Blades apparently gone for good

[Tuco Salamanca]

No problem. I see the same misunderstanding. However it goes to the point of him not making it to any school if Florida backs out. They think the risk is too great of him taking a spot from someone else.

Rumor is we cooled on Onye because we thought we would get Blades and Lenoir and didn't want all 3 dbs. We ended up with zero. Now we got a bunch of dbs in one class.

In all seriousness Riley needs to manage the roster better.

I think roster management is fine. The classes are getting more uniform in number and the distribution is fine.

Blades was probably not going to RS so he would have been in the class with Dismuke Butler and Bootle as Freshmen.

Also decreases the chance that any 2018 DB redshirting, depending on how it fills out with talent and number.

 

[Bugeater]

Water over, er UNDER, the bridge now, there will be others. Time to move on.

 

[Toms Wife]

I think roster management is fine. The classes are getting more uniform in number and the distribution is fine.

Blades was probably not going to RS so he would have been in the class with Dismuke Butler and Bootle as Freshmen.

Also decreases the chance that any 2018 DB redshirting, depending on how it fills out with talent and number.

People used to make excuses for Bo too.

 

[nebcountry]

View embedded media

That's actually a contradiction as I see it. If you are in favor of "processing", you would also want the maximum number coming in? Take the max, some make it, some don't and would be processed.

"JMO: If you insist Nebraska does not "process" noncontributing players, you should also want Nebraska to avoid "filling the class" just to fill it."

fify Mike Schaefer.

 

[Toms Wife]

Wait Coach Dubs, if we only wanted one db and not two, then did we tell Lenoir to hit the road after Blades committed? This is news to me. I knew we told Onye we were full but I guess we handed Lenoir to Oregon too. I hope that doesnt bite us.

P.S. That is an even bigger brain fart by Mike than wanting two dbs and getting one.

 

[mel mains]

Water over the bridge now, there will be others. Time to move on.

Um I think a person shouldn't cry over spilled milk but I'm reasonably sure water goes under bridges.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

No, I think he means if you want to only have "quality" players in the program, and are willing to process underperformers then you shouldn't be ok with filling the class with lesser players just to get to 85.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

People used to make excuses for Bo too.

I am not seeing the excuse, just stating a fact. The class Blades would have been in has 3 current players not 0.

 

[TheBeav815]

Um I think a person shouldn't cry over spilled milk but I'm reasonably sure water goes under bridges.

It usually does, except earlier this week where I live.

 

[coachDubs]

Wait Coach Dubs, if we only wanted one db and not two, then did we tell Lenoir to hit the road after Blades committed? This is news to me. I knew we told Onye we were full but I guess we handed Lenoir to Oregon too. I hope that doesnt bite us.

P.S. That is an even bigger brain fart by Mike than wanting two dbs and getting one.

No, we wanted 1 of the 2 high-end DB's for certain but would've taken both Blades and Lenoir. Onye wasn't a take although DW liked him. Onye is an easy replacement in the next 2 classes, he's a dozen type DB, which is why we passed on him. The other two are immediate impact type recruits, which is why we would've taken both.

 

[Toms Wife]

No, we wanted 1 of the 2 high-end DB's for certain but would've taken both Blades and Lenoir. Onye wasn't a take although DW liked him. Onye is an easy replacement in the next 2 classes, he's a dozen type DB, which is why we passed on him. The other two are immediate impact type recruits, which is why we would've taken both.

. So we would have taken two and asked Onye to hit the road? So we didn't want all three...which is what I said.

 

[coachDubs]

. So we would have taken two and asked Onye to hit the road? So we didn't want all three...which is what I said.

Which is why I deleted the post, but that isn't what you said in your response...

WaitCoach Dubs, if we only wanted one db and not two, then did we tell Lenoir to hit the road after Blades committed?

 

[mel mains]

It usually does, except earlier this week where I live.

Sorry to hear. North side missed that storm.

 

[nebcountry]

No, I think he means if you want to only have "quality" players in the program, and are willing to process underperformers then you shouldn't be ok with filling the class with lesser players just to get to 85.

In the extreme case, if you're not filling classes and staying below 85, there is no reason to process. Quality or not. If you process and take the max, you'll take a guy like Janovich. If he becomes or is becoming another Janovich, you keep him, if not, you process and take the max next year. I don't know of any teams that hit on a large percentage of their players.

