A day after Nebraska’s loss to No. 6 Oklahoma, the program announced the dismissal of defensive coordinator Erik Chinander. Nebraska’s recruiting class saw its first de-commitment an hour later.
Four-star edge rusher Cameron Lenhardt reopened his commitment. He was primarily recruited by Chinander and defensive front coach Mike Dawson. Lenhardt committed to Nebraska on Aug. 25.
Thank you Nebraska! pic.twitter.com/Kd4NjWZn3b
— Cameron Lenhardt (@CameronLenhardt) September 18, 2022
The 6-foot-3 and 240-pound prospect originally narrowed his list of programs he was interested in to Michigan State, Penn State and Nebraska. He had offers from all over the country, though, and has drawn plenty of Power Five interest.
Lenhardt ā who is originally from New York ā transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, in 2021. He worked primarily at the edge rusher spot for IMG, but also saw some snaps at linebacker. Per 247Sports, Lenhardt is the No. 33 edge recruit in the country. He is also considered a top-300 prospect nationally.
Nebraska still has one edge rusher in its 2023 class at this time: Maverick Noonan from Elkhorn South.
Recruit Watch
Nebraska pitched itself to potential commits on Saturday. Recruits filled the northern sidelines of Tom Osborne Field as Nebraska hosted No. 6 Oklahoma. Most of them were in-state recruits coming off big Friday performances.
Of the 60 recruits invited to Memorial Stadium for yesterday’s Oklahoma game, 46 are Nebraskans. Those recruits soaked in part of the game and shown the indoor practice facility. Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts introduced himself, as he likes to do with recruits, and even posed for pictures.
As for how some of those recruits performed for their respective high schools over the weekend, let’s take a quick look.
Junior quarterback Daniel Kaelin threw for 328 yards a touchdown in Bellevue West’s loss to Kearney. That touchdown and 171 yards went to Isaiah McMorris. Both of them, as well as teammates Dae’vonn Hall and Araf Evans, were in Lincoln on Saturday. They were joined in Lincoln by Cayden Echternach of Omaha Burke, who snagged a go-ahead touchdown against Lincoln Southwest on Friday.
Had a great time down in Lincoln! Thanks so much for the hospitality @coachwilhite pic.twitter.com/0J5049FKUj
— Cayden Echternach (@CaydenEchterna1) September 18, 2022
Elkhorn South junior Carson Rauner, in his fourth start, kept the Storm perfect on Friday. He threw for 189 yards, ran for 35 and scored twice before sitting out the second half. Rauner, Maverick Noonan (committed to Nebraska), Henry Prochazka and Branson Noonan received invites from Elkhorn South.
Jaylen Lloyd caught a 69-yard pass, Keynan Cotton grabbed an interception at midfield and Wesley Okafor tallied tackles in Omaha Westside’s win over Millard North. Caden VerMaas had nine tackles, William Granger joined the defensive effort, Henry Rehberg and Max Hogan anchored the line for Millard North. All of those players were invited to Memorial Stadium.
Another great game day at Nebraska! Thanks @coachwilhite for having me out!š“ @HuskerFBNation pic.twitter.com/j1vByxALzh
— max hogan (@maxhogann) September 17, 2022
As for out-of-state recruits, offensive line prospect Harrison Utley made it to Lincoln for the game. He’s from Norman North High School in Norman, Oklahoma. Four-star edge rush recruit Williams Nwaneri of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, received an invitation. He recently received an offer from Penn State to go with his offers from Nebraska, Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, Michigan State and others. Nwaneri’s teammates, Ka Mori Moore and Chase Pearsall, were also invited.
Hayden Moore of Denver, Colorado, returned to Lincoln after reaffirming his commitment to Nebraska last week. He has 52 total tackles, seven for loss, through the first three games. Dwight Bootle of Miami, Florida, is another Nebraska commit invited to the Oklahoma game. John and JC Heim of Topeka, Kansas, were also on the sidelines Saturday.
Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph briefly touched on recruiting after the loss to Oklahoma. A noted valuable recruiter, Joseph said the program needs to improve in a multitude of areas.
āI think we need to do a better job at recruiting,” Joseph said when asked about the difference in players between Oklahoma and Nebraska. “They have better skill players. We have to do a better job, but we have really good skill players also. We just have to get them to execute.ā
ICYMI
>> Nebraska fired defensive coordinator Erik Chinander on Sunday after the team’s historically bad defensive start.
>> The Huskers talked about defensive issues after the Oklahoma game.
>> Joseph took full responsibility for the loss on Saturday. Nick Henrich, Travis Vokolek and Myles Farmer all said after the game that the loss belonged to the players.
