Locked due to no posts in 60 days. Report 1st post if need unlocked Agree or disagree?

[mbHusker]

First, you honor your scholarships unless the player isn't doing what is being asked of him as a player. Period.

Second, I don't believe this coaching staff would ever have to just fill spots. Seemed like Pelini would stretch for guys every year at the end. However, this staff has a deep list. Does anyone really believe that taking 2 or 3 more players somehow means by going for 22 player instead of 19 that those last 3 players will be talent deprived? I doubt it. So my point is this staff can fill the slots every year with quality guys whatever the numbers. If there is last minute filling of spots just to fill them, then shame on the coaches for their poor recruiting effort.

 

[Greatest Fan of All]

Allow me to play devils advocate for a minute. What if one of those guys ends up being kind of a D***( what are the rules about cussing on here?) and it throws off the locker room. I don't necessarily disagree with what you're saying but I can see scenarios where it goes the other way.

First, hopefully you'd vet the kid enough to prevent that, which is a risk you take with every single kid you recruit. I'm NOT talking about pulling a Bo Pelini and settling for anyone available late in the process. I think we should fill up with the kids we know. Second, I don't think one kid or two kids, especially freshmen, can spoil a locker room. He'd get shut down fast by the serious players already here. Freshmen don't hold much sway anyway. We had a kid like that (Stevensen) and he got shut down fast.

 

[ShortSideOption]

First, you honor your scholarships unless the player isn't doing what is being asked of him as a player. Period.

Second, I don't believe this coaching staff would ever have to just fill spots. Seemed like Pelini would stretch for guys every year at the end. However, this staff has a deep list. Does anyone really believe that taking 2 or 3 more players somehow means by going for 22 player instead of 19 that those last 3 players will be talent deprived? I doubt it. So my point is this staff can fill the slots every year with quality guys whatever the numbers. If there is last minute filling of spots just to fill them, then shame on the coaches for their poor recruiting effort.

I think the issue is Pelini would stretch for guys and still not get to 85. We chose not to stretch for guys last year while not being to our 85 number. I understood where they were coming from when they did it, we are a bit thinner now than what even our staff anticipated i'm sure.

 

[ShortSideOption]

First, hopefully you'd vet the kid enough to prevent that, which is a risk you take with every single kid you recruit. I'm NOT talking about pulling a Bo Pelini and settling for anyone available late in the process. I think we should fill up with the kids we know. Second, I don't think one kid or two kids, especially freshmen, can spoil a locker room. He'd get shut down fast by the serious players already here. Freshmen don't hold much sway anyway. We had a kid like that (Stevensen) and he got shut down fast.

To give some examples as to what you are saying... last year for all intensive purposes, Wallace and Onyemaobi most likely would have jumped at the chance to come over to Nebraska instead of Arizona or TCU, but we "cooled" on them. They were guys we were actively recruiting once Donte Williams came over, but for some reason we decided signing them wasn't in our best interest. Both of those guys are playing DB for for those schools, so we could have brought in either of those players as our class DB and had Blades be a "cherry on top" if he qualified. But the sense I get is neither Onyemaobi or Wallace can hold a candle to Bookie, Chase Williams, or Mario Goodrich.

 

[TheOneders]

To give some examples as to what you are saying... last year for all intensive purposes, Wallace and Onyemaobi most likely would have jumped at the chance to come over to Nebraska instead of Arizona or TCU, but we "cooled" on them. They were guys we were actively recruiting once Donte Williams came over, but for some reason we decided signing them wasn't in our best interest. Both of those guys are playing DB for for those schools, so we could have brought in either of those players as our class DB and had Blades be a "cherry on top" if he qualified. But the sense I get is neither Onyemaobi or Wallace can hold a candle to Bookie, Chase Williams, or Mario Goodrich.

I think Onyemaobi was a kid we should have signed either way as an athlete. Brought him in with the intent to start off on defense, but we could have easily moved him over to WR when KJJ left. Either way we're thin at both DB and WR for this upcoming season. Oh well, it's all hindsight. We'll be fine in the long run.

 

[RedRum]

Here's my easy way to explain it to people... i'm quite certain we could have flipped Brett Kittrell from Ashland-Greenwood, but we chose not to even though Watts was an academic risk. I get we were looking at him for both sides of the ball, but if we were looking at him for defense, or if we flip him then move a guy like Walker over to DE with the loss of Watts, it was doable. We chose not to, and I completely get that.

You bring up RB and again I agree... if we don't take one this year, we are looking at a minimum of 2 next year and most likely 3. I don't trust Davis there for one, but that's a lot of guys to bring in if we are wanting blue chips there.

