Dirk on recruiting local

[Kernal]

The point is Nebraska needs to do a better job of evalutating in-state talent. It was probably easier when Osborne (and Solich) were still here because they had long relationships with in-state coaches and likely had a good idea of who to trust when they got a call about a prospect. Hell, throw some more money at the problem; recruiting is one area where staff isn't limited. Get to know the in-state coaches and get on the same page as them so you can use their player evaluations to help shape your in-state recruiting.

 

The other thing is we need to develop players better. What kids come in as is one thing. But as the article points out, with good development they can be a much better player after a couple years of good coaching and development.

[Kernal]

Its easy to look back in hindsight and pick and choose kids that we missed on.

 

Its a catch 22. Sure it's great to tout guys like Ott or Emanuel. But there are many other kids that go to other schools (D1 and D2) that never really pan out into Nebraska level players.

 

Basically it boils down to "recruit the right kids" (which is a cousin of "call plays that work").

 

My favorite plays are the ones that work.

[BigRedBuster]

Need to reinstitute county scholarships IMO

I agree. Not using those really has hurt the program.

[Pedro Guerrero]

 

 

 

Very good article and something many fans have been saying for a very long time.

 

There is more talent here than what Callahan and Bo believed or were willing to work to find.

 

Can put a lot more names under the "gave" a scholarship to a local kid who never produced compared to the ones who go on to produce at other schools

 

 

This is the problem. It makes for a good article when you can point out all the examples on one side of the coin and ignore the other side.

 

It's complete revisionist history to say that Callahan didn't give enough scholarships to Nebraska kids. The obvious miss was Woodhead but it general, it would be far more accurate to say he gave out too many than not enough.

 

Native-Nebraska Scholarship Signees Since 2002 (as far back as Rivals goes):

2002 - Matt Herian, David Horne, Mark LeFlore, Kurt Mann, Jay Moore, Gory Timm, Dane Todd

2003 - Andy Birkel, Tierre Green, Josh Mueller, Bo Ruud, Brandon Teamer

 

2004 - Andy Christensen, Cortney Grixby, Mike Huff, Clayton Sievers, Ty Steinkuhler

2005 - Zach Potter, Robert Rands, Jeff Souder

2006 - Ricky Henry, DJ Jones, Ben Martin, Corey Young

2007 - Jared Crick, Niles Paul

 

2008 - Sean Fisher, Micah Kreikemeier, John Levorson, Collins Okafor, Baker Steinkuhler

2009 - Cole Pensick, CJ Zimmerer

2010 - Jake Cotton, Tyler Evans, Bronson Marsh, Andrew Rodriguez

2011 - Daniel Davie, Ryne Reeves, Zach Sterup, David Sutton

2012 - Sam Cotton

2013 - Josh Banderas

2014 - DJ Foster, Luke Gifford, Mick Stoltenberg

 

2015 - Michael Decker, DaiShon Neal

 

You can look at 2004 and 2008 when we took more Nebraska kids in transition years and see how many of them actually turned in to contributors. During Callahan's years only about one Nebraska kid turned into a contributor out of each class. Pelini usually got a couple out of each class and he didn't take as many.

 

Dirk found 14 who he says should have been Huskers. There's close to 20 in the names above that you could argue probably "shouldn't" have been. And I'm sure there's twice that many who people said at the time should have gotten a Husker offer but didn't and now nobody remembers who they were.

 

It's easy to say on the back end and say what someone should have done. I'd like to have as many Nebraska kids as possible. But the fact remains that the state really only produces 2-3 legitimate D1 prospects each year. Even Dirk's numbers back that up. So you try your best to get those 2-3 kids and live with the results.

 

 

You and I must view guys that contributed differently. I think all the guys I put in bold above contributed to the FB team pretty well. You and I both know that a 50% return on recruiting is about what to expect and by my figuring in that group about 36 of 46 contributed to the team.

 

 

You could probably BOLD Josh Mueller as well. He lettered all 4 years as a blocking TE and special teamer. You could half BOLD Horne since he contriubuted quite a bit the 2 years he was on campus.