Even if I consider the "quality" part, I still see it the same way. Processing is about getting rid of players to make room for new better players. You follow recruiting closely as far as I can tell. There's nothing that guarantees a 5* player's success, or a 2* player's failure. If you thought a 2* or a 5* had potential quality you'd take them. The more the merrier. I will add that I haven't made up my mind on how moral or ethical processing is, especially if based strictly on contribution level.

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

[dinglefritz]

It usually does, except earlier this week where I live.

I would take a little water OVER the bridge right now in my neck of the woods. No rain since late June and 95 almost every day. Yikes.

 

[dinglefritz]

Academic risks have been a part of Nebraska football for a very long time. I didn't intend to mean Blade is illiterate, I do believe he's a dipshit for not holding up his end of the bargain.

Did he not attend the spring game, on his own dime?

There has to be more to it, luckily for him Nebraska won't comment.

McKweon hinted at that today on Severe's show. He said point blank that Nebraska is lucky that Blades decided to not come on board as an "academic redshirt". McKweon isn't one to cut Riley and his staff much slack on stuff like this so I think you are correct in your assumption that there is more to the story.

 

[Hoosker Du]

No, I think he means if you want to only have "quality" players in the program, and are willing to process underperformers then you shouldn't be ok with filling the class with lesser players just to get to 85.

How about we just get performers that we don't have to worry about qualifying? Are we really limited to 20 performers in a class? If we got 20 in a class, then we can get 22 or 23, and take a flyer on 4 or 5 that we may or may not get. If we are fortunate enough to get those 4 or 5, then we start 'processing' other players out. Our coaches need to get creative to get dead weight to leave. It's just part of the deal of being a well-paid coach.

This idea of completing our class with those that may not qualify and those that are waiting until signing day is probably not the way to look at filling out a class. There are quality players that we can secure a commitment from well before NSD to make sure we have the numbers needed. And then those at risk players and those that are highly coveted will be gravy if we can get them. But counting on those two groups to fill out a class will leave you at the alter more times than not. Especially when many of those waiting until NSD are from talent-rich states many miles away.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

The problem is that everyone wants to fill the class and everyone wants value and at the same time they want to have class ranked in the top 15, because if you aren't then you have no chance at a title.

@Husker Du are there unicorns and pixie dust in this land you live?

Very few schools have the leverage to keep multiple players on the hook like you described. Kids aren't stupid when it comes to the process, burning the candle at both ends isn't the answer.

How do you report your scholarship usage to the B1G? You know that in order to be over the 85, you have to identify which players, currently on scholarship, wont be on scholarship when its time to be at 85? you can't just say we always have attrition, it will work itself out anymore.

 

[coachDubs]

80-81 is where we should be with scholarship guys from high school. This allows 4-5 for walk-ons, and if we have more than that, we're in trouble at this point in the program. It's the same opinion I had with Callahan, Solich, Pelini on here and now Riley. The good thing is, Riley is signing better players that have more offers from other P5 programs and not the lower level schools.

Croot, croot and croot some more. Blades is a loss from a ready made player and luckily Bookie is on board and will be here in January. It'd be nice to get another high level CB that can enroll midyear as well, we need it for 2018...

 

[coachDubs]

How do you report your scholarship usage to the B1G? You know that in order to be over the 85, you have to identify which players, currently on scholarship, wont be on scholarship when its time to be at 85? you can't just say we always have attrition, it will work itself out anymore.

Each B1G school is allowed +3, as in mulligans, that don't need documentation. Anything over the +3 is what's reported to the conference.

So technically, as long as you know of 1 player leaving, and that 1 player is documented, you can technically oversign by 4 (+3 plus 1 known). This came directly from someone involved in the process at Nebraska. And to be clear, it's frowned upon but it's allowed and other schools (tOSU) are regulars at it.

 

[Hoosker Du]

The problem is that everyone wants to fill the class and everyone wants value and at the same time they want to have class ranked in the top 15, because if you aren't then you have no chance at a title.

@Husker Du are there unicorns and pixie dust in this land you live?

Very few schools have the leverage to keep multiple players on the hook like you described. Kids aren't stupid when it comes to the process, burning the candle at both ends isn't the answer.

How do you report your scholarship usage to the B1G? You know that in order to be over the 85, you have to identify which players, currently on scholarship, wont be on scholarship when its time to be at 85? you can't just say we always have attrition, it will work itself out anymore.

Let me get this straight...we can have 20 on the leash, with others that are deciding on NSD, or are an academic risk, but we can't sign 2 or 3 more players that make up that core group of recruits that give us a verbal commitment before NSD?? C'mon man, we both know that isn't true.

