Recruits Decommitting

[FrankWheeler]

And even if Nebraska were to break into the top 10 like 2005 (which was a ranking that was probably not deserved), its highly unlikely they would be able to sustain it. Over the past 13 years there is usually one team that is unexpected that breaks into the top 10 but its usually the same 14 teams alternating in the top 10.

 

[dylan]

I'm not saying its comparable, but that is just the next I could think of.

We are really an anomaly.

An anomaly based mostly on the genius of Tom Osborne (recall that he was OC for Devaney's championships). No one else is running a consistently successful program in the middle of nowhere. And even TO was nearly run out, and nearly left of his own accord, due to unreasonable expectations. That makes it all the more unforgivable that fans and even the NU administration would ignore him when he was nice enough to come out of retirement to save NU from the Pederson/Callahan era. You'd think people would learn from those mistakes and heed his advice.

Unfortunately, we seem destined to undermine Bo and run him out of town in search of the next shiny object. Too bad TO wont be there to save the program again next time.

 

[Landlord]

Here is a question for you.

Name a school that is not close to a hot bed of talent that has brought in the type of talent consistantly like you expect Nebraska to do?

So you're saying we are disadvantaged? Gee, I never really thought about that.

Then why do we expect any better than we're getting? This is an honest question.

 

[zoogs]

Decommits happen all the time, it's part of the game. They happen to everybody. Clinkscales, sounds like that was a case of Nebraska making the call.

As for Bo's recruiting, on the surface, this year is underwhelming. It was underwhelming since early on and it's still that way. How it turns out in the end is anyone's guess. Nebraska under Bo has suffered from recruiting lapses in the past and I sure hope they won't be paying for this class in the future. It seems that the way Bo recruits, every loss, injury, or strikeout hurts more than it needs to. But that's just a casual, uninformed observation.

As far as limitations, every school operates under its own set of circumstances. You can either admit the 'natural limitations' and let them define you, or embrace the situation and overcome it. See James Franklin's comments about recruiting to Vanderbilt with their academic restrictions (which I'd say isn't the only issue when you're talking about selling Vandy football...)

 

[QMany]

They NEED to change the rules re: Juniors taking visits. Either don't allow them or allow schools to pay for them. That puts us at an immense disadvantage to start.

 

[FrankWheeler]

Here is a question for you.

Name a school that is not close to a hot bed of talent that has brought in the type of talent consistantly like you expect Nebraska to do?

So you're saying we are disadvantaged? Gee, I never really thought about that.

Then why do we expect any better than we're getting? This is an honest question.

Everything isn't always one way or the other. You can be disadvantaged and still have high expectations.

Thinking about this more, what a crappy attitude towards life in general.

 

[The King]

Two guarantees when it comes to husker football - fans will whine about recruiting every year and Bo and his guys will keep on winning.

Sucks to lose this kid, but we'll be fine without him.

Are you saying the fans are required to be pleased with the substandard recruiting every year? And I somewhat disagree with the keep on winning part. Minnesota and Iowa say hi. Unless you meant something else by winning.

I'm a little late to the party, but the bolded couldn't be more wrong.

We are lucky to pull in the talent that we do. If anything, our staff has to be above average in recruiting to make this team mesh as it does. We have to find the diamonds in the rough, we have to take the chances that other schools won't, and we are severely disadvantaged due to location. It might be substandard to you, because you may have unreasonable expectations as to what kind of class we should be bringing in year in and year out. There is very little talent around us as opposed to *most* other top 25 teams. Couple that with the built in issues, systemic, location (OVs are tough to schedule due to flight restrictions, visiting recruits is tough due to monetary issues in the AD, etc) and monetarily, and you have your answer as to why our classes are not "substandard" but are in fact, very good classes.

Did people forget how much talent is on this team? Remember when the B1G network went around and said we might have the most talent in the B1G? The lack of results with this talent is more of an issue than recruiting and is a significant reason as to why I don't think Beck is worth his weight as an OC.

 

[The King]

Here is a question for you.

Name a school that is not close to a hot bed of talent that has brought in the type of talent consistantly like you expect Nebraska to do?

So you're saying we are disadvantaged? Gee, I never really thought about that.

Then why do we expect any better than we're getting? This is an honest question.

Well that is a really stupid question then.

We expect better because our recruiting isn't nearly as awful as most people think it is and people deep down know this is true. They expect more because we've won before and we can win again. It just takes the right system, the right coach, patience and some luck. We expect more because we've competed with top notch teams numerous times despite our "awful" recruiting. We've seen glimpses of what this team and coaching staff can do and we know that we have the right caliber of athlete. Most importantly, we have faith in our coaches, players, and team. This is Nebraska football and we believe in it. GBR.