 

What does that put the % at?

[NUinID]

The point is Nebraska needs to do a better job of evalutating in-state talent. It was probably easier when Osborne (and Solich) were still here because they had long relationships with in-state coaches and likely had a good idea of who to trust when they got a call about a prospect. Hell, throw some more money at the problem; recruiting is one area where staff isn't limited. Get to know the in-state coaches and get on the same page as them so you can use their player evaluations to help shape your in-state recruiting.

 

The other thing is we need to develop players better. What kids come in as is one thing. But as the article points out, with good development they can be a much better player after a couple years of good coaching and development.

 

This I agree with. My point is that they are overlooking guys in the lower classes that can play football. They need to do a better job of evaluation on that end of things.

[Mavric]

 

 

 

Very good article and something many fans have been saying for a very long time.

 

There is more talent here than what Callahan and Bo believed or were willing to work to find.

 

Can put a lot more names under the "gave" a scholarship to a local kid who never produced compared to the ones who go on to produce at other schools

 

 

This is the problem. It makes for a good article when you can point out all the examples on one side of the coin and ignore the other side.

 

It's complete revisionist history to say that Callahan didn't give enough scholarships to Nebraska kids. The obvious miss was Woodhead but it general, it would be far more accurate to say he gave out too many than not enough.

 

Native-Nebraska Scholarship Signees Since 2002 (as far back as Rivals goes):

2002 - Matt Herian, David Horne, Mark LeFlore, Kurt Mann, Jay Moore, Gory Timm, Dane Todd

2003 - Andy Birkel, Tierre Green, Josh Mueller, Bo Ruud, Brandon Teamer

 

2004 - Andy Christensen, Cortney Grixby, Mike Huff, Clayton Sievers, Ty Steinkuhler

2005 - Zach Potter, Robert Rands, Jeff Souder

2006 - Ricky Henry, DJ Jones, Ben Martin, Corey Young

2007 - Jared Crick, Niles Paul

 

2008 - Sean Fisher, Micah Kreikemeier, John Levorson, Collins Okafor, Baker Steinkuhler

2009 - Cole Pensick, CJ Zimmerer

2010 - Jake Cotton, Tyler Evans, Bronson Marsh, Andrew Rodriguez

2011 - Daniel Davie, Ryne Reeves, Zach Sterup, David Sutton

2012 - Sam Cotton

2013 - Josh Banderas

2014 - DJ Foster, Luke Gifford, Mick Stoltenberg

 

2015 - Michael Decker, DaiShon Neal

 

You can look at 2004 and 2008 when we took more Nebraska kids in transition years and see how many of them actually turned in to contributors. During Callahan's years only about one Nebraska kid turned into a contributor out of each class. Pelini usually got a couple out of each class and he didn't take as many.

 

Dirk found 14 who he says should have been Huskers. There's close to 20 in the names above that you could argue probably "shouldn't" have been. And I'm sure there's twice that many who people said at the time should have gotten a Husker offer but didn't and now nobody remembers who they were.

 

It's easy to say on the back end and say what someone should have done. I'd like to have as many Nebraska kids as possible. But the fact remains that the state really only produces 2-3 legitimate D1 prospects each year. Even Dirk's numbers back that up. So you try your best to get those 2-3 kids and live with the results.

 

 

You and I must view guys that contributed differently. I think all the guys I put in bold above contributed to the FB team pretty well. You and I both know that a 50% return on recruiting is about what to expect and by my figuring in that group about 36 of 46 contributed to the team.

 

 

OK. 20 may have overshot a bit. You still have 13 non-contributors which is basically the same as what Dirk found on the other side. I don't think I'd list Sutton as a contributor and there are are couple guys who were backups on some of the worst teams we've had but that's quibbling at that point.

[NUinID]

 

 

 

 

Very good article and something many fans have been saying for a very long time.

 

There is more talent here than what Callahan and Bo believed or were willing to work to find.

 

Can put a lot more names under the "gave" a scholarship to a local kid who never produced compared to the ones who go on to produce at other schools

 

 

This is the problem. It makes for a good article when you can point out all the examples on one side of the coin and ignore the other side.

