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FWIW - What a Recruiting Haul ...

RedCap

Nebraska Legend
Sep 29, 2001
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The BIG conference did well in recruiting some high school talent. Ohio State and Penn State each had 18 four stars. The Buckeyes also had a five star. Michigan had 10 four stars and Michigan State had nine. Nebraska had four. (This according to 24/7 rankings, other recruiting sites may have a different take.)

The big question, of course, is how many of them will actually stick around and be able to contribute down the road.
 
My take-a-way is look at the talent discrepancy (at least on paper). We did well imo, but the top teams are on another level. I'm hoping that Rhule can close that gap in the next year or 2. We absolutely need to if we want to be competitive every year.
Yeah- we just need to have our W-L record match or exceed our recruiting… then we may be able to take the next step to recruit higher end talent.
 
My take-a-way is look at the talent discrepancy (at least on paper). We did well imo, but the top teams are on another level. I'm hoping that Rhule can close that gap in the next year or 2. We absolutely need to if we want to be competitive every year.
Sure, but this class (and basically all of them over the last decade) are 9-10 win level of talent at minimum. We need to recruit better but we also need to coach and develop better. If we're able to meet or exceed the production on the field you'd expect from this type of talent we'll be able to take the next step to 11-12 win classes.
 
imo, if we can pull off wins in our first two games next fall, first against Minnesota - a respectable B1G foe (last year we were "close" 😂) - and secondly against Colorado (who had a splashy HC hire) - we would garner some widespread positive press & turn a few recruit's heads: "I wonder what they're building there?!"

Start off 2-0 and then I'm assuming we'd be good enough to get to 6 or more wins in the season and a bowl game. Recruiting should become even easier than Rhule & Co already make it look.

I'm really looking forward to next season. It'll take some good players, some good coaching, and some luck, to get back to bowl games but I think we can do it next year.
 
Yeah- we just need to have our W-L record match or exceed our recruiting… then we may be able to take the next step to recruit higher end talent.
So top 40 then? We’re number 31 or 32 as far 4* and above. Ours were low 4* except one. And we’re number 39 on average star rating. And we’re an old team, so hopefully they can win this year. Win meaning 7 or 8. Then it’ll be rough again for a few years. Unless Raoila is N. Need to upgrade talent to keep him.
 
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So top 40 then? We’re number 31 or 32 as far 4* and above. Ours were low 4* except one. And we’re number 39 on average star rating. And we’re an old team, so hopefully they can win this year. Win meaning 7 or 8. Then it’ll be rough again for a few years. Unless Raoila is N. Need to upgrade talent to keep him.
Just hard to turn it around overnight after the stretch of 7 losing seasons in the last 8 years.
No bowl game 6 years in a row.
We’re pretty fortunate to have the talent we have right now “on paper.”

Even with our string of approx 4th ranked classes (conference), we were losing games to 1 win Northwestern and to Georgia Southern and every other school during Frost and Riley’s tenure that had far inferior talent “on paper.”

Please let Rhule be the real deal this time.
 
The BIG conference did well in recruiting some high school talent. Ohio State and Penn State each had 18 four stars. The Buckeyes also had a five star. Michigan had 10 four stars and Michigan State had nine. Nebraska had four. (This according to 24/7 rankings, other recruiting sites may have a different take.)

The big question, of course, is how many of them will actually stick around and be able to contribute down the road.
Less than 10% if you go by Riley and Frost's documented track record. Rhule should do a much better job but a lot of guys are still available late for a reason. Not a knock against Rhule. As transition classes go, they worked their asses off to bring in what they could.
 
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Get to where the roster has 43 or more of the 85 scholarship players rated consensus 4 star or higher and you have a chance. Anything less and you are hoping and wishing to be the exception to the rule.
I agree, but damn. There's a big difference between a four star who commits to you after he had an in-home visit from a Jim Harbaugh or James Franklin, and a four star who self reported an offer from Michigan and Penn State but has only made official visits to Indiana and Nebraska.
 
This program under Rhule needs to begin as a developmental program that takes mainly 3 star guys and turns them into quality players. This would put Nebraska on a par with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, etc... But in order for Rhule to avoid becoming "Pelini part two" and maxing out at 9 wins a season while always losing to the big boys, he needs to recruit on the same level as Penn State, Michigan, etc... And that means not only recruiting four star guys but keeping them here as well. Can he do that? Not coach since Osborne and a couple of years under Callahan has any Nebraska coach been able to do that. I think that Rhule thinks that he can which is why he keeps talking big about returning Nebraska to glory. And I am drinking that kool aid.

