Nebraska HS Recruiting

[ThereIsNoPlace]

What would you all think if the new Husker FB coach had a closer relationship with the Neb. HS coaches? If the new staff was to give our best players(no matter 6, 8 or 11-man) a chance to be coached up? I would love to see our Super 6 and others dream of playing for the Big Red again.

 

[meanmachine]

I really feel Nebraska has to keep the talented kids in the state and playing for the Big Red, and that mans giving scholarships
to kids from smaller class schools not just the big schools. Nebraska football foundation was built on the kids from Nebraska which were given a chance and a scholly to play at Nebraska

 

[TheGov21]

The University of Nebraska should get the best players it takes to win a Big 10 Championship. I don't care if they are from Nebraska or any other state. You cannot take a kid just because he's from Nebraska. Nebraska shouldn't be competing with schools like NDSU and SDSU for recruits.

 

[ThereIsNoPlace]

Nebraska's Super 6 athletes are typically of D1 quality. I just hope the relationship between Huskers and the NE HS coaches improves. It's been waning past several years.

 

[hailvictors2]

I think it has also been waning at UNK and Chadron State. Wayne State has a ton of in-state kids.

 

[BlueBud10]

WSC ain't been exactly good lately.

 

[KU4LIFE]

Wyoming is definitely going to make things very interesting when it comes to recruiting Nebraska kids. Outside of Colorado/Wyoming, Nebraska is Bohl's #1 target now.

 

[2010Husker]

Just because a kid is from Nebraska doesn't mean he should get a scholarship. As another poster said, we should be going after guys it takes to win the B1G and compete for national championships no matter where they are from. Nebraska has such a storied history of kids walking on and becoming something great.

With that said, it's really a tough deal. There are kids NU obviously missed on like Ott and Bazata at Iowa. You could argue there were kids at NDSU like Emanuel and Dudzik, NU probably missed on them. NU can't be scared though that a kid gets a scholarship from other schools that aren't on NUs level.

With that said, I don't blame a kid 1 bit for taking a scholarship to a FCS instead of walking on. The world today is different then 15-20 years ago. College is increasingly expensive. Kids should take the $$ when school will cost them next to nothing to get an education.

 

[bugaha3]

Did we miss on Ott and Bazata? I don't think so. While those guys are talented they are not in the upper level of talent. Just because they play at Iowa doesn't do it for me when it comes to competing with Iowa for talent. We have to compete with the Power 5 schools. Bazata and Ott were the type of players that were walking-on at Nebraska in the 80's and 90's. They would have to show that they could compete at the D-1 level, then they could earn a scholarship, C'mon they were playing 8-man football. I applaud those kids for getting a scholarship, But at Nebraska they have to earn a scholarship, because of the competition in high school especially at the 8-man level.
Ask yourself do we want to be an Iowa or competing at the highest level. Guys we missed on were Harrison Phillips most recently, We have in most years, 1 or 2 guys that deserve a scholarship coming out of high school in Nebraska. Lets make sure we get the 1 or 2 kids in nebraska to stay and recruit outside the state. and let the kids that think they can play at D-1 compete and then earn a scholarship. I want Nebraska to compete at the highest level every year. Thats it.

 

[viewfromthebooth]

Ott earned All-Big 10 honorable mention so there could be an argument that he was worthy of scholarship offer.

 

[highschoolfootballnut]

First off lets understand, you not understanding who is Power 5 schools, they are schools from the 5 power conferences, Iowa is from one of those conferences and is a Power 5 school. Second those kids like the two mentioned did take walk-on spots when Tom O was coaching because he did a much better job of recruiting and spending time on those kids, When was the last time you heard or saw Bo go to a small school and watch a football or basketball game and talk with these kids and parents, I can tell you this Tom O did about 30 to 40 times each year and thats how he got them. Showing up at a small school basketball game and getting the kid to sign that night after the game.

 

[bugaha3]

Would he get any considerations from Michigan St. Ohio St. Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Baylor or other teams in the UPPER HALF of Power 5 schools contending for CHAMPIONSHIPS. Where do you want Nebraska to be? If you want 7-5 or 8-4, this is not an issue then.

 

[highschoolfootballnut]

They are both in State kids, and with a little attention and time they probably would have taken that walk-on, and when you 20 or 30 a year like Nebraska use to, those fill in the holes. So your in the position to reload every year and not rebuild

 

[viewfromthebooth]

How many players that NU signed this year were being considered by those schools you mentioned? How often does NU win a recruiting battle versus those very same schools? Ameer Abdullah was a 3* and Alabama wanted him as a defensive back. Also tell me how many 4* and 5* guys actually end up at NU? Having coaches that coach them up and put them in positions to succeed is just as important if not more important than how many stars are beside their names. NFL Network had a short video on Randy Gregory as he was preparing for the NFL combine. He said if he had been taught some things in college that he learned at his combine preparation workouts he would've been a much better college player. And yes I realize that it does take talent to compete for national championships but tell me what NU has to do to get these top rated recruits to come to Lincoln?

