Can some speculate on this mess?

[corncraze]

I mean my Lord our recruiting has just ate it! Does anyone have any idea why our recruiting has took such a nose dive?

[iruletheskool]

[NUance]

I imagine the temper tantrums on Sportscenter this fall didn't help. Then again, all the guys NU sent/are sending to the NFL should count for something. Who knows what goes through the mind of an 18 year old guy and his parents/coaches/advisors?

[PaulCrewe]

Winning helps cure all. Please see my rant in the thread below. Remember Nebraska is a hard sell to a high school kid.

[Redmusky]

T&M side line may not of helped, but It could not have been that bad the QB is still a husker. The O went on a vacation in the last few games but we where hurting. Losing the last game hurt the most we looked like we could careless. To me the biggest thing is the F**** negative responses we get from a lot of posters. Who would hire Watson after listen to the husker-board, and if I was WR I go to another school. This a great class and we are going to finish strong picking up 4 or 5 in the last week.

[HuskerFowler]

I always said the way BO acts on the sideline is OK until it affects our recruiting. You have to wonder what the parents think about BO chewing Tmagics ass on the sideline....i mean it wouldnt affect me sending my kid there because i would chew my kids ass like that....but some parents dont believe in that kind of stuff and raise a bunch of sissys. I guess in the end we will get the hard nosed high character well raised kids, but that may be costing us right now....not winning sure didnt help either.

 

Hopefully we can turn it around with TPjr, but honestly i will just be happy if we can keep CJ and AA on board.

[dylan]

I always said the way BO acts on the sideline is OK until it affects our recruiting. You have to wonder what the parents think about BO chewing Tmagics ass on the sideline....i mean it wouldnt affect me sending my kid there because i would chew my kids ass like that....but some parents dont believe in that kind of stuff and raise a bunch of sissys. I guess in the end we will get the hard nosed high character well raised kids, but that may be costing us right now....not winning sure didnt help either.

 

Hopefully we can turn it around with TPjr, but honestly i will just be happy if we can keep CJ and AA on board.

 

i have yet to see any evidence that bo's demeanor costs us recruits. his players seem to love him, specifically because they know he has their back when someone is deliberately screwing them over.

[PaulCrewe]

This "nose dive" can be broken down into two things, the decommits and latea misses of kids a lot of people hadn't heard of until this last couple of weeks.

 

So out of "all" these decommits their have been two real ones, two told to go another route because of size issues, and a kid that had a 24 hour relapse. Let's look at that.

 

Tevin Mitchell was a long time commit and stings the most. He decided to go to a school that was closer to home and family and was his other finalist in his decision. Mom is given a job and personal comfort won out. Can you blame the kid no. Yes it sucks, but as we have said all along these are 18 year old brains we are dealing with.

Nik Sade same thing. One, it was shocking to me that the kid was coming all the way out to Nebraska in the first place. Two, when the home state favorite school comes a calling of course more often than not you will answer that call. Again personal comfort wins out.

 

Bouzos and Aldmire are in the same boat. They weren't cutting it in terms of expectations of NU's staff. If anyone has ever seen a written offer from a D1 school there are requirements each school has that the athlete needs to meet in order to keep the offer. Most schools include a stipulation that the athlete must meet/maintain certain physical attributes. Both we're not as big as they said they were and are not massive losses.

*If you have never seen a letter, go to Tate Forcier's website. I think it is qbforce.com or something like that. He has copies of a bunch of offers he has received, including Nebraska. The guy is a tool but the site is kinda interesting in reference to the recruiting side of things.

 

Darian Bryant is the one that I am most disappointed about. TE is getting to be a pretty big need with Ryan Hill giving up football, and leaving only two game experienced good TEs. Look for two signed next year. Anyways I thought this kid was ready to commit and he seemed to just rush it. But now it looks like he is heading to a school(WVU) that wasn't even one of his "finalist". Again it is the rollercoaster ride that is recruiting. You get hopes up and get a little stoked, and it all depends on what goes on in a 17/18 year olds head. Someone for the most part can't figure out what they will do tomorrow let a lone the next four/five years of their life.

 

Skerschicago has hit it on the head post after post usually, and this one is no different. The core of this class was what NU got early especially on the offensive side. Everything else has/will be icing on the cake.

 

I find it kinda funny how so many people get their feathers ruffled over kids that we really start making a push for late, that commit elsewhere. This is more of an issue about the lack/effort made during the inseason recruiting phase IMO especially in terms of official visits. The ball was dropped, even though I understand they are busy with game planning and prep. Some staff members are everywhere recruiting(JP, Ron Brown) while some appear to need a kick in the ass, something thathas been hashed about in other threads.

 

So while there have been some disappointments along the way, none have been an overly suprising shock. Just like in 2007. Remember this, these athletes have to do what they feel is best for them. If that means turning down an opportunity to play for some of the graetest minds(well defensively) in the game to stay closer to home for personal comfort so be it. It happens every year. And it will continue to happen.

 

Tis the game of recruiting, and in the immortal words of Kevin Bacon I end with this

 

[zoogs]

I think there's a simple answer that has little to do really with Bo being animated on the sideline, or late-season struggles. It just goes directly on the staff. There are staffs that are all-out recruiting machines that put monstrous efforts and use every tool at their disposal and then some to always stay on top of recruiting momentum. There are others that don't.