And do not tell me that Osborne did not recruit high-end players. Most of his recruiting classes in the 90's would have been rated as a top 15 or even a top 10 class by today's metrics. And when he did not have that kind of recruiting success (as in the 80's with classes that would rank today as top 25 only) he did not do as well on the field either. He lost to OU in 84-87, beat them in 88, but then lost in 89-90 again. He also got whipped soundly by Miami and Florida State until he finally started to turn the corner in 92 with better recruiting classes.

Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. Rhule will rise or fall with his success in that domain.
 
Less than 10% if you go by Riley and Frost's documented track record. Rhule should do a much better job but a lot of guys are still available late for a reason. Not a knock against Rhule. As transition classes go, they worked their asses off to bring in what they could.
Some of the higher rated guys Rhule landed late were guys who already had NU high on their list. The Nashville WR for instance was a Mickey recruit and he’s a stud.
 
Nebraska is a sleeping giant and Rhule knows it. Nebraska has not been very good for most of 20 years and yet Nebraska still ranks in the top twenty five year in and year out in recruiting. You get the right coach and staff at Nebraska with all it's resources and you know things will change and change quickly. Once you see Nebraska win and play like a champion top line recruits and transfers will line up to play for the Huskers this I have little doubt.
 
My take-a-way is look at the talent discrepancy (at least on paper). We did well imo, but the top teams are on another level. I'm hoping that Rhule can close that gap in the next year or 2. We absolutely need to if we want to be competitive every year.
…. Don’t see it happening. Rhule has never attracted elite talent. He did well against sub-Big 10 teams. He may be a standard deviation improvement over our last two coaches, but I’d bet my truck he never wins 9 games here. We need three standard deviations improvement.
 
…. Don’t see it happening. Rhule has never attracted elite talent. He did well against sub-Big 10 teams. He may be a standard deviation improvement over our last two coaches, but I’d bet my truck he never wins 9 games here. We need three standard deviations improvement.
Ah so the truth comes out. You just don't like Rhule.

Please refrain from commenting then until he at least gets the chance to put a single game on film. Until then, you just look silly with your agenda pulling you by the nose...
 
Ah so the truth comes out. You just don't like Rhule.

Please refrain from commenting then until he at least gets the chance to put a single game on film. Until then, you just look silly with your agenda pulling you by the nose...
I don’t dislike the guy… just don’t see him (or anyone, unfortunately) getting us to a competitive level within the Big 10. We simply don’t have the money that most (most) of the other teams in our conference have… we can’t buy the same elite talent. It’s great from an Academics standpoint, but we’re Buried in the Big10, and always will be. (Excluding women’s Volleyball, being fair)
 
…. Don’t see it happening. Rhule has never attracted elite talent. He did well against sub-Big 10 teams. He may be a standard deviation improvement over our last two coaches, but I’d bet my truck he never wins 9 games here. We need three standard deviations improvement.
Shouldn’t you be more worried about the Ferentz’s and Captain Kirk whipping boy Gary Barta..

Don’t be using we with us..
 
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I didn't go through all the posts so someone else probably said this, but I believe Rhule when he said he recruits the talent he likes. If they have 12 stars behind their name, fine. If not, the recruit is someone he wants to develop regardless of stars. Given that, I don't expect NU to be in the top four or five of recruiting classes.

We'll see if his eye for talent is better than the recruitniks.
 
I didn't go through all the posts so someone else probably said this, but I believe Rhule when he said he recruits the talent he likes. If they have 12 stars behind their name, fine. If not, the recruit is someone he wants to develop regardless of stars. Given that, I don't expect NU to be in the top four or five of recruiting classes.

We'll see if his eye for talent is better than the recruitniks.
By the time he's done taking Nebraska to multiple playoff appearances and championships, he will get paid handsomely by one of these recruiting services who will want his services. 😎
 
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5⭐️ and high 4⭐️ players give the teams they are on more margin and chances to adjust for success. Nebraska needs to stack as much top end talent and maximize that talent.

When Rhule gets his system in place and the staff pushes in the same direction, the chance to get the better talent by ranking to come and stay. Think the key will be for the teams he has to be fundamentally sound while using the explosive talents on staff.
 
I agree, but damn. There's a big difference between a four star who commits to you after he had an in-home visit from a Jim Harbaugh or James Franklin, and a four star who self reported an offer from Michigan and Penn State but has only made official visits to Indiana and Nebraska.

If you look at the post that had the breakdown of five star commits by conference and you put UT OU USC and UCLA in their new homes the SEC still attracts two for every one the B1G got.

It’s hard for me to believe we’re going to get basically a full depth chart worth of Harbaughs first choice of four stars on a regular basis. Harbaugh doesn’t even get that all the time. There’s a lot of talent that will stay south as the numbers are showing.

