The lack of recruiting success since the early signing day is particularly mystifying/concerning because the coaching staff didn't have a bowl game to occupy their time and attention, so they were able to go all-in on recruiting since late November.
I think lack of success is a little harsh. Nebraska didn't have a lot of needs and the rest of the people the fan base had been hyping up as potential targets the staff backed off on. Parker and Jordan are the only ones that I consider us losing and both are because they saw better opportunities for PT. If that's why we are losing kids I'm far more comfortable than the old thought of "we're nebraska so we can't compete for those kinds of kids" narrative from way back when.
If you had asked our staff a month ago--prior to Bivens on Njoku coming on an OV--who were their top candidates for the last 4 spots on NSD, I think that they would have said (not necessarily in this order) something very close to this:
- OLB = Parker or Jordan, possibly Fonua or Asante
- CB = Starks or Mayo
- WR = Njoku or Houston
- RB = Mills or Bivens (if his knee is healthy)
- NG Palo-Mao
Frost alluded in his press conference to the fact that there weren't very many players available this year after the early signing day. It seems like we (the fans) knew about all of the people listed above that they were going after, and there just weren't many (if any) other options on the table worth locking in a scholarship for what would be a marginal player with a limited upside. Bivens took an official visit, so I assume that they were pretty serious about him, but nothing came out of it, even though those close to him said that he was waiting for a commit-able offer. It's possible that Bivens' knee didn't medically check out, which would explain all of the above. It's also possible that he was a backup for if Mills couldn't demonstrate that he was on track. It doesn't seem like that they were that high on Fonua based on the relative lack of attention he got, and his film wasn't at the same level as the other OLBs. They obviously wanted Njoku at one point, but didn't it also seem like both sides lost interest after he took his official visit? Perhaps he said or did or asked about some things during his OV that made the staff have second thoughts?
We all know the two positions of need where we most clearly came up short: OLB and CB. Other than Starks and Mayo, there doesn't seem to have been any more CBs in play. As for OLB, I think that everything went off the tracks for that spot with Summerall. I'm not sure why Frost and staff went all-in on him if they didn't think that there was a reasonably good chance that they'd land him, but they
did go all in, and they did
not land him. If they expected to get him, it makes sense that there weren't a lot of other options lined up, but I also think that there just aren't a ton of guys available who can play that position at a near-elite level. They got on Parker and Jordan relatively late, but sooner than most others who went after them, and they seemed to do all that they could to get them, but didn't. It happens. I don't know that they were seriously pursuing Fonua or Asante, but they had Fonua on campus for an OV and Asante scheduled for one, so there must have been some interest. Neither seemed like a great fit though.
Pola-Mao seems to have had academic issues, but it also seemed like the coaching staff lost a little interest in him after Darrion Daniels decided to transfer in. If Pola-Mao isn't as good of a prospect as some of the 2020 prospects that we're pursuing, it would also make sense to take Daniels, pass on Pola-Mao, and plan for next year's class. We did get Mills to work through his academic issues, apparently, which is a big deal. We also got Houston against what could have been some very stiff competition at the end except that the Huskers staff somehow impressed him enough that he decided to not even take his OVs to Penn State or CU.
Looking just at what happened since the first NSD, Frost and staff still did pretty well in getting Mills and Houston. It seems like the odds were better than a coin-flip that we'd get either Jordan or Parker, and that would have made an excellent haul. Even then we would be whining because we didn't have a CB, too, but you can't spontaneously cause one to come into being if he's not there.
Now I want to see who we get as transfers. If we can pick up an OLB and a Safety to at least provide depth for a year, it would help a lot. Beyond that, save as many scholarships as possible for the 2020 class, but also give out as many to upper class walk-ons as possible after others wash out after spring ball.
I like where we're at, overall.