Improving the walk on program.

[Camcon2016]

I have a question about this that maybe you can set me straight on.
Given our smaller population base and only 424 high schools in the state, we are limited on potential walk ons. With a smaller pool to work with it would make sense to me to invest in improving the quality of that pool. My question is, when we are finished paying off these fired coaches why can't the university invest a few million a year into advanced strength and conditioning equipment and programs and academic support for student athlete's in high schools across the state. My thinking is this would build in a loyalty and bring in athlete's a couple years ahead in conditioning of where they would otherwise come in at. Your thoughts?

 

[dand84]

Two things have diminished walk-ons. First, school consolidations have killed off many smaller schools. Fewer schools, fewer teams, fewer players, fewer games, etc. Second, players that would have walked on in the past now get scholarships to other schools where they can play on TV. While you might still want to go after your local talent hard, I think it is going to be very hard to build a program around it.

 

[Camcon2016]

Two things have diminished walk-ons. First, school consolidations have killed off many smaller schools. Fewer schools, fewer teams, fewer players, fewer games, etc. Second, players that would have walked on in the past now get scholarships to other schools where they can play on TV. While you might still want to go after your local talent hard, I think it is going to be very hard to build a program around it.

I agree we can't build around that alone and I would not like developing players for other schools. The walk on program is important though and currently costs very little and is worthy of investment. My idea is probably whacky but someone needs to come up with a way to actually improve it. I have only heard the words " restore the walk on program" and have yet to hear how that can be done. Maybe I have just missed it.

 

[headcard]

I'll add the skyrocketing price of college. It is a lot less feasible for families to turn down scholarships to SDSU, NDSU, Wyoming, etc than it used to be.

 

[Bremser]

I have a question about this that maybe you can set me straight on.
Given our smaller population base and only 424 high schools in the state, we are limited on potential walk ons. With a smaller pool to work with it would make sense to me to invest in improving the quality of that pool. My question is, when we are finished paying off these fired coaches why can't the university invest a few million a year into advanced strength and conditioning equipment and programs and academic support for student athlete's in high schools across the state. My thinking is this would build in a loyalty and bring in athlete's a couple years ahead in conditioning of where they would otherwise come in at. Your thoughts?

Also, bringing back the county scholarships will help A LOT! I'm confident Scott can get this done quickly.

 

[dinglefritz]

I'll add the skyrocketing price of college. It is a lot less feasible for families to turn down scholarships to SDSU, NDSU, Wyoming, etc than it used to be.

Almost all of those schools have most of their games on TV somewhere now too. It's become more and more commonplace to see guys drafted out of those smaller schools too so the necessity of going to a bigger program isn't as critical if you want to play on Sundays anymore. It's tough but I think our walk on program has been pretty darned good under Riley. It took them a few months to understand it and get rolling but good heavens we've started and played a bunch of walk ons this year..

 

[dand84]

Yes, I think we can have (and do have) a walk-on program, just we won't ever have one like we used too.

 

[9and4]

I'll add the skyrocketing price of college. It is a lot less feasible for families to turn down scholarships to SDSU, NDSU, Wyoming, etc than it used to be.

Two words, baby: County. Scholarships.

 

[Camcon2016]

Excuse my ignorance. What are county scholarships exactly

 

[dinglefritz]

Yes, I think we can have (and do have) a walk-on program, just we won't ever have one like we used too.

It used to be that just about anybody could walk on but we also had a freshman football team at one time. You have to have some limits and if we go to 140 on the roster like some have suggested that's a very tough number to coach.

 

[schuele]

Excuse my ignorance. What are county scholarships exactly

Years ago there was a popular conspiracy theory that NU's walk-ons were really getting a full scholarship funded by people in their home county. Might have been started by Woody Paige or some other hack, but it's still fun to joke about.

 

[BigRedBeliever]

Two words, baby: County. Scholarships.

Stop it!!!

 

[redfanusa]

I had a coworker at UNL whose son was an offensive lineman. He ran about a 9.0 second 40 dash at an NU camp, so a scholarship offer was not happening. He was invited to walk on, but the cost of a university education was a factor. When he got a scholarship offer from one of the Dakotas, he had to take it.

Walk-ons can accept academic scholarships during their first redshirt season. After that, any scholarship they have, even academic, counts against the 85 limit. That doesn't help in every situation, but it might make it possible to have more "grayshirt" players, who have a full scholarship waiting for them if they can meet certain criteria.

Otherwise, you have to have incentives for walk-ons to pay their own way to get the snot knocked out of them on the scout team every day. That means encouraging coeds to put out more for football players. Or at least offering them summer jobs where they don't actually have to work or even show up. $EC, baby!

 

[TruHusker]

Just having walk-ons doesn't mean much. I think what everyone is missing in the bigger picture and I got this from 2 walk-on players years ago under TO. They both listed the same benefits: they were going to get the very best coaching (they played different positions), they were treated exactly that same as scholarship players, they wanted the full Nebraska experience which was playing big-time football and always going to a big bowl and most of all they talked about the opportunity to play for Tom. These were pretty universal aspects of the WO program that these guys talked about along with one set of parents.

 

[StrongArm517]

Start winning so the dream is there, then it will come