 

We fell into some really good fortune this year, which was identified early on as a year where we were in on some heavy-hitting recruits early (including probably our two top gets coming from legacies who have/had brothers attend here, and another pair of in-state kids that happen to be 4-stars). Unfortunately, the staff seems to have coasted on that early surge for a while and it's landed us where we are now...hanging on for dear life. Hopefully it's another wake-up call, because goodness knows this staff is damned good at coaching. At least some of them anyway.

 

And to be fair, some of the coaches on our staff really get after it on the recruiting trail. The problem is we have to compete against schools where more of their staff really get after it.

[T-Husker]

Wow that's like 4 threads in the recruiting forum saying the sky is falling. Can we calm down just a bit bros and bras? Or at least keep it all in one thread?

[robsker]

T&M side line may not of helped, but It could not have been that bad the QB is still a husker. The O went on a vacation in the last few games but we where hurting. Losing the last game hurt the most we looked like we could careless. To me the biggest thing is the F**** negative responses we get from a lot of posters. Who would hire Watson after listen to the husker-board, and if I was WR I go to another school. This a great class and we are going to finish strong picking up 4 or 5 in the last week.

 

The heartless loss in the Bowl --- losing 3 of the last 4; losing 70% of our games on national TV, and the Bo tantrums and the coaching controversy (the fire the offense coaches all over the internet) and any of a number of other things (weather, distance, lack of winning tradition the last 10 years --- the only period of time these recruits can connect with) all play a role to varying degree.

 

In any event, we realy really need a cornerback (or two) if Jackson leaves. We have no candidates (at least that have been publically made known)for taking a CB position that I know of --- F. Williams has dropped us. We need a LB badly --- and no candidates there either --- as Arrington Jenkins has dropped us as well and Keeon Virgile gave an 8/10 for his trip --- that is code for... I don't think so. We need a TE. No prospects there either. So.... our three current most needed positions --- CB, LB and TE may go unfilled. If Jackson leaves... ouch.

 

The only players out there, at any position, that may be signing are the DT Todd Peat --- who most are inclined to say will spurn us for ASU -- and a kicker named Bondi. Other than that, is it filler time taking locals and other "projects"? Of course, some times locals and projects work out well. But right now, recruiting is mirroring our season on and off the field --- it started strong, gave indications of potential excellence, and ended with a crash and burned into a smoldering heap of defeat.

 

It is not over yet, but if it ends as it appears it will, and, in particular, if Jackson leaves, we may not have a top 20 class. Lets hope for a sucessful hail Mary or two.

[HuskerFowler]

I dont think anyone is saying the sky is falling, we are voicing our concerns. If you cant see whats going on with recruiting lately, you havent been paying attention.

 

There are legitimate concerns especially if we lose CJ and AA, Bubba probably wont make it and you almost always get atleast one non qualifier... that puts us pretty low as zoogies said. If we lose those 2 and pick up a few more last second projects, we will be lucky to hit 15.

 

Im sure we will pull out a few more, im confident we could close out by keeping our class in tact and hopefully pull Peat in, in a last minute shocker. And from the sounds of it were sitting pretty good with the kicker from florida. Even so we are going to have to press hard next year for LB TE and WR.

 

i think we limited our offers this year and focused on some bigger talent, we got good talent early and coasted on the last 5-6 guys we really wanted for this class, and when the season fell apart at the end so did recruiting.

[T-Husker]

I dont think anyone is saying the sky is falling, we are voicing our concerns. If you cant see whats going on with recruiting lately, you havent been paying attention.

 

There are legitimate concerns especially if we lose CJ and AA, Bubba probably wont make it and you almost always get atleast one non qualifier... that puts us pretty low as zoogies said. If we lose those 2 and pick up a few more last second projects, we will be lucky to hit 15.

 

Im sure we will pull out a few more, im confident we could close out by keeping our class in tact and hopefully pull Peat in, in a last minute shocker. And from the sounds of it were sitting pretty good with the kicker from florida. Even so we are going to have to press hard next year for LB TE and WR.

 

i think we limited our offers this year and focused on some bigger talent, we got good talent early and coasted on the last 5-6 guys we really wanted for this class, and when the season fell apart at the end so did recruiting.

Oh I know the concerns. But why do we need multiple threads saying the same exact things? I mean Crewe posted the same exact long post in two of them. Necessary? I don't think so. We got it the first time.

[Skull&Bones]

REPOST:

 

Nebraska isn't an easy sell when it comes to recruiting top talent. Our offense is a big question mark. Its been like that the past five years and so far nothing has changed. Also, everytime a head coaching job opens up Bo's name gets tossed around and creates panic and freak out mode. A lot of holes and question marks that need to be filled and answered. I think we are doing great if you ask me. Could be a helluva a lot worse...especially after what happened in the bowl game.

 

That's my personal opinion about the mess. I do believe we finish strong though

[The_Big_Dowski]

We knew a year ago we'd have a small class a year ago because Callahan signed HUGE classes

 

Per Rivals our "average" star is 3.65, which is on par with the top 5 teams in recruiting including Oklahoma and Florida State.

 

We just need to fill a few more holes and not worry too much about stars.