Like I said, our coaches need to be more assertive when it comes to recommending that some of our players just need to move on. If they aren't contributing by their redshirt junior year, it generally ain't gonna happen for 'em, and they need to be moved.

There is a balance here. You go for the verbal prior to NSD, and if you don't get it, if the player is special, you save them a place with that additional 3 or 4 scholarships that come available each year.

We missed out on what could have been 2 or 3 additional quality players that could have been a part of the class, because we didn't maximize our numbers. You can't tell me there weren't 2 or 3 more players across the nation with similar offers as a Watts, that would have loved to be here, because there were.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Who were the 5 players we missed out on? Players who were quality players that would have said yes but we turned away.

 

[Hoosker Du]

Who were the 5 players we missed out on? Players who were quality players that would have said yes but we turned away.

Um...I don't think I need to explain that when you don't generate enough interest to get them to commit before NSD, you are really risking being left in the lurch on NSD. Especially when we're in the middle of the country, a long ways from many of their homes. There is a much greater risk of them staying closer to home.

If our coaches only identified 20 players that were absolutely sure they wanted to play here, they needed to put in the additional work to fill out those core spots that would make up the class of 22 or 23. That's the point...they should have had more core recruits to begin with.

No one said it was going to be super easy recruiting to Nebraska. But they have to generate the interest each year to fill all of our spots, plus at least the 3 additional oversigns and possible attrition. With the loss of Blades and Watts, that makes what, 5 or 6 potential commits on NSD that won't be here. We missed on the big fish, but they still needed to have their bases covered before missing on the host of California recruits we missed on.

We can't allow other schools in the conference to do this, while we're satisfied signing 3 or 4 fewer recruits each year. That's why we're in this position in the first place, because Bo wasn't managing our roster well. Let's not repeat history when history left us with Cam Meredith playing DT.

I think Riley and his coaching staff have shown the ability to adjust, so I hope they don't get left holding the bag like this again next year. Get your core numbers covered, and have those 3 or 4 spots (or more from attrition) available for signing day.

 

[Hoosker Du]

I should say that generally I am very happy with Riley's and Co's recruiting. That's why I think they could get commitments from 2 or 3 additional core recruits, and I would have confidence that they aren't going to be stiffs that are just taking a spot. They signed 20 quality recruits in Feb, but they could have signed up to 23, correct? Why not get all 3 additional spots covered with talented players (they don't all have to be 4-stars either; I was perfectly happy with many of the 3-stars in this class) and everyone beyond those numbers is just a bonus...that you can make room for with oversigning. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Believe me, I'm not bitching about the quality of recruits they are bringing into the program. I'm just saying they need to nail down more commitments before NSD, so their core scholarship numbers are reasonably covered.

Wouldn't it be nice to have nearly all of the surprises on NSD be of the more positive variety of signing players, as opposed to having so many that go a different direction on signing day? And given the fact that the vast majority of recruits sign to schools that are within 500 miles of their home, it just makes sense not to be completely sure of those players outside that 500-mile radius signing on NSD.

These are players that still aren't sure, and when you're 18 and you are essentially forced to choose between a school that is an hour's drive from home or a school that is a 3-hour flight (because it's NSD, and you feel you have to make a choice), you most of the time default to the hour drive.

 

[Hoosker Du]

Um I think a person shouldn't cry over spilled milk but I'm reasonably sure water goes under bridges.

You obviously aren't seeing the catastrophic analogy that "Water over the bridge" represents.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

I frequently learn something I didn't know when I log in here, today it was a new term...."functioning dipshit", which is awesome and I'll keep that in my back pocket for future use.

 

[headcard]

That's actually a contradiction as I see it. If you are in favor of "processing", you would also want the maximum number coming in? Take the max, some make it, some don't and would be processed.

"JMO: If you insist Nebraska does not "process" noncontributing players, you should also want Nebraska to avoid "filling the class" just to fill it."

fify Mike Schaefer.

I agree. Process and take alot of players or be selective and process less. Being selective and processing players would just lead to tiny rosters, unless you always get every recruit you want, which isn't reality.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

@huskerdu I think we are now talking about three separate issues.

1 - filling classes just to fill
2 - processing players.
3 - oversigning

I believe that they are related but need to be discussed individually

1 - I think there is plenty of attention paid to identifying and reaching out to high school players. There is an entire department devoted to recruiting to identify talent and create a list of those players that the staff feels deserve an offer. This list is fluid but none the less there is a list of identified players deemed worthy of a scholarship offer. With that said, the recruiting process begins and decisions are made by both recruits and staff. if we can get the class filled with those identified players great. If we are sitting at 82 and all players on the list have made decisions, I don't think you offer guys not on you list just to get to 85 or 88.

