Recruiting never stops and it's easy to miss the top stories day-to-day. Recruiting analyst Greg Smith recaps all things Nebraska recruiting news, analysis and more so you never miss a thing.
When Nebraska’s coaching staff took over the program, they had some catching up to do in recruiting. Due to the timing of when they arrived on campus and since they were coaching two teams at once, they have always been a little behind from where they wanted to be.
After quickly completing the 2018 recruiting class and now wrapping up the 2019 group (while also doing a good job of hosting 2020 prospects), is the staff finally caught up? Coach Scott Frost was asked about that this week.
“Just being honest, when you come in as a new coach you’re two years behind because you’re just trying to come in here,” Frost said at his signing day press conference. “We were just starting to look at 2019 guys last year that we could get to Nebraska in December. We’re a lot farther down the road now, looking at 2020s already in January, some 2021s.
“We’re probably still a half a cycle behind, but that’s going to be easy to catch the rest of the way up in May, having already looked at some young kids in May recruiting. We can be a little bit more specific with some of the targets we’ve already found and we’ll probably be able to get even farther ahead with the 2021 class.”
Now that the Huskers have evaluated and offered scholarships to a good number of 2020 prospects, they can also focus on getting where they need to be with the class of 2021. Recruiting for the next cycle is even more important these days now that the December signing period has become so big.
The Huskers also have a number of 2020 targets looking to make decisions this spring or in the summer before their senior seasons start. We’ll start to see soon if that early 2020 work has paid off.
Recruit Watch
>> The Huskers made an intriguing 2021 scholarship offer to Brock Vandagriff, a quarterback from Georgia who racked up 3,190 yards and 28 touchdowns through the air with 1,001 yards and 23 scores on the ground as a sophomore.
So excited to announce that The University of Nebraska has offered! #cornhuskers @coach_frost @Coach_Verdu pic.twitter.com/6zuZAiwVOe
— brock 🌊 (@BrockVandagriff) February 6, 2019
>> Xavier Watts, the 2020 wide receiver from Omaha Burke, has a big-time cheering section at his basketball game and some new Huskers and former teammates came out to support him.
Still my dawg @xavierwatts6 had to go support with some of the boys pic.twitter.com/e3lWl6ZHYh
— Chris Hickman (@hickmanchris1) February 9, 2019
ICYMI
>> Derek Peterson wrote about Ryan Held being named a top recruiter and more in the latest edition of ‘Love or Hate.’
>> I made the case for Travis Fisher being the MVP of the assistant coaches on the recruiting trail this season.
>> Erin Sorensen told the story of Nebraska distance runner Ryan Bates saving the day and a dog.
Greg is the Recruiting Analyst for Hail Varsity and has covered Husker athletics since 2013. He has always had a passion for sports while growing up in the Chicago area. As he got older and had to hang up his cleats and sneakers, he realized his passion for sports went beyond just watching and attending games. He has covered many events from the Rose Bowl to championship boxing matches. If he’s not talking sports, he’s hovering over his grill. He is married to an amazing woman, Kim, and they have a dog that barks when Greg yells at the TV during games.
