Nebraska OL Recruits

[caveman99]

Very few high school kids are that size and athletic, 240-270 pounds doesn't cut it at this level.

 

Well I was thinking more along the lines of re-establishing the pipeline. A kid comes in, redshirts, waits his turn and by the time he's a redshirt sophomore or junior he's around 300 pounds and ready to play.

 

And maybe 3-4 every year from in-state is a stretch but still...

 

However, we have Ryne Reeves from instate for the 2011 class. I would think that in the entire state of Nebraska there are at least 2 more capable OL recruits.

 

Jen, I think we will still see a decent number of contributers to the lines from NE, just not as many scholarship recruits. As many on here have said before, scholarships will go to players that are more ready to play and are better prospects because of that. The kids in NE don't play as much as those in TX, FL, CA, etc. nor do they have the conditioning programs those areas have. NE kids can still come in and develop for 2-4 years and still play, but more than likely they will come on as walk ons.

 

Looking at the roster shows several NE kids who are major contributors at most positions in 2009: Baker S. (DT - recruit), Jared Crick (DT - walk on), Mike Caputo (C - Walk On), Andy Christensen (G - recruit), Ricky Henry (G - recruit, JUCO but Omaha native), DJ Jones (T - recruit), Derek Meyer (G - walk on, former KSU recruit), Lance Thorell (DB - walk on), Tyler Legatt (FB - walk on), Mike Hays (FB - walk on), Sean Fisher (BUCK - recruit), Colton Koehler (MIKE - walk on), Micah Kreikemeier (BUCK - recruit), Matt May (WILL - walk on), Sam Meginnis (LS - walk on), Alex Henery (PK/P - walk on), Brett Maher (P - walk on), Matt O'Hanlon (S - walk on), Dreu Young (TE - walk on), Niles Paul (WR - recruit). I count 20 players, 17 if you want to take Special Teams out, that have a legit shot at playing time this season. That doesn't include others who have walked on or were recruited recently that won't make an impact this season. 13 of those 20 are walk ons and I think that is how we will see the majority of NE kids get a chance going forward. They may not be developed enough to compete for scholarships right out of HS, but that doesn't mean they can't walk on and develop enough to earn a spot later on.

[junior4949]

Over the years we've had some pretty OL hail from Nebraska. Rob and Jon Zatecha (sp) were both starters. Joel Wilks started on the line, and he was from Lincoln. Plus, not all good/great OL have to be 6'4 or taller. I still remember Aaron Taylor as he was in some of my classes. He stood around 6'1, and I believe he was an All American. We used to take big kids and make blocking machines out of them. I'm not saying we should limit ourselves to within our border to find linemen, but I agree that there are still several quality kids from Nebraska and the surrounding states to make football players.

[NoKoolAidForME]

Over the years we've had some pretty OL hail from Nebraska. Rob and Jon Zatecha (sp) were both starters. Joel Wilks started on the line, and he was from Lincoln. Plus, not all good/great OL have to be 6'4 or taller. I still remember Aaron Taylor as he was in some of my classes. He stood around 6'1, and I believe he was an All American. We used to take big kids and make blocking machines out of them. I'm not saying we should limit ourselves to within our border to find linemen, but I agree that there are still several quality kids from Nebraska and the surrounding states to make football players.

 

In today's college football there isn't time to make players. If Bo sticks to just recruiting NE kids, how long will it take to get the program where everyone wants it to be? With people already looking ahead to 2010 schedules saying the schedule is weak and setup for a Big 12 championship run; people cant say that and expect to play NE recruits that are years away against the talent in some of the other states that put out player that can play as freshman or sophomores.

 

All this talent that people seem to believe Nebraska has why isn't there players in other Division 1 schools dominating since they couldn't go to NU. So they are so talented that either NU takes them or they go no where?

 

This speaks to the comment i made yesterday. More emphasis need to be placed on youth football in this state to equip the players with the tools necessary to become NU scholarship players.

[NUance]

Very true. Are athletic kids with a frame that can handle 300 lbs that rare? Seems like there should be at least a couple in the state every year. You can’t coach speed, but you can coach muscle onto a kid with a good frame (can’t you?)

[caveman99]

Over the years we've had some pretty OL hail from Nebraska. Rob and Jon Zatecha (sp) were both starters. Joel Wilks started on the line, and he was from Lincoln. Plus, not all good/great OL have to be 6'4 or taller. I still remember Aaron Taylor as he was in some of my classes. He stood around 6'1, and I believe he was an All American. We used to take big kids and make blocking machines out of them. I'm not saying we should limit ourselves to within our border to find linemen, but I agree that there are still several quality kids from Nebraska and the surrounding states to make football players.

