Local Prospect Bolting To the Tide?

[deliveryman35]

Greetings from a Crimson Tide fan that has always respected the Husker program. I look forward to posting more on this forum especially as the upcoming season approaches. There's no doubt in my mind that folks in Nebraska and Alabama are more than ready for the '04 season to start.

I've got a question perhaps you all can shed some light on--a local recruiting guru is reporting here in Alabama that a prospect in Lincoln is leaning toward signing with us after the upcoming high school season. His words were basically that Coach Callahan has decided to put a major focus on national recruiting over getting the top in-state prospects. I don't recall the recruit's name, but are any of you aware of this? I would like to hear any insight any of you might have....

[Blackshirt]

Welcome aboard d-man. You'll find more action in the coming months, but hang around and it will be more than worth it - we have some good members with a bunch of knowledge, and we're growing everyday.

 

Back atcha about the respect for the program, and thanx for the love.

I'll defer to some of the others for more details bout your query, as Ive been in the basement over the past few months workin on some other projects. But overall I think youre on the right track - Callahan and co really are focusing more energy on not just the out of state stars, but "stars" in general. The BC (before Cally) regimes never really pursued the blue chippers, b/c they didnt feel it was worth the time.

 

Well maybe some others have more to add - but anyway welcome to the board man.

[Redout]

Hey Tide!!

Yes, I would have to agree with what this recruit has said. In previous years Nebraska would average about 6-8 local kids and the rest from anywhere and everywhere. On top of that about 40 walk-ons from the state. As of right now now Callahan has only offered one in state kid. Kid from Creighton Prep. He is also the only legitimate D-1 prospect in the state as he is a TE at about 6'7" 240.

 

Callahan believes he must keep all potential players here. He had said this many times. But with the recent changes in staff it will take a couple years before Nebraska high school kids are looked at. New offense will need to be learned by the high school coaches and implemented. Many of the high school coaches are still going with the old option and "I" formations. It will be that way for a while. Your simply not going to find a 6'4" wideout with speed in Nebraska. You need to look down South.

 

Callahan has made it a point to go after kids from Florida, Texas, and California. In the recent NFL draft, over 90 players were taken from these states alone out of, what, 250 picks???

 

I couldn't tell you who this prospect is off hand. I beleive you said he is form Lincoln?? I'm usually up on these things, I enjoy following football. So you may not want to think to highly of this kid if he is planning on going to Alabama. I'm going to look into it though.

[Redout]

Sorry about the error. As of this past Monday, there are now 2 in state offers given by Callahan.

 

From the Omaha World Herald,

 

"Orion Matthies has a scholarship offer from Nebraska.

 

Matthies, who hails from a town of about 750 and plays eight-man football, is just the second known in-state player from the Class of 2005 to be offered by new Coach Bill Callahan."

 

He said he will not commit anywhere until he checks out a few colleges such as Kansas State, Iowa, and Iowa State.

[deliveryman35]

I just found out this young man's name--his name is Brent Gritten and he attends and currently plays at Lincoln East HS. The word down here is he is on the phone alot with HC Mike Shula and the staff members and is very serious about leaving the state. Anyone know about him or have a thumbnail sketch of this kid?

 

On Nebraska's current transformation to a more two dimensional offense--you guys will be successful, I have no doubt. And I think that, if given time and support from the fans and university, Coach Callahan will have you guys back in the hunt sooner than later. Look at what Pete Carroll has done at SC--an NFL background helps, imo, especially if you are trying to introduce a passing offense. I think we all knew the days of being able to pitch the ball to an I-back thirty times a game and win 10-11 games a year was coming to an end in today's modern game. Oklahoma has made the transition--you guys will too.

[deliveryman35]

Sorry, I evidently misspelled Brent's last name--It is spelled "Gritton".

[Redout]

I think this kid is a LB if I'm not mistaken. I think a lot of in state kids are goingto leave this year, they just don't fit the system. As I said the high schools have to start implementing this offensive scheme. Not one team that I know of in Nebraska puts the ball in the air 25 times.

 

d-man, what exactely happened in Alabama with the scandals and stuff. Where are you guys sitting right now?? Do you have all your scholorships? It must suck getting in trouble because, from what I have heard, all SEC teams do it. It's very "hard core" down south...could you explain?

[deliveryman35]

Redout,

 

College football is practically a religious rite in the South, whether that's taking it too far or not. It is taken very seriously. I know you guys are in the Midwest, but I would imagine that most Nebraska folks take their football just as seriously as we do, and I mean that as a compliment.

As far as the "scandals and stuff" goes, I could probably write a short novel explaining it all in detail, but, to make a long story short, Alabama was accused of trying to buy a player in the Memphis area through a prominent booster. Ultimately, it was not and never has been proven conclusively, but the NCAA Committee on Infractions saw it differently and imposed sanctions on the university. As you can probably imagine, there has been alot of debate in these parts on whether the NCAA was fair and reasonable in how it handled the matter, and the two assistant coaches at the center of the whole thing currently have major lawsuits pending against the NCAA.