2 - in theory I am in favor of processing guys that aren't contributing by year 3. I want Nebraska to have the most talented players possible competing and fighting for playing time.

3 - as far as oversigning goes, in my world, oversigning is a few years away. Until we are filling out classes with only players that are on the identified list, we don't have a reason to oversign.

I would rather take a chance on a guy like Blades than a guy like Cory Whitaker.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I agree. Process and take alot of players or be selective and process less. Being selective and processing players would just lead to tiny rosters, unless you always get every recruit you want, which isn't reality.

If you process all the players that "need" to be processed the roster ends up in similar size or ends up very young.

 

[nebcountry]

@huskerdu I think we are now talking about three separate issues.

1 - filling classes just to fill
2 - processing players.
3 - oversigning

I believe that they are related but need to be discussed individually

1 - I think there is plenty of attention paid to identifying and reaching out to high school players. There is an entire department devoted to recruiting to identify talent and create a list of those players that the staff feels deserve an offer. This list is fluid but none the less there is a list of identified players deemed worthy of a scholarship offer. With that said, the recruiting process begins and decisions are made by both recruits and staff. if we can get the class filled with those identified players great. If we are sitting at 82 and all players on the list have made decisions, I don't think you offer guys not on you list just to get to 85 or 88.

2 - in theory I am in favor of processing guys that aren't contributing by year 3. I want Nebraska to have the most talented players possible competing and fighting for playing time.

3 - as far as oversigning goes, in my world, oversigning is a few years away. Until we are filling out classes with only players that are on the identified list, we don't have a reason to oversign.

I would rather take a chance on a guy like Blades than a guy like Cory Whitaker.

1. Our current offer list for 2018 according to rivals is up to 188 offers. But I don't believe that we are chasing the 188th offer with the same zeal as we are chasing the 1st. The OWH big board indicates that we are chasing 41 targets. If we are ultimately going to be at 82, then we need to be chasing more than 41 targets. I'll use the Andrew Ward example. I was 100% fine with his commit and signing. He was identified and chased early. As for the Chris Walker example, I'm not fine with how that played out. If Walker is good enough to sign, he is good enough to get an offer before he did.

2/3. Processing, filling a class full, and oversigning are all kind of interrelated. Maybe a future topic I'll take part in. iirc, we were over the 85 limit before Riley's 1st season and there was a significant level of processing.

If I remove the benefit of hindsight. If I have the room for two and not even oversign. If there's two players that will sign, one is Blades like, the other Whitaker like, then I'll take them both if I see potential in both. There's no guarantee that a 5* will succeed, there's no guarantee that a 2* will fail. Even if taken in the literal sense, Whitaker contributed, Blades may never enroll at NU.

In general, I'm happy with Riley's recruiting. Filling classes is just one facet that's being discussed in a year that we didn't fill the class and one of the better players didn't enroll.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Well technically we are at 85 now because the leftover scholarships were awarded to walkons.

Secondly I am not talking stars. I am talking about players identified by the staff and offered by the staff.

As far as Whitaker goes, you can't have it both ways. If you are processing players he would have been gone before he contributed.

You can erase the Blades mistake in the 2018 class. Whitaker took up a scholarship for 4 years before he played a significant down.

 

[yort2000]

Um...I don't think I need to explain that when you don't generate enough interest to get them to commit before NSD, you are really risking being left in the lurch on NSD. Especially when we're in the middle of the country, a long ways from many of their homes. There is a much greater risk of them staying closer to home.

If our coaches only identified 20 players that were absolutely sure they wanted to play here, they needed to put in the additional work to fill out those core spots that would make up the class of 22 or 23. That's the point...they should have had more core recruits to begin with.

No one said it was going to be super easy recruiting to Nebraska. But they have to generate the interest each year to fill all of our spots, plus at least the 3 additional oversigns and possible attrition. With the loss of Blades and Watts, that makes what, 5 or 6 potential commits on NSD that won't be here. We missed on the big fish, but they still needed to have their bases covered before missing on the host of California recruits we missed on.

We can't allow other schools in the conference to do this, while we're satisfied signing 3 or 4 fewer recruits each year. That's why we're in this position in the first place, because Bo wasn't managing our roster well. Let's not repeat history when history left us with Cam Meredith playing DT.

