Excellent article on how the staff evaluates recruiting talent

[Nexus]

Carl Pelini says he’d shout it from a mountaintop.

 

Shawn Watson would join him.

 

They insist playing college football is more demanding nowadays than it was, say, 20 years ago.

 

“It’s a whole different landscape than it once was, and we’ve made it that way as a society,” says Watson, Nebraska's 50-year-old offensive coordinator, pointing to pervasive media coverage, big money, recruiting hyperbole, et al. “It’s football, football, football. It’s our national pastime. It generates a whole different life for these kids today. I mean, it’s a job. It’s a gigantic commitment.”

 

Says Pelini, 44, the Huskers’ defensive coordinator: “It requires a level of commitment that simply wasn’t there 20 years ago, in terms of what we ask players to do over the summer, what we ask them to do academically, what we ask them to do in terms of media, what we ask them to do on the field, just the overall time commitment, all the meetings. You put that all together, it takes a certain kind of kid who can handle that process and that schedule.”

 

The discussion is relevant during the homestretch of recruiting season, as Nebraska coaches strongly emphasize the “certain kind of kid” part of the overall equation. You know, the “character” aspects. Yawn if you’d like. But it hardly matters that a prospect runs a 4.44-second 40-yard dash if he’s unwilling to make it to team meetings and classes on time.

 

Or if he recoils at the thought of four TV cameras and a half-dozen newspaper reporters surrounding him after a practice, a common occurrence at Nebraska.

 

Say what you will, but character — “a certain kind of kid” — is prominent in Bo Pelini’s recruiting equation.

 

“We are going out and finding hard, disciplined, committed, tough-minded guys,” brother Carl Pelini says. “That’s a huge part of our evaluation.”

 

However, character evaluation isn’t necessarily a significant part of Rivals.com and Scout.com’s popular recruiting rankings. For those organizations, attempting to measure character would be unrealistic if only because of time and logistical reasons, which is why such rankings — Nebraska’s class of 2010 was ranked 28th nationally by Rivals.com and 32nd by Scout.com as of Saturday — should be viewed with healthy skepticism.

 

Recruiting-oriented Web sites employ hard-working folks who provide interesting, accurate and in-depth player and team information. I read the stuff closely. I watch the video of players. But you really can’t expect those Web sites to accurately evaluate a given player’s work ethic, competitive nature, leadership ability, willingness to be coached, etc. Recruiting analysts typically don’t go into players’ homes or talk to guidance counselors and teachers.

 

That’s where the college coaches come in. And let’s face it, that’s why many coaches are skeptical of recruiting rankings. By the time the recruiting process is finished, Nebraska coaches — indeed, many coaches throughout the nation — could write a biography about the players whom they directly recruited. Meanwhile, recruiting Web sites, comparatively speaking, skim the surface.

 

Bo Pelini says he puts little stock in recruiting rankings. Same goes for Watson, who doubles as Husker quarterbacks coach. It goes back to the character issue. And when Watson speaks of character, he means a QB’s “competitive edge.”

“That’s character, man,” he says. “That’s character at its highest level, in my opinion. He’s going to will his team to win. He’s going to find a way. I don’t want a guy who’s caught up in the (recruiting) process and caught up in all this or all that. I want a guy who wants to win.

“So, character’s still the No. 1 thing. Talent’s obviously important. But character goes along with talent and is a bigger variable that you want to really sort out.”

Watson and Pelini understand the importance of perception of a program and the role recruiting rankings play in that perception. To wit: Say public confidence in a program suffers because it loses too many games during a season or seasons. Then January arrives and fans notice zero high-profile recruits in that program’s recruiting class. Never mind that there actually might be some outstanding players in the class who fly under the radar. Doesn’t matter. Fans begin to wonder. Negativity snowballs, and you have a situation.

 

In Nebraska’s case, back-to-back strong seasons — 9-4 and 10-4 — probably have bolstered the Husker coaches’ credibility as recruiters in fans’ eyes. As have standout players such as Alfonzo Dennard and Dejon Gomes, to name only a couple. Both were “merely” three-star recruits (on a five-star scale).

 

“I think what’s happened is now we are without worry about what any pundit or so-called expert can say,” Carl Pelini says. “We could turn down a five-star running back and take a Rex Burkhead-type because I think people finally trust what we’re after and who we want to be.”

 

LINK

[Landlord]

Very good article. I feel very blessed to have grown up and been raised a fan of a program and university where quality of person actually matters equally, if not more than, quality of athlete.

[kansas husker]

I agree its nice to see that the coaches are ranking charicter as a big part of their issue. That is why being from kansas I have always related to the landscape of husker football and all its traditions. Its refreshing to see that continue.

[epocSoN]

good article... why are we all up right now?

[caveman99]

This line stuck with me, “I think what’s happened is now we are without worry about what any pundit or so-called expert can say,” Carl Pelini says. “We could turn down a five-star running back and take a Rex Burkhead-type because I think people finally trust what we’re after and who we want to be.” Rex was a Rivals 250 player, #240 I think, so he was a high profile recruit, but there were other backs higher than him that NU didn't push as hard for. I don't think I would trade Rex for anyone else available that year. We all felt pretty good about having a young man like Rex on the team, but seeing it for real this past season cemented it IMO. He just does what it takes to win. He makes that block, never seems to lose yardage, very intelligent player, etc. Barney Cotton alluded to it in an article, he said the boys up front love to block for #22. He said that the other backs are good also, but that there is something special about Rex.

[ESPY]

Bo Pelini says he puts little stock in recruiting rankings. Same goes for Watson, who doubles as Husker quarterbacks coach. It goes back to the character issue. And when Watson speaks of character, he means a QB’s “competitive edge.”

 

“That’s character, man,” he says. “That’s character at its highest level, in my opinion. He’s going to will his team to win. He’s going to find a way. I don’t want a guy who’s caught up in the (recruiting) process and caught up in all this or all that. I want a guy who wants to win.

 

“So, character’s still the No. 1 thing. Talent’s obviously important. But character goes along with talent and is a bigger variable that you want to really sort out.”

 

Doesn't this kinda make you wonder what other programs value most? I mean the so-called "best" recruiting schools in the NCAA get all the talent, so does that mean they value character too, or is good character just a bonus to these teams?

 

The way our coaches focus on character in recruiting makes me even more proud to be a Nebraskan, and I think that ultimately is what sets our program apart in the long run. At the same time, I can't rag too much on other schools b/c I don't know for sure what their philosophies are. I'd be interested to see what Mac Brown or Bob Stoops or Urban Meyer look for in their recruits b/c based on their success, it seems they look for more than just talent too.

[Ohio Pete]

This doesn't change the fact that Nebraska offered most of the 5 WRS this year. Now, they might rate the guys we got at the same level as those guys, but it doesn't change the fact that Nebraska wanted those 5 guys. Maybe Nebraska did not offer certain highly rated players or cooled off on some they did offer because of character, but I think there are highly rated players we missed on that we will get in future years.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Ohio Pete

[dylan]

This doesn't change the fact that Nebraska offered most of the 5 WRS this year. Now, they might rate the guys we got at the same level as those guys, but it doesn't change the fact that Nebraska wanted those 5 guys. Maybe Nebraska did not offer certain highly rated players or cooled off on some they did offer because of character, but I think there are highly rated players we missed on that we will get in future years.

 

good post. i agree.