 

[2010Husker]

Originally posted by bugaha3:
Did we miss on Ott and Bazata? I don't think so. While those guys are talented they are not in the upper level of talent. Just because they play at Iowa doesn't do it for me when it comes to competing with Iowa for talent. We have to compete with the Power 5 schools. Bazata and Ott were the type of players that were walking-on at Nebraska in the 80's and 90's. They would have to show that they could compete at the D-1 level, then they could earn a scholarship, C'mon they were playing 8-man football. I applaud those kids for getting a scholarship, But at Nebraska they have to earn a scholarship, because of the competition in high school especially at the 8-man level.
Ask yourself do we want to be an Iowa or competing at the highest level. Guys we missed on were Harrison Phillips most recently, We have in most years, 1 or 2 guys that deserve a scholarship coming out of high school in Nebraska. Lets make sure we get the 1 or 2 kids in nebraska to stay and recruit outside the state. and let the kids that think they can play at D-1 compete and then earn a scholarship. I want Nebraska to compete at the highest level every year. Thats it.

Please read my entire post! I don't advocate for taking all Nebraska kids! I'm sorry but I completely disagree with your assessment. We missed on Ott and Bazata. Ott was on the all conference lists and Bazata contributed as a RsFr. I can find kids on NUs roster who have scholarships over those guys who haven't seen an once of PT at NU. Don't let your hate of Iowa diminish how well their offensive and deffensive linemen are developed. Just look at their success in the draft and in the NFL.

 

[highschoolfootballnut]

I really think Nebraska is lost and just dont get why we were more successful in the past, I really believe it is a system thing, especially on offense. Nebraska is never going to out recruit Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, or one of about 7 or 8 other schools, but when we ran the ball from I formation and with the option, we could slide into those states and steal fullbacks, running Qbs, running backs and a few linemen because those schools looked past them because they didnot fit what they ran or they recruited them at a different position, NOW we run basically the same thing so we have to go into other states and try to out recruit them for the same kid at the same position. That is not going to happen and never has, its the system that needs fixed and running a offensive system that is not the same as those schools and getting the kids they dont need or will take but not at there desired position. Also a understanding that at Nebraska you have to build and develop players and you have to have one or two come out of the walk-on program to be eventually senior starters every year. Look at Georgia Tech they should never be better than Nebraska but they have found a system that allows them to pick up kids other school dont use any more.

This post was edited on 2/19 9:17 AM by highschoolfootballnut

 

[2010Husker]

Originally posted by highschoolfootballnut:
I really think Nebraska is lost and just dont get why we were more successful in the past, I really believe it is a system thing, especially on offense. Nebraska is never going to out recruit Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, or one of about 7 or 8 other schools, but when we ran the ball from I formation and with the option, we could slide into those states and steal fullbacks, running Qbs, running backs and a few linemen because those schools looked past them because they didnot fit what they ran or they recruited them at a different position, NOW we run basically the same thing so we have to go into other states and try to out recruit them for the same kid at the same position. That is not going to happen and never has, its the system that needs fixed and running a offensive system that is not the same as those schools and getting the kids they dont need or will take but not at there desired position. Also a understanding that at Nebraska you have to build and develop players and you have to have one or two come out of the walk-on program to be eventually senior starters every year. Look at Georgia Tech they should never be better than Nebraska but they have found a system that allows them to pick up kids other school dont use any more.

This post was edited on 2/19 9:17 AM by highschoolfootballnut

Interesting thoughts. Don't forget that NU was also an innovator in strength and conditioning in the late 80s and early 90s. Today those running QBs also can go to schools that run the read option, and other mobile offenses. The game has evolved to the point there is no longer 2 styles of offense (Pro -sit back pass and Run-Option oriented). GT does show that the triple option can still be successful, but they aren't competing for conference or national championships regularly.

 

[highschoolfootballnut]

I agree GT does not compete at TOP regularly BUT would you put in the same class of teams as Nebraska but yet they have been very close in wins over the last 7 years. Gt is a 20 to 30 ranked team and Nebraska is a top 10 team as far as tradition and being known.The game has always evolved but teams that run the ball have always won and been way more consistent. You want an example of spread and how it fails, look no farther than Oregon, they have all the money in the world, not only the best facilities but twice as good as the next, new uniforms every game, the wildest helmets, all the media attention, they have everything Except a National Title I think very few Husker fans know how great there facilities are compared to Nebraska.

