I Noticed on 247

[SierraRed]

On 247, we seem to be interested in a lot of top recruits, but almost all of them are cool on us. Are we just still building relationships with these young men, or is is something to be concerned about?

 

[ShortSideOption]

On 247, we seem to be interested in a lot of top recruits, but almost all of them are cool on us. Are we just still building relationships with these young men, or is is something to be concerned about?

I am not concerned from the standpoint that that is about the same thing that has happened the past 20 years. Glass is half full response tho is Noa Pola-Gates was "cool" for quite awhile on us on some of those sites and we got his commitment.

 

[Beareye]

If we are talking about say the top 150 prospects in the country, most of whom live > 500 miles from Lincoln, the majority of them will not have a 4-8 team that has been largely irrelevant for most of their lives at the top of their lists.

If we can get even 3 or 4 from that group to sign, that would set us up to have a really good class. We have one in the fold already (Corcoran). By some rankings, Betts would also fall into that category.

 

[36Blast]

Here's another thing to keep in mind. Last year, we handed out the 3rd most offers in college football at 413. Only Tennessee (440) and Syracuse (437) issued more. I believe we are close to 350 2020 offers already. So when you consider the sheer number of kids who have offers, a vast, vast majority will of course be cool on Nebraska (for several reason as well). The staff will have a list of their top targets who they believe reciprocate in terms of their interest. It will be that small group who will make up the handful of prized recruits we get to commit for this cycle.

Long story short...don't worry about a thing. 2020 is going to be a banner recruiting year.

 

[BigRedDave]

On 247, we seem to be interested in a lot of top recruits, but almost all of them are cool on us. Are we just still building relationships with these young men, or is is something to be concerned about?

The whole “temperature” thing on there is pretty much useless. It’s rarely updated or accurate.

 

[Twelve String]

If we are talking about say the top 150 prospects in the country, most of whom live > 500 miles from Lincoln, the majority of them will not have a 4-8 team that has been largely irrelevant for most of their lives at the top of their lists.

If we can get even 3 or 4 from that group to sign, that would set us up to have a really good class. We have one in the fold already (Corcoran). By some rankings, Betts would also fall into that category.

It's a sobering feeling when you realize that a lot of recruits today look at NU as a middle-of-the-road kind of program.

If the 2019 Huskers can manage to double their win total from last year I would imagine that more of the highly rated recruits will take notice of what Frost and staff are building in Lincoln.

 

[djlhuskerfan]

I agree that we need a prove it on the field year. We show to show what this program is capable of and the recruits will come

 

[SierraRed]

Thanks for the replies. I'll back away from the ledge for now.

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

It's a sobering feeling when you realize that a lot of recruits today look at NU as a middle-of-the-road kind of program.

I love Nebraska, and I'm very bullish about the future,... but you're probably even over-exaggerating to say "middle-of-the-road kind of program" at this point for the vast majority of recruits. I'm speaking in technical terms about how, say, 60-70% of American high school recruits would generically view Nebraska as a potential football school. Almost any state north of Texas and between the Rockies and Ohio is already behind the 8-ball because most American kids don't know their geography well enough to even know the difference between Nebraska, Idaho, and New Mexico on a blank map, so the name of the state means "not here" to almost anyone on either coast, the Southeast, Texas, the eastern Midwest, and Arizona. Look at where the majority of students live, and you just crossed out about 80+% of them. Some will have connections to Nebraska (family, other recruits etc.), and most of their parents (if they followed football) and coaches will know Nebraska football because of the 90s, but to the average kid growing up in California, seeing highlights of the Nebraska-Iowa game is roughly as relevant as some Nebraska recruit seeing highlights of the Eastern Washington-Montana game.

If you're asking how what I said can possibly be true, first of all, you should spend some time talking with people from either coast who have no connections to Nebraska. Second, you may think about some of those wonderful Tuioti quotes about how much easier it is to recruit for Nebraska because we have a national brand. Both things are simultaneously true. Nebraska is VERY well known ... among high school football coaches and college football fans over age 40. When Tuioti walks into a high school, anywhere, with that hat on, the coaches know who Nebraska is, and especially the coaches who are looking for programs that will take care of their kids (and that's how almost any good high school coach views his players), Nebraska has about the best reputation in America. There are a lot of kids out there--and a lot of current players on campus--who would have never considered going to Nebraska if it weren't for their coaches explaining to them that they needed to sit down and talk with the Nebraska coaches because those guys play big-time football, and they'll take care of you.

