IF We Swing and Miss Badly...Why?

[ScottyIce]

Guys,

 

I'm not necessarily sold on the idea that our recruiting class is going to end in a blunder. I still feel really strong about Lewis, G Holmes, Johnson, Calvin. I feel like we have a fighter's chance with Sarell, Slade, Lenoir. I also deep down believe it isn't over for D Holmes, maybe that one is just me refusing to let go though.

 

I also am a strong believer that there is a little list in Riley's back pocket with a few guys at each position that are solid prospects that he can offer in the coming weeks and flip on the spot, if need be.

 

 

BUT, What if we swing and miss badly? Why will it have happened?

 

Well, I've compiled a short list of my reasons.

 

1: We haven't really ran our offense yet to show recruits what the gameplan will be.

- Sure, you can tell recruits all you want. You can show them what you did at previous jobs, but until you actually go out and do it, other teams can use that as negative recruiting. They can point to Derrion Grim and say "They told that guy they were going to run 5 WR to get more WR on the field" and they didn't do it. I mean, Grim wasn't even patient enough to wait one more season, and it could've been his RS year for crying out loud. We really haven't shown what we are going to do, it seems blatantly obvious to all of us that we are going to chuck it around next year, but we also follow every waking movement by Nebraska. Recruits don't.

 

2. Maybe, just maybe, we over-did it with the Cali-Braska Pipeline.

-Has it worked to an extent? Yes, we have brought in a ton of high caliber players from Cali, and I love that. Did we possibly reach too far into Cali? Perhaps. Guys, you have to realize that we have been recruiting every position extremely hard in Cali, sans OL,K,P. I make this next comment without tongue in cheek and without great conviction, but did we forget about the 500 mile radius? It feels like we don't have a ton of "back-up" options. Guys within our radius, perhaps would be back-up options, but it feels as though we haven't been recruiting them hard enough to even be able to make a connection this late in the game. Did we over do it in Cali? I don't know, but if we don't land another Cali guy, I would say the answer is yes.

 

3. Blow-outs on National TV

Yes, the blow-out against Ohio State and Iowa were a bad look for N. Heck, Porcher made some strong comments that night on twitter against tOSU.

 

4. Powerhouse Programs Either Stayed Status Quo/Fired Underperforming Coaches/Showed Great Improvement

A- Bama, tOSU, Clemson all continued to dominate. Not stealing recruits from them.

B- Programs we are in direct competition with for players showed good improvement. USC, Michigan.

C- Programs that we appeared to be stealing recruits from, made coaching changes, which helped right the ship. Oregon firing Helfrich might've been the worst possible thing that happened to our program. Also, Texas.

--- (UCLA didn't fire their coach, and really hasn't been taking anyone from us, lately anyways)

 

I hope all of this was just a waste of ink and our time, and I really do feel optimistic our class will finish just fine, but in case it doesn't, these are the reasons why.

[swmohusker]

Good list of reasons. I, like you, think we have a chance to finish strong. Another reason is due to our schedule, our big visit weeks were early in the year and after that our momentum has simmered down. Pair that with a poor ending to our season and you have a recipe for not getting nationwide recruits.

[fwhuskerfan]

Any thoughts to the MRI kneeling combined with regent feedback being used as a negative against Nebraska? The coaches and admin seemed to have a good response, but there was a lot of negative publicity there, it seems.

[NM11046]

Any thoughts to the MRI kneeling combined with regent feedback being used as a negative against Nebraska? The coaches and admin seemed to have a good response, but there was a lot of negative publicity there, it seems.

Absolutely not an issue. Period. The (majority) of fans, all the coaches and admin handled things far better than any other state uni would have. This is only brought up by the fans who had a problem with it.

[NM11046]

And Matty - I think expectations have to be more realistic in general ...."miss badly" is a bit harsh.

 

We have 3+early enrollees coming that are excellent prospects - more to sign. Recruiting (just like performance) has a turn about that is slower in reality than we fans want. Its incremental investments for long term return.

