Great Gundy Interview on Sharp & Benning today

Sharp: Is there a certain moment where you said: Man, the brand of Nebraska is powerful?

Gundy: There have been a lot of moments, .... that first Spring Game was one.. just how overwhelming that whole deal was....I'd say the Michigan State game last year, with Lamar Jackson. We would have always have had trouble (at OSU) on a kid like that. The impact of the game, and Nebraska had on him, I think was pretty powerful.
 
Benning: Gundy, you got this loosey-goosey style, first time I ever saw you, you were wearing a tie, jeans, rockin' the red tennies. It's hip, right? Coach Riley, even at 61, there's a cool factor. Coach Bray, cool. You have these individual personalities.... How much communication do you guys have.. to make sure you're on the same page?

Gundy: I attribute a lot of that to the work environment. When things aren't too rigid... you're allowed to be yourself.... There's a lot of young people around here, so it's pretty fun with a lot of different personalities.

I think that in the recruiting industry you're dealing with so many young kids, so if you're not up to the trend and aware of what these kids are doing, you're just not all that affective. You gotta know how to make them laugh, and know what language they're talking. You have to just "get it", I guess. I'm 31, but I'm more aware of what 18 and 16 and 17-year olds are doing than 31-year olds. It's what you have to do to stay relevant.
 
Benning: There are times that I see you at practice with a practice script. You know what plays they are on, what Nebraska is doing offensively and defensively. Then you can turn right around and be as social-media-savvy as you are. Is that a staff thing? How hard is it to be a "football guy", and then relate to kids?

Gundy: I think younger coaches have an easier time with the social media side of it. I enjoy football, so I like being around it. I always will be around it.

I think that to be effective anymore in this industry you've got to be able to handle both of them. You can be a great football coach, but you're going to have a ceiling. Your ceiling will be the talent around you if you don't recruit great players. You HAVE to be good at both.
 
Sharp: Tom Herman, Head Coach at Houston, had an interesting quote last week. He was at a camp, in front of lots of high school coaches, and he said: "scholarships are not earned out here in tee shirts and shorts. They are earned on Friday nights playing tackle football." ...Do you agree with that statement?

Gundy: Yeah. I always am hesitant about people that want to offer a kid of of what they see at camps. You HAVE to watch the film... The product on the film has to be there. What you see at a camp can be positive..., but that stuff should shine through when you turn the film on.
 
Sharp: Let's say I'm a big-time high school player, I like you, you like me. I'm going to decide before my senior year, but I want to do the camp tour and I'm coming to your camp this summer. How would you approach me and coach me up at camp? What discussions would you have with me knowing I'm going to make my decision in a couple of months?

Gundy: We like to just show the kids everything that will impact them while they are on campus. Life skills, academics, the NAPL, our S&C group, any specific academic interests that they may have. They're going to tour the facilities. We like to get them down and let them see the Haymarket, let them see Devaney. Just give them a good idea of what their life will be like here.

Our coaches are very involved. If we have a kid that we've offered on campus, our coach is going to be next to them the entire time. The pressure comes off of myself and the people I work with when there's an offer on the table. You've said you want to coach a guy? Then you'd better SHOW ME you wanna coach a guy by how much time you spend with him while he's here!
 
Benning: How comfortable are you guys (deciding) between a kid that needs a senior year to be evaluated versus being able to get out in front of some other kids with early offers as juniors?

Gundy: The example that I use is David Engelhaupt. He was a kid that we really liked last year at camp, but we wanted to evaluate him into his senior year. We wanted to see if he could play more physically, because we liked him more as a tight end than a running back or linebacker. He had a really good senior year. We were trying to find a spot for him, a spot opened up late, and we offered him a scholarship.

On the other end of that there's names that I can't say. If a kid look like he's good enough early on, we're gonna offer him. If you like what you see, you gotta trust it. These guys have been doing it long enough, that if they like what they see they're gonna go for it. If we have questions, (we tell them) "be patient".
 
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