiting services.

 

I still think we could've waited to get a really good look at him in camp before offering but that is water under the bridge. Coaches obviously think he is the real deal. Over on HI it was relayed that Watson thinks Zimmerer reminds him a ton of Brandon Drumm, a solid FB for Watson back at CU.

[BigRedfxtoy]

Who cares how many stars he has. He is N and that makes him family.

 

 

With a good coaching staff, some of these kids will be put in situations to excel. I can't wait. If they are questionable then redshirt them, get them into the wieght room and develope them. I remember (not too long ago) a really great coach made this happen every year.

[BigBL87]

I think this kid is a strech IMO. I think he would have been a good one to let just walk on. Hopefully he works out for us and turns into a gem!!

 

If he's a border line 3 star, I imagine he probably would have gotten some other D-1 offers if he did not commit to us quickly, so I'm not sure that he would have walked on. Probably would have been smaller colleges, but in all honesty I would never pass up a free education to walk on and pay for 4 years. I love Nebraska, but my pocketbook DOES matter!

[Ohio Pete]

NU Football: Zimmerer is raising the bar

Published Thursday July 17, 2008

 

BY JON NYATAWA

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

 

C.J. Zimmerer is trying his best not to think about the day he starts wearing the same colors as the legendary Husker players on his bedroom posters.

 

There's no question he's excited about playing fullback for Nebraska — he accepted a scholarship offer last May in less than 24 hours.

 

But Zimmerer, who grew up in south Omaha, doesn't want to be distracted during his final year at Gross High School, where he's surrounded by lifelong friends and where he's the leader of a football team that wants to improve on last fall's Class B quarterfinal finish.

 

"I really want football season to get here and I can focus on that," he said. "I have a year ahead of me. They say your senior year of high school flies by. I want to enjoy it."

 

Zimmerer didn't have to run the gantlet of summer football camps, which in this day and age have become a sort of self-promotion tour for players in the hunt for a college opportunity. Unheralded nationally and regionally, he once thought that would be the only way he'd earn a college scholarship.

 

Zimmerer's summer plans were rearranged the moment Nebraska assistant coach Barney Cotton offered him a scholarship.

 

"I almost had to ask, 'Are you playing games with me?'" Zimmerer said. "I did not expect that at all."

 

Neither did his mom, who used to support Nebraska by arranging her post-Christmas plans around its bowl destination. After hearing the news, she gave Zimmerer a playful slap, assuming her son was kidding around.

 

"I think my parents might have been in more shock than me," Zimmerer said.

 

But two months later, it's all set in, which means Zimmerer gets to live like a normal high school kid — sort of. He works out for an hour in the mornings and does demolition work — tearing out and lifting cement and drywall as part of construction and remodeling projects — with his dad in the late mornings and afternoons. Weekends are for downtime with friends.

 

He doesn't get too many phone calls, not like that first week after being offered a scholarship by Nebraska.

 

No more than five minutes after receiving the scholarship offer, the first reporter called. About 30 minutes later, two of Zimmerer's friends from Hastings, Neb., wanted to make sure he planned to accept it. More friends, family members and reporters called during the next few days.

 

Zimmerer still gets greeted by strangers who just want to shake hands with the next Husker player. At a church event Sunday, he heard a similar question all day: "Hey, you're C.J., right?"

 

As expected, Zimmerer's handled it all nicely, according to Gross High School coach Tim Johnk, once an NU fullback himself.

 

"There is a little bit of pressure when you are a scholarship guy," Johnk said. "Now you have to live up to those expectations. People are going to be putting a target on your chest. But I think he understands that."

 

Maybe that's why Johnk thinks that Zimmerer seems more focused now. He's not the loudest one in the weight room, but his quiet confidence seems to fuel his teammates to work harder.

 

"His work ethic kind of oozes into everyone else," Johnk said. "Those kids want to work hard because he wants to work hard. He's raised the bar."

 

As a 6-foot-1, 215-pound fullback, Zimmerer rushed for 701 yards (7.97 per carry) and 11 touchdowns last season. Zimmerer says he even feels a little faster now after running sprint events for the track team last spring.

 

Johnk does want a better blocker out of Zimmerer, a skill that takes time to perfect. The effort's definitely there, though. Zimmerer loves playing the position.

 

"That's just the linebacker of offense basically," said Zimmerer, named a Class B all-state linebacker by The World Herald last year. "I love going out and hitting. There's nothing better than lining up before the play and knowing that you're going to go and hit that guy. And he has no idea it's coming."

 

Zimmerer will play both positions in the fall for Gross, a season free from the added pressure of having to impress college coaches.

 

Just like last year, though, he'll likely continue to check the Internet to see what is said about his play on the field. He never really got that much interest, and he tried not to pay attention to the recruiting analysts' perceptions.

 

Zimmerer's thankful that Cotton and the NU staff made their own evaluations.

 

"I must be doing something right," he said. "Even if I wasn't getting a whole lot of offers, I got one. That's all you need."

[gmoney88]

Thursday

 

Om. Gross 41, Elkhorn MM 0

 

 

Senior fullback C.J. Zimmerer led preseason Class B No. 6-rated Gross with 122 yards on 12 carries, scoring twice. Junior quarterback Kyle Dostal rushed for 81 yards on nine carries, scoring one touchdown.

 

Cougars Ben Coenen and Luke Cunningham each returned an interception for a touchdown. Nick Sears also recorded an interception, and scored on a 5-yard run to give the host Cougars a 28-0 halftime lead.

 

Elkhorn MM (0-1).........................0 0 0 0- 0

At Om. Gross (1-0).........................14 14 7 6-41

• OG: Coenen 18 int. return (Buettner kick)

• OG: Zimmerer 1 run (Buettner kick)

• OG: Dostal 12 run (Buettner kick)

• OG: Sears 5 run (Buettner kick)

• OG: Zimmerer 54 run (Buettner kick)

• OG: Cunningham 50 int. return (kick failed)