Offers to Big Names?

[Warrior10]

Does it seem to anyone else that this year we are offering a lot of bigger names, and also seem to be in the running for some of the bigger names? Maybe its just wishful thinking on my behalf but it sure seems like it to me....

[MMAHusker]

I dont know exactly what it is but it does seem the highly touted prospects seemed to be more interested in us this year. Sounds good to me.

[MinnwiscowaSker]

I was on vacation for a week, then got back and went through all the new recruiting targets from last week ... I was thinking the same thing.

[Goal-line]

Three posts and not a mention of a name. Like who are these "big names?" Clue us in!

[Omaha-Husker]

I think there are offers going out to most big name guys most year from Nebraska. Nebraska has already thrown out ~130 offers it looks like. The offered 200+ last year.

[RedRedJarvisRedwine]

Does it seem to anyone else that this year we are offering a lot of bigger names, and also seem to be in the running for some of the bigger names? Maybe its just wishful thinking on my behalf but it sure seems like it to me....

You could stick this thread in recruiting 2012 and it was the same discussion. Too bad a lot of the big names we were in on last year turned us away by November. I'll get excited when we start getting verbals from these kids as opposed to just being in their top 3-5! Merry go round and round! De ja vu!

[PaulCrewe]

Three posts and not a mention of a name. Like who are these "big names?" Clue us in!

Or.......you could just click the 2013 Recruit thread and figure it out yourself. We are all big boys here.

[ADS]

Three posts and not a mention of a name. Like who are these "big names?" Clue us in!

Mike Nobler.

[caveman99]

Three posts and not a mention of a name. Like who are these "big names?" Clue us in!

Mike Nobler.

if we get him, he would be a program defining pick up

[Redmusky]

Well I would like to see the staff close on a few of the big names before we fall so far back we from the other big 10 schools we never catch up

[huskereddie]

We seemed to have changed our recruiting strategy from trying to sign 3 star players early (and a few of them get an extra star later) to trying an land the big fish. I have no idea which strategy would be best for the long run but I appreciate the efforts of our coaches trying to reach for the very best.

[girlknowsfootball]

We seemed to have changed our recruiting strategy from trying to sign 3 star players early (and a few of them get an extra star later) to trying an land the big fish. I have no idea which strategy would be best for the long run but I appreciate the efforts of our coaches trying to reach for the very best.

 

I think we went for the big fish the past 2 years... in 2011 we got several. In 2012, we almost got several. I don't necessarily think our strategy has changed, I think we have coaches going out and offering the big guys first to see if they can get bites... then one by one as the big fish get reeled in with the USC, SEC, Texas's... we start offering the second group of kids (which is where you start to see a mixture of 3star and 4star kids get offered go to mostly 3star kids getting offered).

 

The problem, for whatever reason, is that 18 year old males think of Nebraska as a second tier school to USC, Bama, LSU, Florida, Auburn, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Oregon, UCLA (makes me laugh), etc. These 18 year old kids think "Nebraska is a really good school... they have good academics and put a lot of guys in the league, but Nebraska isn't as good as ___________." Every year, year after year, we lose a lot of guys we initially target and covet to other schools... who may not have as great of academics, who may not have as big of a stadium or as great of facilities, who may not have as good of a defense, who may not send kids into the NFL as much. Every year we lose kids some of these other schools for these reasons above. I think that is cause of 3 reasons:

 

1. Distance from home - When it's all said and done, 95% of kids we lose out on stay within 6-7hrs of home. (look at last year's offers/commits).

 

2. Incentives - Whether we like it or not, many schools do recruit dirty. Cash ends up on hotel pillows, gifts are given to recruits like casino cards/clothes/gift cards, etc. It does happen every day and 95% of these situations do not get caught, can't be caught... cause donors send recruits stuff indirectly through the university and do it in the forms of gift cards payed in cash that can't be traced, etc. Players say it goes on, graduates will tell you it went on... but I know for a fact that Tom Osborne is a Nazi about these things and runs a very tight ship at Nebraska... it doesn't happen here like it does at some of the others and I think that's why we lose out on a lot of the big fish. We aren't in bed with the massive underground compensation industry that is college football. We are in denial of it, and though aware of it, unwilling to play the game to win the prize"

 

3. Lack of positive media attention - year after year ESPN ignores Nebraska. And these kids across the country, outside of Nebraska, are seeing Bama's fall practice show, Tebow mania, etc. They're watching sportscenter... they watch and listen to the announcers talk about the favorites... and year after year Nebraska is the younger brother of the next in line for king. Year after year we are denied the throne. It doesn't matter what we do, we don't get national media attention as being anything big time. When Texas had a losing record the last 2 years and Nebraska was 9-4... Texas still got way more attention than Nebraska did. The attention Nebraska got was "you're crazy for leaving the big 12, you started what ultimately killed the big 12"... Nebraska is the bad boy... "pelini tirading on the sidelines, cussing out players, is portrayed as an abuser who you'd never want your kids around"... so there we killed the big 12, and we have an abusive coach... this is the type of attention we get at Nebraska. And kids see it... and even if they have a nice meeting with Bo, they still, in the back of their heads think... I don't know if I can trust him, he did this at the a&m game, and this at the South Carolina game.

[Treand3]

It does pain me to see recruits have us in the top 3-5 only to choose a 'sexier' school. However, proximity is a very big deal in a prospect's choice and many of those schools benefit from that, I.e. fro Michigan 15/16 of their prosepcts are within a 300 mile radius of Ann Arbor and most of SCs highly regarded class last year, although small, is from their own backyard. This is something that we'll always have to contend with a lack of local talent.

 

Our facilities are better than most and especially for defensive players you couldn't ask for a better coach. I won't get into recruiting tactics, but we are doubly disadvantaged. Nebraska is culturally different for many that grow up in the South or the coasts, there are a lot of preconceptions in regards to NU.

 

Bottom line, until our guys start winning big games and BCS bowls or conference championships, it will harder to lure sizable amounts of top talent. However, it will ALWAYS be about player development at NU and our coaches have to be on their their game.

[dylan]

We seemed to have changed our recruiting strategy from trying to sign 3 star players early (and a few of them get an extra star later) to trying an land the big fish. I have no idea which strategy would be best for the long run but I appreciate the efforts of our coaches trying to reach for the very best.

 

that's a bit silly. coaches identify the players they think are best and offer them first. some of them are highly touted by "recruiting experts", some may not be. when you see an early offer that starts out ranked low and then gets extra attention or stars later, it has nothing to do with our coaches setting their sights lower, it's just that they saw better, earlier than "recruiting experts" did.