 

[tireman2]

1. Ott was pure talent and had scholarship offers from Kstate and Iowa(power 5 conferences), and Nebraska was the only one who didn't offer him a scholarship where he attended camp.
2. If you play 8 man football you have to earn a scholarship but if you play at Millard West you don't? It's a good thing the 49ers didn't just look at the power 5 conferences or they would have missed out on Jerry Rice.
3. Ott was projected to go in the 3rd or 4th round of the draft this year if he had decided to come out early.





This post was edited on 2/19 11:18 PM by tireman2

 

[highschoolfootballnut]

and 15 years ago Coach Osboune would have visited that school attend a game and got him to walk-on

 

[ThereIsNoPlace]

Meet & learn from the new Husker staff April 4.

Article:

 

[huskerfan1414]

In the past I've coached against/for a total of 6 players that ended up at NU, some as scholarship and some as walk-on. Two of them will be projected starters next year for NU and are on scholarship. Got to watch Bazata a few times, and he was by far and away the best player I've ever seen at the high school level in state, and it's really not that close. A machine in every sense. My guess is that you've never actually been/seen a real 8 man game between good teams. They have good players too, just not quite as many of them. And yes, the school I coached at when I saw all the others was a big school.

I think you are way off base. The fact that Bazata never got a sniff is very disappointing. Never saw Ott but all signs pointed to "yes". What you need to realize is that we consistently take 2 star "potential" players every year from around the country. No class ever will be all 5 and 4 stars. Instead of reaching for a kid from some city who is a project and cross our fingers, I'd much rather take a 2 star kid from Nebraska who is going to give everything he's got for good old Nebraska U and at the very least turn into a solid practice player/special teams player. Considering how thin we are at D line I wish we had them.
NO, we shouldn't take every kid in the state and put him on scholarship. But guys like Ott, Bazata, Phillips, C. J. Johnson, etc. should not leave the state. The fact is when it came to Bazata we had lazy, arrogant coaches who wouldn't give him a sniff because they simply saw :"8 man" and then went to youngstown to find more diamonds in the rough somewhere else.
And btw, Bazata was not the type of athlete Osborne would grant a walk on to back in the day. Osborne gave walk ons to 210-220 pound seniors and after four years turned them into 290 pound beasts. I'd say Obsorne gives Bazata a scholarship since he already was a beast. But it's dumb to argue it all because we'll never know. But Osborne gave scholarships to Nebraska kids, too. It wasn't all walk-ons.

Originally posted by bugaha3:
Did we miss on Ott and Bazata? I don't think so. While those guys are talented they are not in the upper level of talent. Just because they play at Iowa doesn't do it for me when it comes to competing with Iowa for talent. We have to compete with the Power 5 schools. Bazata and Ott were the type of players that were walking-on at Nebraska in the 80's and 90's. They would have to show that they could compete at the D-1 level, then they could earn a scholarship, C'mon they were playing 8-man football. I applaud those kids for getting a scholarship, But at Nebraska they have to earn a scholarship, because of the competition in high school especially at the 8-man level.
Ask yourself do we want to be an Iowa or competing at the highest level. Guys we missed on were Harrison Phillips most recently, We have in most years, 1 or 2 guys that deserve a scholarship coming out of high school in Nebraska. Lets make sure we get the 1 or 2 kids in nebraska to stay and recruit outside the state. and let the kids that think they can play at D-1 compete and then earn a scholarship. I want Nebraska to compete at the highest level every year. Thats it.

 

[ThereIsNoPlace]

"Instead of reaching for a kid from some city who is a project and cross our fingers, I'd much rather take a 2 star kid from Nebraska who is going to give everything he's got for good old Nebraska U..."

+1

 

[viewfromthebooth]

Here are the DE's that NU recruited 2 years prior to Ott and the 2 years after. Included is their star rating.
Okuyami (sp) 3*
Ashburn 3*
Carter-NR
Moss-2*
McMullen-3* (recruited as DT)
Gregory-4*
Natter-3*
Mixon-3*
Settles-3*
Keels-3*(juco)
Stoltenburg-3*
King-3*
Wills-NR
By looking at that list it appears Ott would've been decent offer.
On a side note I did get a chance to talk with one of Ott's high school football coaches a year or so ago and the reason Ott contributed early at Iowa was because he understood and performed the scheme. Drew wasn't the best player athletically but because he did what coaches wanted to be done he climbed the depth chart.