All the stars vs. heart debates over the years (sigh) have people vehemently disagreeing about this stuff, when I'm convinced all of us are really are a lot closer in opinion than it appears. So after years and years of listening to both "sides," here is my dissertation. I apologize in advance to the "TLDNR" crowd! 
1. Nebraska, like everybody, needs "difference-makers." Period, end of story. Probably 3 to 4 on each side of the ball each and every year. These are usually, but not always, your 4- and 5-star guys. Frazier. Wistrom. Brown, M. Brown, R. Farley. Suh. Phillips. Green. Mitchell. You get the point. Elite, NFL talent that puts you over the top and makes unscripted plays. This is first and foremost. Our difference-makers were the difference between our 80s teams and our mid-90s teams. The good news is, you don't need 22 of them on the field. Have a culture and structure in place, with guys who do their jobs, and then supplement with those difference-makers. Like we used to do.
2. Nebraska will never - NEVER - be able to recruit the same way Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Texas and USC do. If I had one wish, it would be that we as a fan base get that out of our heads. Have you ever been to Clemson? Have you researched the number of incredible high school players within a stone's throw of Tuscaloosa, Athens or Austin? Do you realize how big Ohio is, and how much talent resides there? Have you looked at social demographics and cultural differences between places like Nebraska and South Carolina or Ohio? We can't recruit just like them, so why beat our heads against a wall? We have do things differently, not put all our eggs in the 4-star basket and come up empty on February 3 like we have done in the past. There is no silver or bronze medal in recruiting. Go head-to-head against Texas for the best offensive lineman in Texas, and spend all your time and resources on that kid, and you're likely to lose out. Then what? What's your backup plan? Is it too late? Our coach has said the blueprint will still work, with some modernization. He has spoken about this eloquently. I agree and love to hear him say this!
3. The walk-on program and in-state recruiting. Oh boy, there it is! There's the inflammatory dirty terms (to some). Some scoff at the walk-on program because others don't use it to win, but that doesn't mean WE can't use it to win. It has always been vitally important to our success, and should continue to be. We ARE unique. How many other states have one P5 football program? Not too many. We can take advantage of that love and passion, still. I believe Coach Frost will, and I believe we will continue to have incredible walk-on success stories. As for in-state recruiting, yes, a lot of our state's players are white, and perhaps don't "look like" the guys you see playing the SEC or in the NFL. But then again, Brandon Reilly looks like he's going to make the Bills' roster. When's our last WR to do that? Thank God we got Chris Walker in the 11th hour. He will be important. We just have to identify and keep all the good in-state guys, and be great at it. Imagine if we'd have convinced Danny Woodhead to walk on.
4. Be a better Wisconsin. Now, before @rkay1 jumps my s*** like he loves to do haha, I am no longer talking about style of play (offensively) - though full disclosure, at one time that's what I wanted. Now I am excited about the "Noregon" approach - aggressive, fast-paced with a run-throw QB. The point is, and yes I've said it before, I believe our best path is to be a better Wisconsin, Iowa or Michigan State than to be a poor man's Clemson, Alabama or Florida State. Think of the rock, paper, scissors game. If Clemson and Alabama are rocks, let's be the paper. Wisconsin has been closer to playing for the national championship over the past decade than some people might want to admit, and they dominated a "more talented" Miami team in the bowl last season. They have had the line play, physicality, intelligence and identity to play with ANYBODY the last few years. Their cardinal sin has been poor, immobile QB play - other than Russell Wilson. We can do better than them at that position.
5. Control the region and, for the love of God, dominate the St. Louis/Kansas City area. Just imagine if we could build that pipeline into Missouri and get every great Rockhurst or St. Louis kid, keep every Grant Wistrom in the state (or close?) Then imagine we hand-pick the kids we want from Iowa and Colorado, while continuing to dominate the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana. Dominate our region. And we should be able to, because our location, culture and demographics don't hurt us nearly as much as they do with Southern/Western kids. That's what I like about the current class. We appear to be hand-picking good, solid players, many from the state and region, and getting them locked up. THEN, with them on board, our staff CAN take some swings at the fences and try to get 4 or 5 elite players from December-February - instead of slobbering all over Bookie for a full year and having no contingency plan when he bails.
