If M.R. didnt have a history I'd say it's just coach-speak but the man has proven a concept and had great success. Also sounds like Cooper has a great eye for talent and will outwork everyone. Excited for the future, get very athletic guys on campus and see what happens.
Cooper is going to keep finding guys like that, Rhule is quite sure. There's good reason Cooper has served as both an assistant and recruiting coordinator for Rhule at multiple coaching stops prior to Lincoln.
Sometimes Cooper's thoughts on a prospect come Rhule's way in the wee hours.
"Because he stays up at night and texts me at 3 o'clock in the morning watching this guy, watching that guy," Rhule said. "And I think what you'll start to see is probably we'll offer guys that no one's heard of and then they'll start getting 10, 11, 12 offers and their stars will bump up. That's not disrespectful to anybody. It's just people will know that Coop goes and find guys. We're not afraid to offer anybody ... If we think they're a fit we're going to take them."
As Rhule told it, he called Cooper at one point before taking the Husker job to ask his opinion if he thought it was the right fit.
Cooper's advice: Take the job, then call
Jaylen Lloyd from Omaha Westside after you do.
Rhule took the job and called Lloyd in the first hour. Now the Westside senior is signed to play football and participate in track and field at Nebraska.
Rhule took the job and soon after Husker staffers were calling
Brice Turner, who is 6-2, 180 pounds and has run 10.2s in the 100 meters in track. The prospect of Bay City, Texas, got a surprise offer from Cooper and committed to Nebraska sight unseen.
“With Brice with his size he could be a receiver or wherever he fits most with that frame — he can run with a lot of guys or you can try to have him out run and take shots down the field.” his Bay City coach
Robert Jones explained to Husker247. “I don’t know where they’re going to use him, but I think he’ll be a great asset to the program.”
That last quote, you might guess, would be accepted as a badge of honor by Rhule and this staff.
You'll probably see Texas Tech as another school offering similar guys to Nebraska. The Red Raiders are led by coach
Joey McGuire, who was on Rhule's staff at Baylor.
"We all come from the same tree," Rhule said. "You'll start seeing guys like
Jaylen Lloyd, like
Eric Fields, who have Texas Tech and us because we have a system that we use that we believe in."