 

It's complete revisionist history to say that Callahan didn't give enough scholarships to Nebraska kids. The obvious miss was Woodhead but it general, it would be far more accurate to say he gave out too many than not enough.

 

Native-Nebraska Scholarship Signees Since 2002 (as far back as Rivals goes):

2002 - Matt Herian, David Horne, Mark LeFlore, Kurt Mann, Jay Moore, Gory Timm, Dane Todd

2003 - Andy Birkel, Tierre Green, Josh Mueller, Bo Ruud, Brandon Teamer

 

2004 - Andy Christensen, Cortney Grixby, Mike Huff, Clayton Sievers, Ty Steinkuhler

2005 - Zach Potter, Robert Rands, Jeff Souder

2006 - Ricky Henry, DJ Jones, Ben Martin, Corey Young

2007 - Jared Crick, Niles Paul

 

2008 - Sean Fisher, Micah Kreikemeier, John Levorson, Collins Okafor, Baker Steinkuhler

2009 - Cole Pensick, CJ Zimmerer

2010 - Jake Cotton, Tyler Evans, Bronson Marsh, Andrew Rodriguez

2011 - Daniel Davie, Ryne Reeves, Zach Sterup, David Sutton

2012 - Sam Cotton

2013 - Josh Banderas

2014 - DJ Foster, Luke Gifford, Mick Stoltenberg

 

2015 - Michael Decker, DaiShon Neal

 

You can look at 2004 and 2008 when we took more Nebraska kids in transition years and see how many of them actually turned in to contributors. During Callahan's years only about one Nebraska kid turned into a contributor out of each class. Pelini usually got a couple out of each class and he didn't take as many.

 

Dirk found 14 who he says should have been Huskers. There's close to 20 in the names above that you could argue probably "shouldn't" have been. And I'm sure there's twice that many who people said at the time should have gotten a Husker offer but didn't and now nobody remembers who they were.

 

It's easy to say on the back end and say what someone should have done. I'd like to have as many Nebraska kids as possible. But the fact remains that the state really only produces 2-3 legitimate D1 prospects each year. Even Dirk's numbers back that up. So you try your best to get those 2-3 kids and live with the results.

 

 

You and I must view guys that contributed differently. I think all the guys I put in bold above contributed to the FB team pretty well. You and I both know that a 50% return on recruiting is about what to expect and by my figuring in that group about 36 of 46 contributed to the team.

 

 

You could probably BOLD Josh Mueller as well. He lettered all 4 years as a blocking TE and special teamer. You could half BOLD Horne since he contriubuted quite a bit the 2 years he was on campus.

 

What does that put the % at?

 

 

I couldn't remember if Mueller played that much thanks. I thought about putting Horne on the list but decided against it. To me if a guy letters he is contributing to the team.

[NUinID]

 

 

 

 

Very good article and something many fans have been saying for a very long time.

 

There is more talent here than what Callahan and Bo believed or were willing to work to find.

 

Can put a lot more names under the "gave" a scholarship to a local kid who never produced compared to the ones who go on to produce at other schools

 

 

This is the problem. It makes for a good article when you can point out all the examples on one side of the coin and ignore the other side.

 

It's complete revisionist history to say that Callahan didn't give enough scholarships to Nebraska kids. The obvious miss was Woodhead but it general, it would be far more accurate to say he gave out too many than not enough.

 

Native-Nebraska Scholarship Signees Since 2002 (as far back as Rivals goes):

2002 - Matt Herian, David Horne, Mark LeFlore, Kurt Mann, Jay Moore, Gory Timm, Dane Todd

2003 - Andy Birkel, Tierre Green, Josh Mueller, Bo Ruud, Brandon Teamer

 

2004 - Andy Christensen, Cortney Grixby, Mike Huff, Clayton Sievers, Ty Steinkuhler

2005 - Zach Potter, Robert Rands, Jeff Souder

2006 - Ricky Henry, DJ Jones, Ben Martin, Corey Young

2007 - Jared Crick, Niles Paul

 