 

In today's college football there isn't time to make players. If Bo sticks to just recruiting NE kids, how long will it take to get the program where everyone wants it to be? With people already looking ahead to 2010 schedules saying the schedule is weak and setup for a Big 12 championship run; people cant say that and expect to play NE recruits that are years away against the talent in some of the other states that put out player that can play as freshman or sophomores.

 

All this talent that people seem to believe Nebraska has why isn't there players in other Division 1 schools dominating since they couldn't go to NU. So they are so talented that either NU takes them or they go no where?

 

This speaks to the comment i made yesterday. More emphasis need to be placed on youth football in this state to equip the players with the tools necessary to become NU scholarship players.

NKAFM, I think you can have both. It is still rare for True Freshmen to start over older, more developed players. A few contribute each year, but you don't get a full class of immediate starters. Most Freshmen have to wait and develop for a year or more to get into the line up, especially since the older players have some decent talent themselves. The 2008 or 2009 classes aren't going to make or break the 2009 season. It is about the program strength long term, NU does have time to develop these players and that is important for 2-3 years from now.

[junior4949]

Over the years we've had some pretty OL hail from Nebraska. Rob and Jon Zatecha (sp) were both starters. Joel Wilks started on the line, and he was from Lincoln. Plus, not all good/great OL have to be 6'4 or taller. I still remember Aaron Taylor as he was in some of my classes. He stood around 6'1, and I believe he was an All American. We used to take big kids and make blocking machines out of them. I'm not saying we should limit ourselves to within our border to find linemen, but I agree that there are still several quality kids from Nebraska and the surrounding states to make football players.

 

In today's college football there isn't time to make players. If Bo sticks to just recruiting NE kids, how long will it take to get the program where everyone wants it to be? With people already looking ahead to 2010 schedules saying the schedule is weak and setup for a Big 12 championship run; people cant say that and expect to play NE recruits that are years away against the talent in some of the other states that put out player that can play as freshman or sophomores.

 

All this talent that people seem to believe Nebraska has why isn't there players in other Division 1 schools dominating since they couldn't go to NU. So they are so talented that either NU takes them or they go no where?

 

This speaks to the comment i made yesterday. More emphasis need to be placed on youth football in this state to equip the players with the tools necessary to become NU scholarship players.

 

 

I wasn't aware that OL jumping ship to the NFL was a common occurrence. I know we have had it happen a time or two in the past, but typically OL stay the duration. I don't think anyone was even remotely insinuating that Bo needs to stick with just recruiting Nebraska kids. The thread is about OL. It's rare OL don't redshirt because they typically don't have the weight, strength, or conditioning to step in right out of high school and play.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I almost see it as a slap in the face when a Nebraska kid does go and play for another D1 team. The Nebraska high school athlete of the year is enrolled and practicing as we speak in Lawrence, KS. While Nebraska may not be loaded like some states with regards to football talent, we need to get all that we have. Even the most dominating college football team of all time (95' skers) had its fair share of Nebraska kids starting.

[NoKoolAidForME]

You can if you are given the time necessary to win with the recruits you bring in. If you bring in just NE guys and develop them I think they will be able to compete. But will the NU faithful allow for 2 to 3 years of .500 seasons to build players? I think we know the answer. A true rebuilding program know that they are more than 3 years away. So we cannot say that things were left in that bad of disarray if NU was able to compete last year. Don't get me wrong the attitude and effort was heading nowhere but there were piece to be successful with the right leadership.

 

I think it will be a while before we see a Husker team with NE players in the majority of the key position. But anything can happen.

[Hunter94]

I think it will be a while before we see a Husker team with NE players in the majority of the key position.

 

i think those days are gone.

[HuskerJen]

You can if you are given the time necessary to win with the recruits you bring in. If you bring in just NE guys and develop them I think they will be able to compete. But will the NU faithful allow for 2 to 3 years of .500 seasons to build players? I think we know the answer. A true rebuilding program know that they are more than 3 years away. So we cannot say that things were left in that bad of disarray if NU was able to compete last year. Don't get me wrong the attitude and effort was heading nowhere but there were piece to be successful with the right leadership.

 

I think it will be a while before we see a Husker team with NE players in the majority of the key position. But anything can happen.