I believe I wrote on here on signing day or around then, that if we don't get Blades on campus, not taking a single DB is a bad situation, and here we are. Donte Williams will stock that room, but the immediate is a bit concerning.

Good post. It seems fans want championship football and do it with one arm tied behind our back.

You have Ohio State sitting there with a full 85. And with 12 seniors and 15 commits for next year are already at +3. And I bet they will be "processing" out their roster throughout the season and sign class north of 20 at a +3. The strategy doesn't seem to hurt their recruiting.

Like it or not, I think we are forced down this road if we want to be able to compete and with more games and an extended season, it's a must for depth.

 

[TheOneders]

Good post. It seems fans want championship football and do it with one arm tied behind our back.

You have Ohio State sitting there with a full 85. And with 12 seniors and 15 commits for next year are already at +3. And I bet they will be "processing" out their roster throughout the season and sign class north of 20 at a +3. The strategy doesn't seem to hurt their recruiting.

Like it or not, I think we are forced down this road if we want to be able to compete and with more games and an extended season, it's a must for depth.

Yeah, they're clearly not done recruiting. They don't even have any WR's committed at this point yet.

 

[Native]

Yeah, they're clearly not done recruiting. They don't even have any WR's committed at this point yet.

That is because we have them all! Strategery!

 

[ShortSideOption]

Good post. It seems fans want championship football and do it with one arm tied behind our back.

You have Ohio State sitting there with a full 85. And with 12 seniors and 15 commits for next year are already at +3. And I bet they will be "processing" out their roster throughout the season and sign class north of 20 at a +3. The strategy doesn't seem to hurt their recruiting.

Like it or not, I think we are forced down this road if we want to be able to compete and with more games and an extended season, it's a must for depth.

Ohio State was at 90 on NSD which is crazy considering 6 dudes declared for the draft early.

 

[ColombianHusker]

Ohio State was at 90 on NSD which is crazy considering 6 dudes declared for the draft early.

Yes, it is strategery as Native said. Fuzzy math?

 

[TheOneders]

Ohio State was at 90 on NSD which is crazy considering 6 dudes declared for the draft early.

Ohio State had 15 scholarship guys either transfer out, retire, or declare early from last year's team.

Declared

1. Gareon Conley CB
2. Raekwon McMillan LB
3. Curtis Samuel RB/HB
4. Noah Brown WR
5. Malik Hooker S
6. Marshon Lattimore CB

Transferred

1. James Clark WR (Virginia Tech)
2. Evan Lisle OT (Duke)
3. Kyle Trout OG (Cincinnati)
4. Torrance Gibson QB/WR (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC)
5. Joshua Norwood CB (Georgia Southern)
6. Alex Stump WR (Vanderbilt)
7. Rodjay Burns CB (Louisville)
8. Tyler Gerald OG (Undecided)

Retired

1. Stephen Collier QB

 

[Bleed Red]

Tricky question as most fans want things to be done the "Nebraska way", which presumably is to honor all scholarships whether contributing or not. That is contrary to putting the program in the best position to win if you aren't cycling out recruiting misses.

As to the original premise, I would agree with what he is saying, but most fans in general won't have the stomach to manage a roster that way. Have to ultimately decide how important a nationally competitive program is to you, since if you don't cycle out non-contributors or fill classes with lesser talent, the team is at a disadvantage.

Since it's July... i'm curious peoples thoughts on this line of thinking? I have my opinion but will wait for some others to chime in because I think I could be swayed.

Agree on the original premise. The answer is simple, don't make mistakes when recruiting to minimize non-contributors. Successfully carrying out that simple answer is what can make a team great and still be done the "Nebraska way".

 

[mbHusker]

Agree on the original premise. The answer is simple, don't make mistakes when recruiting to minimize non-contributors. Successfully carrying out that simple answer is what can make a team great and still be done the "Nebraska way".

"Don't make mistakes when recruiting" implies that coaches have a magic crystal ball. Some guys peak in high school. Some guys are talented but don't work very hard. Some guys get injured. There is a huge difference between high school football and power 5 D1 football. Predicting growth and maturity with high school kids is a challenge to say the least.

 

[Goal-line]

Agree 100% I'd love to see a deserving Nebraska kid who's contributing get the scholarship. If you're going to just fill the class fill it with hard working Nebraska kids.

Agree. Would provide incentive for others in anticipation of getting a scholarship.

 

[EastOfEden]

I don't quite understand why football scholarships should be different from academic scholarships. I assume NU will not continue to provide academic scholarships to those who don't keep their grades at a particular level. I assume that those who lose those scholarships are losing them "in the Nebraska way," so why should a different standard be applied to a football player that busts, a runner who doesn't run fast enough on the track team, or a bball player that can't hit the side of a barn.