The rating services can't evaluate every player accurately. They can't measure if someone is going to be a late bloomer or not, or if they'll grasp the system and fit in. It doesn't account for numerous things that may happen to a recruit. We have a GREAT example on our team, in Ameer Abdullah, who was the lowest rated of 3 RBs, yet is the only one still around.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Here is a question for you.

Name a school that is not close to a hot bed of talent that has brought in the type of talent consistantly like you expect Nebraska to do?

So you're saying we are disadvantaged? Gee, I never really thought about that.

Then why do we expect any better than we're getting? This is an honest question.

That wasn't really the point of my post.

If I allow myself, I get extremely frustrated about recruiting. It seems like many fans point to Bo and his staff and get all pissy and say that they just aren't getting it done. Well, I would agree we aren't bringing in the number of 4-5 star players like USC, Alabama, Texas, OU, OSU...etc. That is extremely frustrated.

Now, let's remember something. TO had this same problem even back in his day. That is one of the main reasons why he went to an option type offense. He was having a hard time recruiting the same type of offensive players that the other powerhouse programs around the country were recruiting. So, he went another direction. He recruited linemen that were different. They played different and we had the weight program that took unknown kids and made them monsters.

We could also take as many kids as we wanted and kids in the midwest wanted to play for us because it was closer to home and we were on TV much more than anyone else in the area. He was also willing to take partial qualifiers. He developed an educational support system that then allowed them to be successful in the classroom and on the field.

Now....all of that has been made a level playing field. All of those things were HUGE advantages for us. I believe this is where TO was more genius even more so than on the playing field.

Now....let's fast forward till now and see what has transpired.

= 85 scholarships so we aren't allowed to take a huge number with the hopes some will pan out.
=No partial qualifiers
=Everyone has a weight room the size of manhattan with training tables and nutritionists to get athletes to their top performance.
=Everyone is on TV now.
But, let's look farther.....

=No kid is allowed to take an official visit until his season starts in the fall. Hmmmmm......that makes it difficult for some to make it to campus during the season unless they are close proximity to the school.
=Once the season is finally over, what happens in recruiting? There is a dead period of almost a month long. Gee......so even then we can't get kids on campus?
=So....let's look at when many kids CAN get to campus. It starts sometime in January till signing day. What is the weather like in Nebraska? If you look at campus in Lincoln right now and then the next weekend go to ASU....which is going to be more impressive especially to a kid from warmer climates? Imagine if we could get those kids to Nebraska on an official visit in the summer?
Even with all the advantages that TO put in place due to is creativity, Nebraska still hardly ever brought in a top ten recruiting class. I don't think that really happened until he started winning in the 90s.

So....yes...we can win. And, recruiting needs to get better. However, I think this is an NCAA issue as much as it is a Nebraska issue. NCAA football has become a sunbelt sport. The more that happens, it is only going to hurt the long term interest in the sport nation wide.

We need northern and central programs to thrive like sunbelt schools otherwise fans in those areas are going to lose more and more interest in the sport.

This wasn't meant as an argument against anyone. It was meant as hoping people will look at it a little differently than just claiming our coaches suck because they don't bring in 5 star players.

It is extremely frustrating but until the NCAA changes some rules, sorry to say, the results aren't going to change.

 

[StPaulHusker]

Our recruiting is substandard based on the websites that give these players stars and ratings. We are not pulling in the big name players.

Our recruiting is not substandard based on the quality of the players on the team. We have some great players that were not hyped at all. That says something to the abilities of the coaches to find special players AND develop them.

 

[FrankWheeler]

Nicely done Buster.

 

[Comish]

Here is a question for you.

Name a school that is not close to a hot bed of talent that has brought in the type of talent consistantly like you expect Nebraska to do?

So you're saying we are disadvantaged? Gee, I never really thought about that.

Then why do we expect any better than we're getting? This is an honest question.

That wasn't really the point of my post.

If I allow myself, I get extremely frustrated about recruiting. It seems like many fans point to Bo and his staff and get all pissy and say that they just aren't getting it done. Well, I would agree we aren't bringing in the number of 4-5 star players like USC, Alabama, Texas, OU, OSU...etc. That is extremely frustrated.

Now, let's remember something. TO had this same problem even back in his day. That is one of the main reasons why he went to an option type offense. He was having a hard time recruiting the same type of offensive players that the other powerhouse programs around the country were recruiting. So, he went another direction. He recruited linemen that were different. They played different and we had the weight program that took unknown kids and made them monsters.

