Mario Goodrich, a 4-star athlete from Lee’s Summit West (Missouri), verbally committed to Nebraska on Tuesday. He became Nebraska’s 11th commitment of the 2018 class, joining the likes of Brendan Radley-Hiles and Chase Williams.
Making the decision to announce his commitment was all about shocking people, Goodrich said in an interview with Chris Schmidt of Hail Varsity Radio.
“I was already committed,” Goodrich said. “I committed like a week before but [on Tuesday] I decided to go public with it and let everyone know.”
A big part of why Goodrich committed is cornerbacks coach Donte Williams. Goodrich feels he can go to Williams and talk to his future coach about anything.
“He’s like an older brother or uncle or something,” Goodrich said. “You can talk to him and he’s real cool. He’s the one that made me want to come to Nebraska.”
Goodrich had a sense that Nebraska was the place after his visit to Lincoln last fall. It was after that visit that he knew he wanted to return.
“I knew I wanted to go back and visit again,” Goodrich said.
Now that he’s committed, he’s enjoying getting to know his future classmates. The group also talks quite a bit about their plans for Nebraska and what they think they can bring to the Husker defense.
“We’re in a group chat right now and we just talk about how we’re going to change it – or how we’re going to try to change the program – and get back to what the Blackshirts are supposed [to be],” Goodrich said.
For more on why he decided to make the announcement on Tuesday, his relationship with Williams and more, check out the podcast.
Erin is the Deputy Editor and Digital Marketing Strategist for Hail Varsity. She has covered Nebraska athletics since 2012, which has included stops at Bleacher Report, Cox Media Group’s Land of 10, and even Hail Varsity (previously from 2012-2017). She has also been featured on the Big Ten Network, NET’s Big Red Wrap-Up, and a varsity of radio shows nationwide. When not covering the Huskers, Erin is probably at Chipotle.