Let me give one more very humbling example of how far we'd fallen as far as public awareness. I was teaching overseas near military bases where U.S. troops were cycling through every several months. My staff were often invited to various social gatherings on the base, so I went there regularly. I often wore a cap or sweatshirt or something that was Huskers related. You would not believe how many 20-year-old males who love football and even followed their local team did NOT know what the "N" stood for, though recognition was much better when it was exactly like the football helmet with a red "N" on a white background, and anything that said "Huskers" or similar helped even more. When we talked about college football, it was almost entirely regional knowledge. A South Carolina guy was a big Clemson fan, and he knew a lot about the ACC and the SEC ... and nothing else. The Texans knew Texas ... and nothing else. The Mississippi guys knew Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and the SEC ... and nothing else. There weren't a lot of guys there from either coast, but most of them either didn't follow college football very much, or else they followed USC (West Coast) or Notre Dame, Penn State, et al. (East Coast). (As a sidenote, while the U.S. military has guys from everywhere, the frontline troops are overwhelmingly from rural areas.) The only guys who knew much about Nebraska (besides the Iowa guys, who hated us) were the old Big 8 footprint ... and people who had watched Nebraska in the 90s. Now here's the part that stings: That was during the Callahan era. Other than the name "Ndamukong Suh" what would any of the people from any of those places have heard about Nebraska football since then?

A junior in high school now is probably about 17 years old, which means he was born in 2002, after Crouch was done. He was 7 years old when Suh tore apart Colt McCoy, and--unless his father was a big college football fan--he wouldn't have noticed unless he lived in either Texas or the Nebraska neighborhood. Most college football fans don't start following a team more closely until sometime around junior high and the start of high school, so that would mean that they probably picked a favorite team or conference around 2014 to 2017. Does the hole that we're in seem a little more severe now?

Let me end on the good news: Frost is doing all of the things that will get serious recruits' attention very quickly, and coaches are going to trust his staff to take care of their players and push them to graduate. Especially among kids coming from fatherless homes, it's hard to emphasize how much influence those coaches' opinions matter. Beyond that, Nebraska needs a heck of a lot more than a winning season or a bowl game to change that mental map of American kids. It's all incremental, though, so we start with rebuilding our reputation in the 500-mile radius, getting every one of those prospects. A little more success and that radius expands. Our coaches understand this, and they're already doing everything they can to pave that pathway. You'll know it's working when you start hearing Iowa fans moaning about losing Iowa prospects to Nebraska, and then (hopefully) we start taking St. Louis prospects from Ohio State and the SEC, and so on. With all of that said, Nebraska is a heck of a long ways from Florida, Houston, or Southern California, and that's why our coaches' connections to coaches there matter so much.

 

[hskrdavey]

I love Nebraska, and I'm very bullish about the future,... but you're probably even over-exaggerating to say "middle-of-the-road kind of program" at this point for the vast majority of recruits. I'm speaking in technical terms about how, say, 60-70% of American high school recruits would generically view Nebraska as a potential football school. Almost any state north of Texas and between the Rockies and Ohio is already behind the 8-ball because most American kids don't know their geography well enough to even know the difference between Nebraska, Idaho, and New Mexico on a blank map, so the name of the state means "not here" to almost anyone on either coast, the Southeast, Texas, the eastern Midwest, and Arizona. Look at where the majority of students live, and you just crossed out about 80+% of them. Some will have connections to Nebraska (family, other recruits etc.), and most of their parents (if they followed football) and coaches will know Nebraska football because of the 90s, but to the average kid growing up in California, seeing highlights of the Nebraska-Iowa game is roughly as relevant as some Nebraska recruit seeing highlights of the Eastern Washington-Montana game.

If you're asking how what I said can possibly be true, first of all, you should spend some time talking with people from either coast who have no connections to Nebraska. Second, you may think about some of those wonderful Tuioti quotes about how much easier it is to recruit for Nebraska because we have a national brand. Both things are simultaneously true. Nebraska is VERY well known ... among high school football coaches and college football fans over age 40. When Tuioti walks into a high school, anywhere, with that hat on, the coaches know who Nebraska is, and especially the coaches who are looking for programs that will take care of their kids (and that's how almost any good high school coach views his players), Nebraska has about the best reputation in America. There are a lot of kids out there--and a lot of current players on campus--who would have never considered going to Nebraska if it weren't for their coaches explaining to them that they needed to sit down and talk with the Nebraska coaches because those guys play big-time football, and they'll take care of you.

