Texas Recruiting

This is another very good post by FeelLikeAStranger originally posted at BHF. I think he is on to something here. Lets see how this plays out in the next few years.

Lots of good data and research - great job FLAS!

The thread about trying to compete with Texas in recruiting got me to take a look at how our recruiting in Texas has been and see if there were any trends.

I was also thinking today that it's really how many of the "2nd tier" guys (aka non-Texas selectees) we manage to pull away from OU and A&M, et. al. every year that would seem to matter most, if we trust that those rankings are at least some measure of potential impact.

I don't know how N2FL has the Texas players ranked (within Texas) from 2009, but I could look at Scout for some guidance on how we did against those guys.

Figuring 100+ D1 athletes per year out of Texas (more like 150+, but we only have top 100 rankings on Scout), if we consider 1-20 (in deference to Mack Brown's pick 20 plan) "tier 1", 21-50 "tier 2" and 51-100 "tier 3" in the rankings for Texas, then we did pretty well this past year.

According to Scout's postseason 100 for 2009:

Tier 1
C. Green 19

Tier 2
Burkhead 28
Williams 35

Tier 3
A. Green 71
Ash 81
Randle 83

N.R.
Coffey
Robinson

So if we look at the top 2 tiers, we stole 3 away from the "big boys" in Texas this year, including one of the top 20. We always need to pull a number each year out of tier 3, as we are fighting everyone else and their dog for those guys as well, but you'd figure your "difference maker" guys are those top 50 guys for sure. (although you never know, of course)

For fun, let's check it back to 2002, where their rankings end.

2008 (transition class new HC, RC retained)
1-none
2-Spano 47, Whitmore 41 (NQ), Williams 48
3-Grant(NQ)85, Whaley 88
NR-Osborne, Osborne, Thompson, Ward

(if anyone wants to look up the decommits from 2008, please do)

2007
1-none
2-Castille 36
3-Gilleylen 52, Mendoza 65, Witt 84
NR-Blue, Kunalic, Sullivan

2006
1-none
2-nada
3-zilch
NR-Henry

2005
1-zero
2-Hunter 37 (NQ),
3-Franklin 87 (NQ), Glenn 68,
NR-none

2004 (transition class new HC, RC retained)
1-nope
2-not
3-pffft
NR-Nunn

2003 (transition class with new asst's.)
1-beh
2-meh
3-Brothers 82, Craver 77 (NQ),
NR-Austin, Dyches, Phillips, Turner

2002
1-nope
2-squat
3-donut
NR-Leslie, Demorrio (JC #10)

If one takes a look at that, you can say that it's pretty clear that maybe enough attention wasn't paid to TX athletes in 2002, and that was corrected somewhat in 2003. In 2004's transition class...only Nunn. Callahan then tried in 2005 and got burned by NQ's and then picked up only one guy from TX in 2006.

If you want to look at "failings"...2002-2006 we really failed to get anyone away from any of the other big dogs going after TX players...and barely got any TX players at all.

2007, I would argue was Callahan's best recruiting class (08 was looking even better, but you gotta keep your job too) and it's definitely reflected in the number of TX players he signed that year. Maybe it was a case (and this could possibly be said for Solich's old staff as well) of not adapting to a changing landscape of a Texas-centric recruiting base in the Big 12 until it was a bit too late.

Bo certainly saw it right away...first hand knowledge from OU, I'd gather...and went after as many TX players as he could in the transition class. I can't remember who originally committed etc, but it stands to reason that the groundbreaking started with Callahan in 2007 and was put to work in earnest in 2008 as Gilmore was retained.

This is some telling stuff, IMO.

2002-2006 5 top 100 Texas players (3 NQ's), 13 total (3 NQ, 1 JC)

2007 4 top 100, including our first Tier 2 recruit that stuck, 7 total.

2008 5 top 100 in a transition class (2 NQ's), 3 Tier 2's (1 NQ), 9 total (2 NQ)

2009, 6 top 100, our first "Tier 1" recruit and 2 Tier 2's, 8 total

In just 2 classes (including a transition class), Pelini has signed more top 100 Texans than all the classes from 2002-2007 COMBINED, and almost as many total TX players overall for those years.