 

I'm talking about recruiting Nebraska kids along the offensive line...

 

So I'm not sure why you are extrapolating what I'm saying to the whole team.

 

[HUSKER 37]

While I agree with what was stated by many above. One of the reason for decline is overall there is not as big of a commitment to youth football in the state as in some of the power states.

 

Omaha Public School which by far is one of the biggest district in the state did not have middle school football until recently. So you have a lot of kids that play pee wee football when they are young and then have a big lap in between that time and High School.

 

Places like Texas, Cali, PA, and FL have football or basketball athletics during class time. This is not P.E. it is the substitute. Instead of being in PE with a bunch of druts (Turd backwards) you are surrounded by every player on the team working towards getting better within your sport.

 

High School football coaches in this state really can't make a living working as a coach alone you are mostly required to teach and coach as well. In the state before mentioned the head coach doesn't teach. During the school day he is able to reviews film and is able to evaluate talent to put the players in the best position to be successful.

 

Is this a recent problem or have they never had middle school programs?

 

How did Rimmington get so good back in the (my) day?..Or Mark Traynowicz playing 8-man?..Or Dean Steinkuhler?..Sure pass blocking wasn't their strongsuit, but they developed into pass blockers to a certain respect.

 

I went to a class B school in Nebraska with only one Jr.High in town, but we still had ~5-6 games against our conference foes. (with separate 7th, 8th, and 9th grade teams).

 

Out here (in Phoenix metro area) when I helped coach my Son's pee wee team, we were always fighting a team from an "Elite league" of 12-14 year-olds for practice space...(Those guys play almost year round..Really try to burn them out.)

 

 

Since our (NE) weather limits how much field time we can get in..It really helps that (at least in small towns) these guys also go out for other sports like Basketball or like me..watch Girls Volleyball..Helps with footwork and balance...Or... hand-eye co-ordination .

[huskered17]

While I agree with what was stated by many above. One of the reason for decline is overall there is not as big of a commitment to youth football in the state as in some of the power states.

 

Omaha Public School which by far is one of the biggest district in the state did not have middle school football until recently. So you have a lot of kids that play pee wee football when they are young and then have a big lap in between that time and High School.

 

Places like Texas, Cali, PA, and FL have football or basketball athletics during class time. This is not P.E. it is the substitute. Instead of being in PE with a bunch of druts (Turd backwards) you are surrounded by every player on the team working towards getting better within your sport.

 

High School football coaches in this state really can't make a living working as a coach alone you are mostly required to teach and coach as well. In the state before mentioned the head coach doesn't teach. During the school day he is able to reviews film and is able to evaluate talent to put the players in the best position to be successful.

 

Is this a recent problem or have they never had middle school programs?

 

How did Rimmington get so good back in the (my) day?..Or Mark Traynowicz playing 8-man?..Or Dean Steinkuhler?..Sure pass blocking wasn't their strongsuit, but they developed into pass blockers to a certain respect.

 

I went to a class B school in Nebraska with only one Jr.High in town, but we still had ~5-6 games against our conference foes. (with separate 7th, 8th, and 9th grade teams).

 

Out here (in Phoenix metro area) when I helped coach my Son's pee wee team, we were always fighting a team from an "Elite league" of 12-14 year-olds for practice space...(Those guys play almost year round..Really try to burn them out.)

 

 

Since our (NE) weather limits how much field time we can get in..It really helps that (at least in small towns) these guys also go out for other sports like Basketball or like me..watch Girls Volleyball..Helps with footwork and balance...Or... hand-eye co-ordination .

 

 

I know in the 60's we had teams made up from junior highs in Lincoln. The practices were over by Muny Pool area for the team I was on.

I don't know if they stopped that later on, but they did have that program in Lincoln then.

 

GBR!!!

[NoKoolAidForME]

Husker Jen,

 

I can tell I will enjoy this board if I have you to go back and forth with.

 

The comment I made was to address the recent lack of top NE recruits. I or no one else can deny the great success that O - Line had in the past. However, you bring up two names that have not played football in over twenty years. What I was trying to explain is there has not been much done by way of progress for the youth.

 

I see it all the time here I actually started coaching a pee wee football team. So many of the coaches are more concerned with trying to win than teaching the kids the game explaining where they need to be and the little things necessary to be good. Also the kids that already have a little bit of talent are cuddled early and more attention is focused on them while those that are not as advanced are left to be discouraged. This is something I brought up in our coaches meeting.

