Locked due to no posts in 60 days. Report 1st post if need unlocked Recruiting Tales: Ralph Brown

[BornToBeRed]

Latest free article on Huskers Illustrated.

Before he was a four-year starter that ended his career as one of the most decorated cornerbacks in school history, Ralph Brown was one of the top recruits in the country at Bishop Amat High School near Los Angeles.Brown was a USA Today All-American, and put up impressive numbers as both a cornerback and a running back, rushing for 2,243 yards as a senior and six interceptions as he led his team to a state title.

Those are the kinds of numbers that bring college coaches in droves, and they did in Brown's case. Notre Dame, USC, Florida and nearly every Pac-10 school battled for Brown's services. One afternoon, Colorado head coach Rick Neuheisel rolled up to Bishop Amat in a limo, bringing pictures of the Rocky Mountains and lofty promises.

For a twenty one year old Husker fan, it's... weird... to read about the recruitment of players from when I wasn't even conscious of the Huskers.

 

[FCHusker]

For a 37 year old Husker Fan, I remember getting Ralph's autograph, and my colllege girlfriend thought I was the coolest thing since the other side of the pillow! Uggh, you are starting to age me alot this week!

 

[Squatchsker]

I just saw Ralph Brown's fumble causing hit on Jamal Lewis watching BTN late last night on a replay of the 1998 Orange Bowl. Kid was a talent for sure.

 

[Husker10]

I remember going to one or two of his high school games because as my dad put it, "he was going to be a stud in college". This was before he committed to Nebraska so that made it even better once he did

 

[bilsker]

I thought NU won those national titles with a bunch of "Rudy" recruits? Saw the same replay Squatch did last night and they mention that Abdul Muhammed picked NU over Miami...

 

[BubbaGene]

I thought NU won those national titles with a bunch of "Rudy" recruits? ..

bils, Tommie Frazier was a 2-star recruit. Doncha know? TO never had a recruiting class ranked above 25th....

 

[Scarlet]

bils, Tommie Frazier was a 2-star recruit. Doncha know? TO never had a recruiting class ranked above 25th....

Who said that?

If you look at the years 1986 through 1997 TO classes averaged about 16th if the highest and lowest ranked classes are tossed out according to Wallace. I tossed the low ranked class because it was "n/r" which it seems to mean lower than 25th. So to be fair I also tossed out the highest ranked class too. The 1991 class was rated 28th and they ended up doing a thing or two. The data from back then seems to be hard to come by. TO had some very highly rated classes but as my memory serves but, as the rankings show, we were never consistently pulling in top rated classes.

https://sites.google.com/site/nebraskafootballhistory/recruiting

 

[BubbaGene]

Who said that?

If you look at the years 1986 through 1997 TO classes averaged about 16th if the highest and lowest ranked classes are tossed out according to Wallace. I tossed the low ranked class because it was "n/r" which it seems to mean lower than 25th. So to be fair I also tossed out the highest ranked class too. The 1991 class was rated 28th and they ended up doing a thing or two. The data from back then seems to be hard to come by. TO had some very highly rated classes but as my memory serves but, as the rankings show, we were never consistently pulling in top rated classes.

https://sites.google.com/site/nebraskafootballhistory/recruiting

So your saying there were some highly rated classes. Hmmm... I was led to believe, apparently like bils, that Huskers never had great recruiting classes, even in the championship years. (I can't speak for bils, but I am surely being sarcastic, Scarlet, but I am glad you did some sleuthing here to bring up actual data on the subject)

 

[ShortSideOption]

Those 90's recruiting classes had some studs that chose us over big names for sure....and quite honestly most of them were the starters. The walk-ons would mostly add depth and hopefully a hand full of them would become starters for some good stories.

I am of the opinion that those were different times in the recruiting world though....

 

[BornToBeRed]

I thought NU won those national titles with a bunch of "Rudy" recruits? Saw the same replay Squatch did last night and they mention that Abdul Muhammed picked NU over Miami...

My Dad almost hit me when I asked him who Abdul Muhammed was. I've never put much time into watching actual games -- As they're hard to come across on TV and we don't have many on tape. Without watching games, kind of hard to pick up on the roster.

 

[Scarlet]

So your saying there were some highly rated classes. Hmmm... I was led to believe, apparently like bils, that Huskers never had great recruiting classes, even in the championship years. (I can't speak for bils, but I am surely being sarcastic, Scarlet, but I am glad you did some sleuthing here to bring up actual data on the subject)

Put it this way, strictly looking at rankings, our best classes, historically, would have caused the likes of Shaggy Bevo to meltdown.

I wish the rankings went back to the early and mid '70's. I think they would paint the picture even more clearly of how important it is to recruit to the system and coach up. We were so lucky to have had a TO for so long.

I think our best bet is to stay patient, realize the atom bomb that was the Callahan regime, and see where this plays out.....over the long run. Bo unquestionably has a great football mind. Anyone, missing that......well.

 

[bilsker]

Put it this way, strictly looking at rankings, our best classes, historically, would have caused the likes of Shaggy Bevo to meltdown.

I wish the rankings went back to the early and mid '70's. I think they would paint the picture even more clearly of how important it is to recruit to the system and coach up. We were so lucky to have had a TO for so long.

I think our best bet is to stay patient, realize the atom bomb that was the Callahan regime, and see where this plays out.....over the long run. Bo unquestionably has a great football mind. Anyone, missing that......well.

You mention that NU averaged around a 16 ranking back in the day...that's about where NU needs to be. OF COURSE NU isn't ever going to be a constant top 10 recruiting program...simply not possible. What NU cannot possibly do, and be successful, is rank 20 or below on a consistent basis.

My post was mostly sarcasm. People like to romanticize the idea that NU did it with walk-ons, outsmarting everyone on the recruiting trail, etc. But the reality is everyone wanted guys like TF, LP, Abdul, some of the linement, most of the DBs and LBs and DLs...etc. These weren't guys that NU beat out Northern Iowa and Wyoming for.

 

[BubbaGene]

You mention that NU averaged around a 16 ranking back in the day...that's about where NU needs to be. OF COURSE NU isn't ever going to be a constant top 10 recruiting program...simply not possible. What NU cannot possibly do, and be successful, is rank 20 or below on a consistent basis.

My post was mostly sarcasm. People like to romanticize the idea that NU did it with walk-ons, outsmarting everyone on the recruiting trail, etc. But the reality is everyone wanted guys like TF, LP, Abdul, some of the linement, most of the DBs and LBs and DLs...etc. These weren't guys that NU beat out Northern Iowa and Wyoming for.

precisely

 

[Scarlet]

You mention that NU averaged around a 16 ranking back in the day...that's about where NU needs to be. OF COURSE NU isn't ever going to be a constant top 10 recruiting program...simply not possible. What NU cannot possibly do, and be successful, is rank 20 or below on a consistent basis.

My post was mostly sarcasm. People like to romanticize the idea that NU did it with walk-ons, outsmarting everyone on the recruiting trail, etc. But the reality is everyone wanted guys like TF, LP, Abdul, some of the linement, most of the DBs and LBs and DLs...etc. These weren't guys that NU beat out Northern Iowa and Wyoming for.

You're really not going to get a debate from me. I was simply bringing the historical rankings, what I could find that is, to the board. It seems that in the first few years of a coaches tenure the rankings suffer. I still think the wreckage of the Callahan years tainted the view of the program in the eyes of potential recruits. Bo's last class was in the top 15 range so lets see how this plays out. This year is far from over.