Commitment to a position

[druski_2k5]

I've been doing some thinking about this, and something struck me.

 

Nebraska has had a lot of history, and it has come back to help us, with letting players play a certain position they want, compete for a position they want, or let them do what they want on the field, in order to not only let us have such great players, but we promise players the opportunities and let them play out and let the chips fall where they may.

 

Not with me yet? Here's what I'm talking about.

 

We let these guys play the positions that their HEART desires. Not what "we" want, but we let them have a CHANCE at what they want.

 

Examples.

 

Taylor Martinez: Lighting fast, first step move is amazing, maybe the best running quarterback at Nebraska when it's all said and done. This guy has a gear that no one else has, and that's even talking about Eric Crouch, who is probably my favorite player of all time and I speak highly of him, and when I see Martinez do things that Crouch, Frazier, Frost, never did, that's saying something.

 

Martinez was recruited as an Athlete, he could be a Quarterback, Receiver, Safety, whatever. But there was one thing that got him to commit to Nebraska besides everything else.

 

We promised him a shot.

 

We promised him that he would get a "serious" look at quarterback.

 

We held up that promise and it looks like it has turned golden for us so far.

 

This isn't the first time this has happened either, and this was the reason for the topic.

 

Eric Crouch: I read a recruiting story a while back that Eric was thinking about going to Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Nebraska. All three had coaching changes when he was just getting his career started so he would have had some coaching change somewhere. But there was one thing that made Crouch commit to Nebraska.

 

He was promised he would get a shot at, and play quarterback. Not safety, not defensive back, not a slot receiver, we comitted him as a Quarterback. The results turned out wonderfully, despite what you think may or may not have happened in the fall of 1999. Let's keep that for another topic, I want to concentrate on "promises" only and turning out to be wonderful for us.

 

Scott Frost: Yes, he went to Stanford to go under Bill Walsh, but we allowed him to come back to run OUR option offense, we took him back. The results speak for themselves.

 

Tommie Frazier: Highly recruited athlete from Florida, an option quarterback, but NONE of the Florida schools would commit to him as a TRUE quarterback. Clemson I think may have, but I'm not for sure. I know it came down to Nebraska and Clemson as none of the Florida schools would take him as a quarterback. We took a chance, we told him he would, and we know how that turned out for us.

 

Turner Gill: I wasn't alive when Gill played, but if I remember right, he was a true quarterback out of high school, and others may have recruited him as a quarterback too, but I am not for sure. Obviously we committed to him as a quarterback and you also know the results there too. But there's one thing I came across that made Gill commit to Nebraska over other schools. Gill wanted to be a dual athlete. He wanted to play baseball, and would commit to Nebraska if he was allowed to play baseball. Osborne kept his word, let Gill play baseball, and he was also an amazing quarterback for us.

 

What I'm trying to say is, we let our recruits play/compete/have a shot at what their heart "truly" desires, IF we think they would be a good fit there. Obviously you cant commit to a player if that's what his "heart" desires, but we don't think it could work out for whatever reason. It has to be mutual. It has to be good with the coaches to give them a SHOT. That's just what most of these guys and Martinez wanted. A shot.

 

It's all about the heart and desire. If we truly think an athlete can play "X Position" and do it well, we are going to commit to them and give them a shot, if it doesn't work out, well, we move them around.

 

I am sure there are other stories of guys being recruited not only for quarterback stories, but for other positions, but we let them have a shot at what they want to play, not only because it's what they want, but we think they would be good there.

 

Let's keep it going.

 

That's what it's all about: Competition, desire, heart, passion, commitment, and family.

 

That's the Nebraska way, and it's turned out pretty good for us so far. I think this is somewhat "overlooked" and maybe not a "true tradition" but it has worked out so well for us. Lets keep it up! Go Huskers!