We could also take as many kids as we wanted and kids in the midwest wanted to play for us because it was closer to home and we were on TV much more than anyone else in the area. He was also willing to take partial qualifiers. He developed an educational support system that then allowed them to be successful in the classroom and on the field.

Now....all of that has been made a level playing field. All of those things were HUGE advantages for us. I believe this is where TO was more genius even more so than on the playing field.

Now....let's fast forward till now and see what has transpired.

= 85 scholarships so we aren't allowed to take a huge number with the hopes some will pan out.
=No partial qualifiers
=Everyone has a weight room the size of manhattan with training tables and nutritionists to get athletes to their top performance.
=Everyone is on TV now.
But, let's look farther.....

=No kid is allowed to take an official visit until his season starts in the fall. Hmmmmm......that makes it difficult for some to make it to campus during the season unless they are close proximity to the school.
=Once the season is finally over, what happens in recruiting? There is a dead period of almost a month long. Gee......so even then we can't get kids on campus?
=So....let's look at when many kids CAN get to campus. It starts sometime in January till signing day. What is the weather like in Nebraska? If you look at campus in Lincoln right now and then the next weekend go to ASU....which is going to be more impressive especially to a kid from warmer climates? Imagine if we could get those kids to Nebraska on an official visit in the summer?
Even with all the advantages that TO put in place due to is creativity, Nebraska still hardly ever brought in a top ten recruiting class. I don't think that really happened until he started winning in the 90s.

So....yes...we can win. And, recruiting needs to get better. However, I think this is an NCAA issue as much as it is a Nebraska issue. NCAA football has become a sunbelt sport. The more that happens, it is only going to hurt the long term interest in the sport nation wide.

We need northern and central programs to thrive like sunbelt schools otherwise fans in those areas are going to lose more and more interest in the sport.

This wasn't meant as an argument against anyone. It was meant as hoping people will look at it a little differently than just claiming our coaches suck because they don't bring in 5 star players.

It is extremely frustrating but until the NCAA changes some rules, sorry to say, the results aren't going to change.

Great summary.........and unfortunately, it applies uniformly unevenly across almost all of the sports............baseball, basketball, etc.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Great summary.........and unfortunately, it applies uniformly unevenly across almost all of the sports............baseball, basketball, etc.

I would agree with you with one exception. Basketball doesn't really fall into this as much. Northern teams are able to compete there for some reason. I am not as familiar with the recruiting rules in basketball.

Many people claim we need an early signing period. My opinion is that this would be devastating for Nebraska unless we can have OVs during the summer before the season starts.

 

[dylan]

Great post, Buster. TO was always a master at finding what advantages were available and leveraging them. Since we can't replicate some of the past advantages, it seems that he helped Bo focus on those we can still have.

-coaching stability (it blows my mind that the admin let us be outbid for Joseph, btw)

-recruiting kids with the right attitude, which means we select for kids that are winners and will work hard and do the right thing. You can take chances on a few borderline kids as long as you have a team full of character and leadership.

-fan support, though this is a double edged sword when such a large portion of the fan base is impatient with unreasonable expectations.

-academic support and achievement. Our kids actually go to school and progress towards degrees or they are thrown off the team.

-accountability/leadership. Bo and his staff do things the right way, treat kids the right way and will make damn sure your kid does things the right way. Our program is focused on producing respectable young men, not just trophies.

-respect for the players. Unlike the dirty south, if you keep your nose clean and work hard, Bo won't force you off the team just because you're not as good as he thought you'd be.

-facilities. TO did a great job focusing on facilities when he came back. We need to make sure it stays that way.

-consistently being a winning program. Kids want to win games, go to bowls and compete for championships. We've at least been to the conference title game regularly. We need to show more results, but kids know they can win here.

So, we do have some things we can sell over others, but it's a Herculean task to overcome distance and money in the case of most top players and it gets even harder when media and fans keep putting Bo on the hot seat. Hopefully we can learn from TO, get behind the program and let Bo do his thing. We're really not that far from where we need to be.

 

[MinnwiscowaSker]

I find it funny that people can bash our recruiting in one breath, then praise the diamonds in the rough in another. How can you tell the difference at this point?

I think Trai Mosely will be great, as do many on this board. He's a three star with a composite ranking of 96. Why WOULDN'T he be great? Chris Jones has a composite of 124. Not that far off and people aren't high on him.

Lets just not write these kids off just yet. At least let them check into their dorms before we get worried about their abilities on the next level.