Let me give one more very humbling example of how far we'd fallen as far as public awareness. I was teaching overseas near military bases where U.S. troops were cycling through every several months. My staff were often invited to various social gatherings on the base, so I went there regularly. I often wore a cap or sweatshirt or something that was Huskers related. You would not believe how many 20-year-old males who love football and even followed their local team did NOT know what the "N" stood for, though recognition was much better when it was exactly like the football helmet with a red "N" on a white background, and anything that said "Huskers" or similar helped even more. When we talked about college football, it was almost entirely regional knowledge. A South Carolina guy was a big Clemson fan, and he knew a lot about the ACC and the SEC ... and nothing else. The Texans knew Texas ... and nothing else. The Mississippi guys knew Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and the SEC ... and nothing else. There weren't a lot of guys there from either coast, but most of them either didn't follow college football very much, or else they followed USC (West Coast) or Notre Dame, Penn State, et al. (East Coast). (As a sidenote, while the U.S. military has guys from everywhere, the frontline troops are overwhelmingly from rural areas.) The only guys who knew much about Nebraska (besides the Iowa guys, who hated us) were the old Big 8 footprint ... and people who had watched Nebraska in the 90s. Now here's the part that stings: That was during the Callahan era. Other than the name "Ndamukong Suh" what would any of the people from any of those places have heard about Nebraska football since then?

A junior in high school now is probably about 17 years old, which means he was born in 2002, after Crouch was done. He was 7 years old when Suh tore apart Colt McCoy, and--unless his father was a big college football fan--he wouldn't have noticed unless he lived in either Texas or the Nebraska neighborhood. Most college football fans don't start following a team more closely until sometime around junior high and the start of high school, so that would mean that they probably picked a favorite team or conference around 2014 to 2017. Does the hole that we're in seem a little more severe now?

Let me end on the good news: Frost is doing all of the things that will get serious recruits' attention very quickly, and coaches are going to trust his staff to take care of their players and push them to graduate. Especially among kids coming from fatherless homes, it's hard to emphasize how much influence those coaches' opinions matter. Beyond that, Nebraska needs a heck of a lot more than a winning season or a bowl game to change that mental map of American kids. It's all incremental, though, so we start with rebuilding our reputation in the 500-mile radius, getting every one of those prospects. A little more success and that radius expands. Our coaches understand this, and they're already doing everything they can to pave that pathway. You'll know it's working when you start hearing Iowa fans moaning about losing Iowa prospects to Nebraska, and then (hopefully) we start taking St. Louis prospects from Ohio State and the SEC, and so on. With all of that said, Nebraska is a heck of a long ways from Florida, Houston, or Southern California, and that's why our coaches' connections to coaches there matter so much.

Well said and painfully true. The good thing going for us with recruits nationwide is the name Scott Frost. His name is well known everywhere with what he did at UCF. We got a 3-4 year window to take advantage of that. If we are mediocre over the next 2 years, recruiting is going to be even more tough that is was a couple years ago. This may be our last chance at relevance. If we excel, the sky's the limit.

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

We got a 3-4 year window to take advantage of that. If we are mediocre over the next 2 years, recruiting is going to be even more tough that is was a couple years ago. This may be our last chance at relevance. If we excel, and the sky's the limit.

I absolutely agree. If we aren't at least playing for a B1G championship within the next few years, we will likely be relegated to the role of a different flavor of Iowa.

 

[Always go for 2]

I absolutely agree. If we aren't at least playing for a B1G championship within the next few years, we will likely be relegated to the role of a different flavor of Iowa.

Okay that last part made me throw up in my mouth just a little.

 

[Redfish]

I love Nebraska, and I'm very bullish about the future,... but you're probably even over-exaggerating to say "middle-of-the-road kind of program" at this point for the vast majority of recruits. I'm speaking in technical terms about how, say, 60-70% of American high school recruits would generically view Nebraska as a potential football school. Almost any state north of Texas and between the Rockies and Ohio is already behind the 8-ball because most American kids don't know their geography well enough to even know the difference between Nebraska, Idaho, and New Mexico on a blank map, so the name of the state means "not here" to almost anyone on either coast, the Southeast, Texas, the eastern Midwest, and Arizona. Look at where the majority of students live, and you just crossed out about 80+% of them. Some will have connections to Nebraska (family, other recruits etc.), and most of their parents (if they followed football) and coaches will know Nebraska football because of the 90s, but to the average kid growing up in California, seeing highlights of the Nebraska-Iowa game is roughly as relevant as some Nebraska recruit seeing highlights of the Eastern Washington-Montana game.