As far as scholarships go, we will have our full compliment back for the '05 season. I believe our limit this year was 19. That being the case, our team depth at almost every position is very weak. Our starting 22 can probably play with anyone in the country, like we showed against OU last season, but injuries and lack of depth had alot to do with our disappointing 4-9 season last year. For instance, in the Georgia game last year, we had three QB's knocked out of the game, two w/concussions, and all three suffered nagging injuries that lasted for weeks.

Expectations for this season are surprisingly positive though, and several reasons are given. First, Shula had a banner recruiting season. We signed most of the top in state prospects, and were able to get some good players out of Georgia and Florida. Also, Phil Steele, a highly respected preseason pick guru, is high on us as well--he firmly believes Bama will win 8-10 games this season. Second, the players have had a full spring/summer to learn the system that Coach Shula and his staff brought w/them. And third, if you look back over time, Alabama has very rarely had back to back bad seasons. They traditionally bounce back well from disappointing campaigns. Personally, I think we have a chance to see some major improvement this year, but I think we are still a couple of years away from winning 9-10 games. I think it will come down to injuries or lack thereof mainly because of the depth issue. With our weak ooc schedule this season, along with the brutal sec part of th schedule that we play in '04, I think 7-4+ a bowl game is about where we will end up.

Imo, Nebraska and Bama are two "sleeping giants" right now, but I don't think it will be long before we are both back in the NC hunt. Let's be honest--our fans and universities simply will not tolerate mediocrity in the football program and will do whatever we have to do within the rules to get the right coaches, players, and facilities to compete year in and year out for conference championships and the NC, and that's the way it should be.

Do you think you guys can win the North this year? All the preseason hoopla I am seeing is around Missouri and K-State. I will be pulling for you guys to get to KC this year.

[Blackshirt]

Very interesting info. Thanx for the nsight d-man. I think we have a legit shot at taking the North this season - we have MU at home, and KSU will not be the powerhouse of years past, b/c of several key players moving on. I see a 2 game series v. OU this season - just not so sure we wont end up with a gooser.

oh well, yessir you said it best d-man -- sleeping giants just waiting for the right moment.

 

"We're not out of ammo -- just reloading."

[AR Husker Fan]

***SNIP***

 

Expectations for this season are surprisingly positive though, and several reasons are given.

 

***SNIP***

And with good reason. Alabama is to the SEC what Nebraska is to the Big Twelve, Duke (in basketball) is to the ACC, and so on - the preiminent program.

 

Living in an SEC state, and especially on that is a relatively recent member of the SEC, I can tell you that so far as football goes, Alabama is the measuring stick for the rest of the league. My hat is definitely off to them - game in and game out, Alabama is almost always THE game for the opponent. In the SEC, defeating Alabama is akin to a Big 12 team defeating Nebraska - it can save a season, the fans, and the coache's job.

 

And the one thing everyone in the SEC knows - NEVER count Alabama out of the standings.

 

Personally, I think this is one of the reasons for the recent problems in the SEC. That is, everyone is trying to reach the level of Alabama. Given that the recruiting is mostly SEC-centered, and that so many of the coaches are life-long SEC coaches and former players, there is a level of familiarity that may not exist in other regions. Things can become personal far too often and far too easily. So, alleged "violations" that might go unnoticed or unreported in other conferences are jumped on in the SEC.

 

Another factor that was once nearly unique to the south was the use of football dorms. That led to a kind of "arms race" among schools - a kind of bribery that didn't exist at many other conferences. I sometimes think that this led to a mind-set that forced coaches and administrators to think that they had to "one up" everyone else in the conference.

[Redout]

Here's a follow up to all this talk.

 

OWH has an article directly related to this topic:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg...8&u_sid=1158115

[deliveryman35]

Interesting read.....Thanks for sharing it. this kid Gritton must be good for us(UA) to have offered him a scholly right off the bat. Something tells me though that this homegrown talent will give the Huskers a very serious look before making a final decision. I simply cannot imagine growing up and playing football in a place like Nebraska over the last eighteen years and not having a natural bent toward the school. I remember being told a long time ago kids in Nebraska literally "wait in line" to play there and with all of the rich tradition there I can certainly understand why, plus the fact you guys don't have an in-state Div I-A rival to compete against for in-state talent. I have nothing but respect and high hopes for you guys this year, but I hope we can snatch this kid off of your guys' home turf. If memory serves me well, you guys have come down here and gotten a few good players out of dixie. I can't remember his name, but one of them now lives back in B'ham and is all the time calling in on local sports talk radio talking about his days playing for Coach Osborne during the amazing run you guys had in '94-'98. I will try to get his name. I think he is originally from Bessemer, AL.