 

We have improved from last years recruiting class (imo) and we dont even know the final members.

 

Deep breaths.

[ScottyIce]

And Matty - I think expectations have to be more realistic in general ...."miss badly" is a bit harsh.

 

We have 3+early enrollees coming that are excellent prospects - more to sign. Recruiting (just like performance) has a turn about that is slower in reality than we fans want. Its incremental investments for long term return.

 

We have improved from last years recruiting class (imo) and we dont even know the final members.

 

Deep breaths.

 

If we miss on all of those guys I listed, it will be a swing and a miss. Badly.

 

If you read what I wrote, I don't believe that to happen. But if we do, that's my opinion on the finish of this class.

[BigRedBuster]

The reason I said in another thread that I need to wait till the end to either be OK or panic with this class is that we have absolutely no idea what is going to transpire in the next 4-6 weeks. Ameer didn't show up on our radar screen till well into January. There always tends to be some jockying around with recruits as people commit and classes start filling up.

 

I suspect we will get a few but nowhere close to all of the big fish all of us are drooling over right now. That's not as good as I thought we would be about a month ago. But, I suspect that we will pull in a couple guys we haven't even heard of yet. With 13 commits, I still think we could get maybe 12 more in this class.

[BoNeyard]

The Cali connection is good for the playmakers, but we need to be going into Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio for those beefy lineman recruits. Basically the lineman who are going to Wisconsin, should be coming to Nebraska.

[BIG ERN]

A lot of times in late December - January recruiting you pick up a lot of new names and hope to get them. I think we will see a few of those.

 

We are also fans of Nebraska and tend to think we have better facilities, tradition, teams, players, coaches, etc. than we truly have. We are no longer a 'great' program. Just a good one at the moment.

 

Winning conference titles, 10+ regular season games, and winning those important nationally televised games are crucial. None of these we are doing

[HuskerJax]

I'm trying really hard to not feel like the sky is falling, really hard. I know we have some good prospects coming in for sure, but this complete loss of momentum has me concerned. I really think we are going to miss on all the big fish we are after. Not to say we won't find some other new names, but the ones we've been after (Lewis, Calvin, Holmes, sarell, johnson etc...) I think they are all gone. I really don't think we have a chance with any of them anymore. I truly hope I am wrong

[Atbone95]

You miss every shot you don't take.

 

- Wayne Gretzky

- Michael Jordan

- Bo Pelini

- Atbone95

 

Damned if you and damned if you don't with the fans. If we miss, this is what you wanted.

[ScottyIce]

Absolutely true. I'd rather go big.

[krc1995]

And Matty - I think expectations have to be more realistic in general ...."miss badly" is a bit harsh.

We have 3+early enrollees coming that are excellent prospects - more to sign. Recruiting (just like performance) has a turn about that is slower in reality than we fans want. Its incremental investments for long term return.

We have improved from last years recruiting class (imo) and we dont even know the final members.

Deep breaths.

When has an early enroll contributed as a freshman or made an significant impact?

[Atbone95]

 

And Matty - I think expectations have to be more realistic in general ...."miss badly" is a bit harsh.

We have 3+early enrollees coming that are excellent prospects - more to sign. Recruiting (just like performance) has a turn about that is slower in reality than we fans want. Its incremental investments for long term return.

We have improved from last years recruiting class (imo) and we dont even know the final members.

Deep breaths.

When has an early enroll contributed as a freshman or made an significant impact?

 

Our 2 year starter at LB, Dedrick Young?

[ScottyIce]

 

 

And Matty - I think expectations have to be more realistic in general ...."miss badly" is a bit harsh.

We have 3+early enrollees coming that are excellent prospects - more to sign. Recruiting (just like performance) has a turn about that is slower in reality than we fans want. Its incremental investments for long term return.

We have improved from last years recruiting class (imo) and we dont even know the final members.

Deep breaths.

When has an early enroll contributed as a freshman or made an significant impact?

 

Our 2 year starter at LB, Dedrick Young?

 

Also, strong chance one of our EE WR's make an impact in 2017.