If you're asking how what I said can possibly be true, first of all, you should spend some time talking with people from either coast who have no connections to Nebraska. Second, you may think about some of those wonderful Tuioti quotes about how much easier it is to recruit for Nebraska because we have a national brand. Both things are simultaneously true. Nebraska is VERY well known ... among high school football coaches and college football fans over age 40. When Tuioti walks into a high school, anywhere, with that hat on, the coaches know who Nebraska is, and especially the coaches who are looking for programs that will take care of their kids (and that's how almost any good high school coach views his players), Nebraska has about the best reputation in America. There are a lot of kids out there--and a lot of current players on campus--who would have never considered going to Nebraska if it weren't for their coaches explaining to them that they needed to sit down and talk with the Nebraska coaches because those guys play big-time football, and they'll take care of you.

Let me give one more very humbling example of how far we'd fallen as far as public awareness. I was teaching overseas near military bases where U.S. troops were cycling through every several months. My staff were often invited to various social gatherings on the base, so I went there regularly. I often wore a cap or sweatshirt or something that was Huskers related. You would not believe how many 20-year-old males who love football and even followed their local team did NOT know what the "N" stood for, though recognition was much better when it was exactly like the football helmet with a red "N" on a white background, and anything that said "Huskers" or similar helped even more. When we talked about college football, it was almost entirely regional knowledge. A South Carolina guy was a big Clemson fan, and he knew a lot about the ACC and the SEC ... and nothing else. The Texans knew Texas ... and nothing else. The Mississippi guys knew Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and the SEC ... and nothing else. There weren't a lot of guys there from either coast, but most of them either didn't follow college football very much, or else they followed USC (West Coast) or Notre Dame, Penn State, et al. (East Coast). (As a sidenote, while the U.S. military has guys from everywhere, the frontline troops are overwhelmingly from rural areas.) The only guys who knew much about Nebraska (besides the Iowa guys, who hated us) were the old Big 8 footprint ... and people who had watched Nebraska in the 90s. Now here's the part that stings: That was during the Callahan era. Other than the name "Ndamukong Suh" what would any of the people from any of those places have heard about Nebraska football since then?

A junior in high school now is probably about 17 years old, which means he was born in 2002, after Crouch was done. He was 7 years old when Suh tore apart Colt McCoy, and--unless his father was a big college football fan--he wouldn't have noticed unless he lived in either Texas or the Nebraska neighborhood. Most college football fans don't start following a team more closely until sometime around junior high and the start of high school, so that would mean that they probably picked a favorite team or conference around 2014 to 2017. Does the hole that we're in seem a little more severe now?

Let me end on the good news: Frost is doing all of the things that will get serious recruits' attention very quickly, and coaches are going to trust his staff to take care of their players and push them to graduate. Especially among kids coming from fatherless homes, it's hard to emphasize how much influence those coaches' opinions matter. Beyond that, Nebraska needs a heck of a lot more than a winning season or a bowl game to change that mental map of American kids. It's all incremental, though, so we start with rebuilding our reputation in the 500-mile radius, getting every one of those prospects. A little more success and that radius expands. Our coaches understand this, and they're already doing everything they can to pave that pathway. You'll know it's working when you start hearing Iowa fans moaning about losing Iowa prospects to Nebraska, and then (hopefully) we start taking St. Louis prospects from Ohio State and the SEC, and so on. With all of that said, Nebraska is a heck of a long ways from Florida, Houston, or Southern California, and that's why our coaches' connections to coaches there matter so much.

This is exactly why it will take 5-7 years of HARD work by the coaching staff to bring back Nebraska as a BRAND (wins and recruiting). It also shows how much interior damage Harvey Perlman did to Husker athletics overall. I think excellent coaching and positive results (wins) on the field will certainly help the rankings. But consistency is what will drive this bus in the future.

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

Okay that last part made me throw up in my mouth just a little.

That would be the healthy response to a taste of poison.

 

[SavageHusker]

This is exactly why it will take 5-7 years of HARD work by the coaching staff to bring back Nebraska as a BRAND (wins and recruiting). It also shows how much interior damage Harvey Perlman did to Husker athletics overall. I think excellent coaching and positive results (wins) on the field will certainly help the rankings. But consistency is what will drive this bus in the future.

The damage Perlman did cannot be overstated.