2008 - Sean Fisher, Micah Kreikemeier, John Levorson, Collins Okafor, Baker Steinkuhler

2009 - Cole Pensick, CJ Zimmerer

2010 - Jake Cotton, Tyler Evans, Bronson Marsh, Andrew Rodriguez

2011 - Daniel Davie, Ryne Reeves, Zach Sterup, David Sutton

2012 - Sam Cotton

2013 - Josh Banderas

2014 - DJ Foster, Luke Gifford, Mick Stoltenberg

 

2015 - Michael Decker, DaiShon Neal

 

You can look at 2004 and 2008 when we took more Nebraska kids in transition years and see how many of them actually turned in to contributors. During Callahan's years only about one Nebraska kid turned into a contributor out of each class. Pelini usually got a couple out of each class and he didn't take as many.

 

Dirk found 14 who he says should have been Huskers. There's close to 20 in the names above that you could argue probably "shouldn't" have been. And I'm sure there's twice that many who people said at the time should have gotten a Husker offer but didn't and now nobody remembers who they were.

 

It's easy to say on the back end and say what someone should have done. I'd like to have as many Nebraska kids as possible. But the fact remains that the state really only produces 2-3 legitimate D1 prospects each year. Even Dirk's numbers back that up. So you try your best to get those 2-3 kids and live with the results.

 

 

You and I must view guys that contributed differently. I think all the guys I put in bold above contributed to the FB team pretty well. You and I both know that a 50% return on recruiting is about what to expect and by my figuring in that group about 36 of 46 contributed to the team.

 

 

OK. 20 may have overshot a bit. You still have 13 non-contributors which is basically the same as what Dirk found on the other side. I don't think I'd list Sutton as a contributor and there are are couple guys who were backups on some of the worst teams we've had but that's quibbling at that point.

 

 

So in your view they need to be a starter to be a contributor. .

[SouthLincoln Husker]

TO also had more scholarships to work with. Plus, if kids want to play D1 they can set up a Hudl account.

[junior4949]

Wasn't Horne a 4* recruit coming out of Omaha? I remember him being a big deal that quickly turned into a big bust. Randy Stella is another one I remember coming in with lots of hype only to bust.

[cm husker]

TO also had more scholarships to work with. Plus, if kids want to play D1 they can set up a Hudl account.

Barely true (since 70s he had 95 and then in 90s had 85), but he always signed fairly small classes (averaging around 22 to 23 signees per class).

[southernoregonhusker]

Need to reinstitute county scholarships IMO

I haven't heard about those in a long time hahaha

[NUinID]

 

Need to reinstitute county scholarships IMO

I haven't heard about those in a long time hahaha

 

 

What are you saying they weren't a real thing.

[Joe_5700]

I just do not agree with the article. As stated above, you can call out the coaching staff after the fact with guys like Ott and Woodhead. Ott going to Iowa is A LOT different than Woodhead ending up at Chadron State...every single D1 program missed on him.

 

You can never win with the in state guys. The question comes back...why is this kid not getting a scholarship or why are the coaches using a scholarship on a 2 star in state kid vs a 3-4 star out of state kid.

 

There are obvious ones, but it is a crap shoot just like any other recruit!

 

Sure you can. In 1997, there were games where 9 out of the 11 offensive starters were from Nebraska. We won a lot of games that year.

[Touchdown Tommie]

 

I just do not agree with the article. As stated above, you can call out the coaching staff after the fact with guys like Ott and Woodhead. Ott going to Iowa is A LOT different than Woodhead ending up at Chadron State...every single D1 program missed on him.

 

You can never win with the in state guys. The question comes back...why is this kid not getting a scholarship or why are the coaches using a scholarship on a 2 star in state kid vs a 3-4 star out of state kid.

 

There are obvious ones, but it is a crap shoot just like any other recruit!

 

Sure you can. In 1997, there were games where 9 out of the 11 offensive starters were from Nebraska. We won a lot of games that year.

 

Thank you for twisting my words....if you would read on it would make sense to you!