And they certainly probably won’t be stacked up evenly across the position groups, we might be more stacked in high rated receivers than lineman for example.

There probably is some scenario where this thing gets rolling and say us and OSU and USC are the cream of the north for a while, but over the long haul if rhule is here 20 years or something I expect we’re going to have to coach up those second choice four stars and even three stars to keep pace with the SEC.
 
This program under Rhule needs to begin as a developmental program that takes mainly 3 star guys and turns them into quality players. This would put Nebraska on a par with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, etc... But in order for Rhule to avoid becoming "Pelini part two" and maxing out at 9 wins a season while always losing to the big boys, he needs to recruit on the same level as Penn State, Michigan, etc... And that means not only recruiting four star guys but keeping them here as well. Can he do that? Not coach since Osborne and a couple of years under Callahan has any Nebraska coach been able to do that. I think that Rhule thinks that he can which is why he keeps talking big about returning Nebraska to glory. And I am drinking that kool aid.

And do not tell me that Osborne did not recruit high-end players. Most of his recruiting classes in the 90's would have been rated as a top 15 or even a top 10 class by today's metrics. And when he did not have that kind of recruiting success (as in the 80's with classes that would rank today as top 25 only) he did not do as well on the field either. He lost to OU in 84-87, beat them in 88, but then lost in 89-90 again. He also got whipped soundly by Miami and Florida State until he finally started to turn the corner in 92 with better recruiting classes.

Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. Rhule will rise or fall with his success in that domain.
Well thought out.
I agree. We can get to a Pelini 2010 (pre-meltdown) level with a developmental program. To go beyond that you need elite talent somewhere on your roster. Don't need Georgia‐ Bama classes but when you do get the high 4/5 star types they can't be duds.
 
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If you look at the post that had the breakdown of five star commits by conference and you put UT OU USC and UCLA in their new homes the SEC still attracts two for every one the B1G got.

It’s hard for me to believe we’re going to get basically a full depth chart worth of Harbaughs first choice of four stars on a regular basis. Harbaugh doesn’t even get that all the time. There’s a lot of talent that will stay south as the numbers are showing.

And they certainly probably won’t be stacked up evenly across the position groups, we might be more stacked in high rated receivers than lineman for example.

There probably is some scenario where this thing gets rolling and say us and OSU and USC are the cream of the north for a while, but over the long haul if rhule is here 20 years or something I expect we’re going to have to coach up those second choice four stars and even three stars to keep pace with the SEC.
The good news is that once you get to the upper three through 4 star kids, you’re kind of splitting hairs. You don’t need 85 high performing 4 star high schoolers to win a lot of games. You need maybe 30 on your roster at any one time and as many experienced good 3 stars as you can field.
 
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This program under Rhule needs to begin as a developmental program that takes mainly 3 star guys and turns them into quality players. This would put Nebraska on a par with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, etc... But in order for Rhule to avoid becoming "Pelini part two" and maxing out at 9 wins a season while always losing to the big boys, he needs to recruit on the same level as Penn State, Michigan, etc... And that means not only recruiting four star guys but keeping them here as well. Can he do that? Not coach since Osborne and a couple of years under Callahan has any Nebraska coach been able to do that. I think that Rhule thinks that he can which is why he keeps talking big about returning Nebraska to glory. And I am drinking that kool aid.

And do not tell me that Osborne did not recruit high-end players. Most of his recruiting classes in the 90's would have been rated as a top 15 or even a top 10 class by today's metrics. And when he did not have that kind of recruiting success (as in the 80's with classes that would rank today as top 25 only) he did not do as well on the field either. He lost to OU in 84-87, beat them in 88, but then lost in 89-90 again. He also got whipped soundly by Miami and Florida State until he finally started to turn the corner in 92 with better recruiting classes.

Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. Rhule will rise or fall with his success in that domain.
We won in 1989. Gdowski destroyed OU.
 
…. Don’t see it happening. Rhule has never attracted elite talent. He did well against sub-Big 10 teams. He may be a standard deviation improvement over our last two coaches, but I’d bet my truck he never wins 9 games here. We need three standard deviations improvement.
75 Chevy C10?
 
In going by football recruiting service rankings as a correlation to on the field results, Nebraska should have been a regular 20-25 finisher in just football rankings at the end of the seasons. But that hasn’t been the case. Ranking teenagers in football is haphazard at best. Not an exact science with variables not necessarily in the rankings at all.

But the top teams, generally, get so many four and five stars that just hitting the hit mark of 50 percent gets you high rankings at the end of each season. Nebraska needs to do a better job in on-field development in coaching the players. Plus evaluating the players, choosing more the right ones and better results in S&C. We have been so average at best in these stages for so long. It is almost comical but it gets people fired.
 
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