I think Riley and his coaching staff have shown the ability to adjust, so I hope they don't get left holding the bag like this again next year. Get your core numbers covered, and have those 3 or 4 spots (or more from attrition) available for signing day.

Do you realize that the two coaches responsible for the position group in question (coaching and developing relationships with recruits) up until one month before signing day are no longer at Nebraska?

 

[jflores]

1. Our current offer list for 2018 according to rivals is up to 188 offers. But I don't believe that we are chasing the 188th offer with the same zeal as we are chasing the 1st. The OWH big board indicates that we are chasing 41 targets. If we are ultimately going to be at 82, then we need to be chasing more than 41 targets. I'll use the Andrew Ward example. I was 100% fine with his commit and signing. He was identified and chased early. As for the Chris Walker example, I'm not fine with how that played out. If Walker is good enough to sign, he is good enough to get an offer before he did.

2/3. Processing, filling a class full, and oversigning are all kind of interrelated. Maybe a future topic I'll take part in. iirc, we were over the 85 limit before Riley's 1st season and there was a significant level of processing.

If I remove the benefit of hindsight. If I have the room for two and not even oversign. If there's two players that will sign, one is Blades like, the other Whitaker like, then I'll take them both if I see potential in both. There's no guarantee that a 5* will succeed, there's no guarantee that a 2* will fail. Even if taken in the literal sense, Whitaker contributed, Blades may never enroll at NU.

In general, I'm happy with Riley's recruiting. Filling classes is just one facet that's being discussed in a year that we didn't fill the class and one of the better players didn't enroll.

Show me a staff that pursues ~200 targets with the "same zeal". Let alone a great staff.

It seems like weekly we're pissing on Harbaugh or Meyer for showing love to the 5* guys and then ditching 3* committed guys late in the cycle. Or at best, calling the 3* guys late if they need to fill spots when a high roller doesn't bite.

Can't have it both ways.

 

[jflores]

1. Our current offer list for 2018 according to rivals is up to 188 offers. But I don't believe that we are chasing the 188th offer with the same zeal as we are chasing the 1st. The OWH big board indicates that we are chasing 41 targets. If we are ultimately going to be at 82, then we need to be chasing more than 41 targets. I'll use the Andrew Ward example. I was 100% fine with his commit and signing. He was identified and chased early. As for the Chris Walker example, I'm not fine with how that played out. If Walker is good enough to sign, he is good enough to get an offer before he did.

2/3. Processing, filling a class full, and oversigning are all kind of interrelated. Maybe a future topic I'll take part in. iirc, we were over the 85 limit before Riley's 1st season and there was a significant level of processing.

If I remove the benefit of hindsight. If I have the room for two and not even oversign. If there's two players that will sign, one is Blades like, the other Whitaker like, then I'll take them both if I see potential in both. There's no guarantee that a 5* will succeed, there's no guarantee that a 2* will fail. Even if taken in the literal sense, Whitaker contributed, Blades may never enroll at NU.

In general, I'm happy with Riley's recruiting. Filling classes is just one facet that's being discussed in a year that we didn't fill the class and one of the better players didn't enroll.

One interesting thought about the 2 left over ships. We had that Wallace kid and Onyemaobi on the hook. Word is that we decided to let them go in favor of having a full cycle for DW to get someone better. Since DW was a new coach at that point, and had known Onye for a year or more and brought him with him, I assume he was fairly comfortable with that approach in his position group.

Kittrell is instructive. That's a guy in Mr. Husker JP's group that we could have flipped to use one of those ships if we were dead set on using them. Some combination of JP, Cav, Riley and Devaney decided it wasn't worth it.

 

[jflores]

I would like it the Meyer and Harbaugh way ... at minimum I would like things to evolve to the point where if we are scrambling near signing day we are poaching recruits from lower tier power 5 schools rather than Wyoming and the Dakotas

Sure, but the point of that post was, they don't show all recruits the "same zeal".

Napoleon's maxim generally says it can't be done "if you defend everything, you defend nothing".

 

[nebcountry]

Show me a staff that pursues ~200 targets with the "same zeal". Let alone a great staff.

It seems like weekly we're pissing on Harbaugh or Meyer for showing love to the 5* guys and then ditching 3* committed guys late in the cycle. Or at best, calling the 3* guys late if they need to fill spots when a high roller doesn't bite.

Can't have it both ways.

I'll try to be more succinct, I was unclear and using an extremist viewpoint.