Agree? Disagree? Can we have a civil discussion?
1. Nebraska, like everybody, needs "difference-makers." Period, end of story. Probably 3 to 4 on each side of the ball each and every year. These are usually, but not always, your 4- and 5-star guys. Frazier. Wistrom. Brown, M. Brown, R. Farley. Suh. Phillips. Green. Mitchell. You get the point. Elite, NFL talent that puts you over the top and makes unscripted plays. This is first and foremost. Our difference-makers were the difference between our 80s teams and our mid-90s teams. The good news is, you don't need 22 of them on the field. Have a culture and structure in place, with guys who do their jobs, and then supplement with those difference-makers. Like we used to do.
2. Nebraska will never - NEVER - be able to recruit the same way Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Texas and USC do. If I had one wish, it would be that we as a fan base get that out of our heads. Have you ever been to Clemson? Have you researched the number of incredible high school players within a stone's throw of Tuscaloosa, Athens or Austin? Do you realize how big Ohio is, and how much talent resides there? Have you looked at social demographics and cultural differences between places like Nebraska and South Carolina or Ohio? We can't recruit just like them, so why beat our heads against a wall? We have do things differently, not put all our eggs in the 4-star basket and come up empty on February 3 like we have done in the past. There is no silver or bronze medal in recruiting. Go head-to-head against Texas for the best offensive lineman in Texas, and spend all your time and resources on that kid, and you're likely to lose out. Then what? What's your backup plan? Is it too late? Our coach has said the blueprint will still work, with some modernization. He has spoken about this eloquently. I agree and love to hear him say this!
3. The walk-on program and in-state recruiting. Oh boy, there it is! There's the inflammatory dirty terms (to some). Some scoff at the walk-on program because others don't use it to win, but that doesn't mean WE can't use it to win. It has always been vitally important to our success, and should continue to be. We ARE unique. How many other states have one P5 football program? Not too many. We can take advantage of that love and passion, still. I believe Coach Frost will, and I believe we will continue to have incredible walk-on success stories. As for in-state recruiting, yes, a lot of our state's players are white, and perhaps don't "look like" the guys you see playing the SEC or in the NFL. But then again, Brandon Reilly looks like he's going to make the Bills' roster. When's our last WR to do that? Thank God we got Chris Walker in the 11th hour. He will be important. We just have to identify and keep all the good in-state guys, and be great at it. Imagine if we'd have convinced Danny Woodhead to walk on.
4. Be a better Wisconsin. Now, before @rkay1 jumps my s*** like he loves to do haha, I am no longer talking about style of play (offensively) - though full disclosure, at one time that's what I wanted. Now I am excited about the "Noregon" approach - aggressive, fast-paced with a run-throw QB. The point is, and yes I've said it before, I believe our best path is to be a better Wisconsin, Iowa or Michigan State than to be a poor man's Clemson, Alabama or Florida State. Think of the rock, paper, scissors game. If Clemson and Alabama are rocks, let's be the paper. Wisconsin has been closer to playing for the national championship over the past decade than some people might want to admit, and they dominated a "more talented" Miami team in the bowl last season. They have had the line play, physicality, intelligence and identity to play with ANYBODY the last few years. Their cardinal sin has been poor, immobile QB play - other than Russell Wilson. We can do better than them at that position.
5. Control the region and, for the love of God, dominate the St. Louis/Kansas City area. Just imagine if we could build that pipeline into Missouri and get every great Rockhurst or St. Louis kid, keep every Grant Wistrom in the state (or close?) Then imagine we hand-pick the kids we want from Iowa and Colorado, while continuing to dominate the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana. Dominate our region. And we should be able to, because our location, culture and demographics don't hurt us nearly as much as they do with Southern/Western kids. That's what I like about the current class. We appear to be hand-picking good, solid players, many from the state and region, and getting them locked up. THEN, with them on board, our staff CAN take some swings at the fences and try to get 4 or 5 elite players from December-February - instead of slobbering all over Bookie for a full year and having no contingency plan when he bails.
Agree? Disagree? Can we have a civil discussion?
