On Saturday, Nebraska picked up a big-time commitment when 4-star offensive lineman Turner Corcoran publicly announced his commitment to play for the Huskers. The Free State High School standout will be a cornerstone prospect for this recruiting class and for offensive line coach Greg Austin’s group for years to come.
As mentioned, he publicly announced his commitment with a tweet on Saturday after the spring game. He informed the staff on Friday night. I’ll let Corcoran tell the complete story.
“We were at the Watering Hole Friday night hanging out,” Corcoran said. “I knew I was going to commit to Nebraska last Saturday after the Oklahoma visit. I knew it was home and where I wanted to be. It’s where my heart was. We were at the Watering Hole getting wings with Coach Austin, [Director of Player Personnel] Coach [Sean] Dillon and [Senior Offensive Analyst] Coach Frank [Verducci]. Coach Frost came in for a few minutes to say what’s up and be around us for a minute. He had to go to an NFL players dinner and be around those guys for a bit.
“So, I thought, ‘I don’t want to do this right before the spring game and I don’t want to wait until after the spring game so I want to do this now.’ He was about to leave. To get out of my seat, the tables are really close together and I’m fighting to get out of my seat. I get up to him and say, ‘Hey, how bad do you want me to be a Husker?’ He says ‘really bad.’ So, I said ‘OK, I’m gonna be a Husker, I’m committed.’ His face lit up. Coach Dillon, the rest of them, too. I was like a bomb went off in the Watering Hole. The coaches were ecstatic. Everyone was hugging and high fiving. It was really cool. Some of the people around us were clapping. All of a sudden you hear the fight song being played over the DJ system. I was like ‘Oh God.’
“I guess word got out and it was on the message boards later that night that I was committed. I didn’t really care though. It was a really cool moment just being around those guys. It took a lot of courage to stand up in the middle of a restaurant and tell Coach Frost I was going to be a Husker. It was really cool.”
It turns out that not every coach that Corcoran has gotten close to was at the dinner. Running backs coach Ryan Held, who is the lead recruiter for Kansas, got a big surprise on Saturday.
“We were keeping this from Coach Held,” Corcoran said. “We hid it from him all the way to Saturday until the team meeting when they introduced the recruits and everything. Coach Austin called me a committed Knight instead of a committed Husker because he was so excited. We kept that from Held for a while. His eyes popped out of his head and he tried to tackle me. He jumped on me when he found out. Coach Held is awesome.”
Corcoran is close to his family and they have been on several of his recruiting trips with him. They were very supportive when he informed them of his decision.
“They were all for it. They knew it was the place for me,” Corcoran said. “They felt the love since Day 1 from those guys. They were standing behind me on my decision. They were all for it.”
There will be more to come on the site from my conversation with Corcoran including why he picked Nebraska, being a peer recruiter and more.
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.