 

So again - (In order for NE to have more local talent a bigger emphasize has to be placed on Youth Football in the two cities with the most population.)

 

I am tired of NE using the weather excuse. Kids are produced in a lot of cold weather states. Believe it or not NE is not the only state that gets snow. Believe it or not there are maybe only schools two schools in the Big 12 that don't get snow. Texas A&M and Texas.

 

Furthermore other cold weather states still seem to produce top talent ever year. Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Penn, NJ, The Virginias, NY, ETC.

[knapplc]

I am tired of NE using the weather excuse. Kids are produced in a lot of cold weather states. Believe it or not NE is not the only state that gets snow. Believe it or not there are maybe only schools two schools in the Big 12 that don't get snow. Texas A&M and Texas.

 

Furthermore other cold weather states still seem to produce top talent ever year. Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Penn, NJ, The Virginias, NY, ETC.

Who are you hearing this from? The coaches? The fans? The media? Joe on the Street?

 

I know there was some random belief back in the day that we "had to" run a running offense because it got so cold on the plains that we "couldn't" run a pass-oriented offense in the snow, but that was random fan blather justifying our Option attack when pundits would crack on it as old-fashioned. Of course, that flew in the face of the offense Devaney ran as well as offenses run by several Big 10 schools, so it was easily dismissed as the kind of nonsensical justification of know-nothings. But I haven't heard lately anyone talking about the weather as a factor in producing talent...?

[junior4949]

I think it will be a while before we see a Husker team with NE players in the majority of the key position.

 

i think those days are gone.

 

 

It depends on what you consider key positions. Without an OL, there's little to no running game and there's also little to no passing game. So, would this make the OL a key position? Same can be said on defense. In the glory years, Nebraska was blessed with some awesome athletes coming out of high school. Omaha hasn't produced an Ahman Green lately. We haven't produced a Scott Frost or Eric Crouch lately either. I believe it's very naive to believe Nebraska won't produce that kind of athlete in the future. Every once in a while even the Western part of the state produces one of those athletes. The May kid is what a sophomore? He's from a town of less than 2,000 people, and he's right up there to start on D. We can go back and forth all we want, but the fact remains that the state of Nebraska has and will continue to produce athletes that can compete and thrive at the D1 level.

[caveman99]

Husker Jen,

 

I can tell I will enjoy this board if I have you to go back and forth with.

 

The comment I made was to address the recent lack of top NE recruits. I or no one else can deny the great success that O - Line had in the past. However, you bring up two names that have not played football in over twenty years. What I was trying to explain is there has not been much done by way of progress for the youth.

 

I see it all the time here I actually started coaching a pee wee football team. So many of the coaches are more concerned with trying to win than teaching the kids the game explaining where they need to be and the little things necessary to be good. Also the kids that already have a little bit of talent are cuddled early and more attention is focused on them while those that are not as advanced are left to be discouraged. This is something I brought up in our coaches meeting.

 

So again - (In order for NE to have more local talent a bigger emphasize has to be placed on Youth Football in the two cities with the most population.)

 

I am tired of NE using the weather excuse. Kids are produced in a lot of cold weather states. Believe it or not NE is not the only state that gets snow. Believe it or not there are maybe only schools two schools in the Big 12 that don't get snow. Texas A&M and Texas.

 

Furthermore other cold weather states still seem to produce top talent ever year. Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Penn, NJ, The Virginias, NY, ETC.

I don't think the weather is as big of a factor, I just think it is the overall program as you indicate. Schools in Texas go year round because they allocate resources to their programs. HS FB Coaches do just that, Coach FB. They don't teach and several of the good ones make 6 figures. They get kids into the developmental program and keep them focused mainly on football. These kids are more developed so they get the scholarships.

 

I don't get your comment about having to wait 2-3 years for a player not being possible and being a limited factor for NE kids. Very few true freshmen get to play in a good program, most have to wait a minimum of 1-2 years to play. Especially linemen. It is an evolving cycle, the recruits you bring in this year will contribute in 2 seasons. Nebraska has enough talent to win 9 games at least, they did it last season and should do it this season. This puts the program in the Top 30 in the country, a pretty good spot, not what we want but pretty good. Of the current projected 22 starters, 11 are Jr.'s, 6 are Sr.'s, 3 are So.'s, and 2 are RFr. (3 if you count Compton at MIKE but I am assuming Koehler for right now). When 17 of your 22 starters on a good team are Jr.'s or Sr.'s I think you have time to develop your incoming recruits.