I don't expect 100% zeal for every player offered. If whatever you're doing is coming up short, it's time to consider doing something different. I would guess there's not enough time to show every offered player the same level of attention shown to the most likely signees. But, if you're coming up short, you may want to consider working off a longer list.

Heck, maybe NU is at the point where it's no longer reasonable to land a full class of expected talented signees (obviously not proven, they're high schoolers). So, is that where we are at as a program. Either continue taking short classes, or finish out with high certainty non contributors?

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I'll try to be more succinct, I was unclear and using an extremist viewpoint.

I don't expect 100% zeal for every player offered. If whatever you're doing is coming up short, it's time to consider doing something different. I would guess there's not enough time to show every offered player the same level of attention shown to the most likely signees. But, if you're coming up short, you may want to consider working off a longer list.

Heck, maybe NU is at the point where it's no longer reasonable to land a full class of expected talented signees (obviously not proven, they're high schoolers). So, is that where we are at as a program. Either continue taking short classes, or finish out with high certainty non contributors?

Isn't that a byproduct of where the senior class is at in terms of numbers?

I am not sure Riley and his staff are necessarily in favor of being short of the 85. If you look at the makeup of the senior class only 6 players from the 2013 class remain. 11 of those players left before using up their eligibility. Only 2 left early for the pros. If my math is right, 19 of the 26 players redshirted. 3 were JUCOs.

If all of the players had exhausted their eligibility at Nebraska this class should have 16 players plus whatever freshmen in 2014 class that didn't redshirt, I think that was 4. 20 turned to 11 and 3 of those 11 have not contributed much yet.

Digging into that class was eye opening. What was that 2013 class ranked 16? Only 10 or 11 of that class of 25 or 26 has contributed.

 

[DukeOfSorrow]

1. Our current offer list for 2018 according to rivals is up to 188 offers. But I don't believe that we are chasing the 188th offer with the same zeal as we are chasing the 1st. The OWH big board indicates that we are chasing 41 targets. If we are ultimately going to be at 82, then we need to be chasing more than 41 targets. I'll use the Andrew Ward example. I was 100% fine with his commit and signing. He was identified and chased early. As for the Chris Walker example, I'm not fine with how that played out. If Walker is good enough to sign, he is good enough to get an offer before he did.

2/3. Processing, filling a class full, and oversigning are all kind of interrelated. Maybe a future topic I'll take part in. iirc, we were over the 85 limit before Riley's 1st season and there was a significant level of processing.

If I remove the benefit of hindsight. If I have the room for two and not even oversign. If there's two players that will sign, one is Blades like, the other Whitaker like, then I'll take them both if I see potential in both. There's no guarantee that a 5* will succeed, there's no guarantee that a 2* will fail. Even if taken in the literal sense, Whitaker contributed, Blades may never enroll at NU.

In general, I'm happy with Riley's recruiting. Filling classes is just one facet that's being discussed in a year that we didn't fill the class and one of the better players didn't enroll.

Of course. There are a few reasons for that, most likely. One thing I think the staff does early on is to throw offers at top guys and gauge their early interest by catching their attention. I think that's one of the ways they build their board early on, based on the high-end guys that are somewhat receptive to the offer and will fit the system.

 

[Hoosker Du]

@huskerdu I think we are now talking about three separate issues.

1 - filling classes just to fill
2 - processing players.
3 - oversigning

I believe that they are related but need to be discussed individually

1 - I think there is plenty of attention paid to identifying and reaching out to high school players. There is an entire department devoted to recruiting to identify talent and create a list of those players that the staff feels deserve an offer. This list is fluid but none the less there is a list of identified players deemed worthy of a scholarship offer. With that said, the recruiting process begins and decisions are made by both recruits and staff. if we can get the class filled with those identified players great. If we are sitting at 82 and all players on the list have made decisions, I don't think you offer guys not on you list just to get to 85 or 88.

2 - in theory I am in favor of processing guys that aren't contributing by year 3. I want Nebraska to have the most talented players possible competing and fighting for playing time.

3 - as far as oversigning goes, in my world, oversigning is a few years away. Until we are filling out classes with only players that are on the identified list, we don't have a reason to oversign.

I would rather take a chance on a guy like Blades than a guy like Cory Whitaker.

But hasn't the BiG oversigning rule been in place since last year? At least it seems to me that it was first mentioned here last season. If our staff is not taking advantage of it, they are wasting an opportunity for them to improve the roster.

 

[Hoosker Du]

I frequently learn something I didn't know when I log in here, today it was a new term...."functioning dipshit", which is awesome and I'll keep that in my back pocket for future use.

What are you referring to?