If you ask me, this is showing a VERY POSITIVE trend line for our future and the sustainability of our program for the longer haul. We are making steady and measurable progress in Texas recruiting under Pelini, which you'd have to say was started somewhat in 2007.

I've been preaching the virtues of a Texas-centric recruiting focus ever since I noticed it in 2008, and I think this breakdown shows that we are making strides in competing with our conference foes down there for talent after ignoring it for far too long.

2008 Final Stats - compiled from cfbstats.com

NEBRASKA FOOTBALL FINAL RANKINGS - 2008
Category	National	Conference
Scoring Offense	#17	#6
Rushing Offense	#37	#4
Passing Offense	#15	#6
Total Offense	#12	#6
Punt Returns	#22	#2
Kickoff Returns	#47	#9
Punting	#95	#9
Field Goals	#9	#1
PAT Kicking	#39	#5
First Downs	#20	#7
Penalties	#99	#11
Turnover Margin	#108	#12
Sacks	#13	#3
Tackles for Loss	#36	#4
Interceptions	#59	#6
Fumbles Recovered	#112	#12
Fumbles Forced	#59	#8
3rd Down Conversions	#14	#6
4th Down Conversions	#89	#12
Red Zone Conversions	#28	#5
Kickoffs	#32	#5
Scoring Defense	#81	#6
Rushing Defense	#22	#3
Passing Defense	#89	#2
Total Defense	#55	#2
Opponent Punt Returns	#66	#7
Opponent Kickoff Returns	#105	#10
Opponent Punting	#25	#2
Opponent Field Goals	#18	#3
Opponent PAT Kicking	#15	#2
Opponent First Downs	#36	#1
Opponent Penalties	#116	#12
Time of Possession	#2	#1
Sacks Allowed	#45	#7
Tackles for Loss Allowed	#106	#11
Passes Defended	#26	#6
Fumbles Lost	#111	#12
Kicks/Punts Blocked	Tied #6	#2
Opponent 3rd down Conversions	#23	#1
Opponent 4th Down Conversions	#61	#4
Opponent Red Zone Conversions	#20	#3
Opponent Kickoff	#83	#8

Life Lessons

I hope this link stays active for a long long time. This is exactly what Tom Osborne ment when he said "Athletics is more than winning".

We need more of these types of coaches and players in high school and college athletics.

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=914609

To the coach and to the players involved. My hats off to you. Excellent display of sportsmanship!

Thoughts from a Husker fan

Well this month I have been extremely busy and I was to make it my goal to post my thoughts on Husker Football at least once month in the off-season.

AJ - read you last blog entry and I must say I am going to miss your writing. Although I agreed with basically none of it, It was very entertaining to read.

This month I am going to institute a new "law" for my posting. When I see something I like, I may elect to post it rather than writing my own :). I am the blog owner, I can do that.

The following I ran across on redbeerman's blog today. And unlike AJ's blog, this post I agree with 100%. This comes from Nemesis:

I wasted four years trying to explain the basics of Husker football to these fucktards. What a waste of valuable time.

The Husker football program was unique in many ways. From 1968 to 1997, the Huskers were the winningest program in college football by a long shot. Our winning percentage was 0.83699. Second place was a distant 0.80112. That is incredible! Our winning percentage is over 3.5 points higher than second place. That's twice as big of a gap between #1 and #2 as exists between any other consecutive places from #2 to #110. We dominated that 30 year span, thanks almost entirely to the brilliant systems put in place by TO. And I'm not talking simply about offense or defense or Xs and Os. I'm talking about the whole spectrum, from academics to fan support to off-season training to S&C to walk-ons to nurturing traditions and family atmosphere to academics. And TO didn't put these systems into place in secrecy. He documented it all so it could be continued when he was gone.

Well, did Coach Solich maintain the dominance? Many shortsighted fanny-come-latelys don't seem to think so. Many so-called "fans" from the dark realms of bigredboard hate Frank with so much palpable passion that he should probably thank his lucky stars that they are hidden behind keyboards in their moms' basements. It's shameful that they propagate the lies about Frank created by the evil Pedey's minions. Frank is a good man. But was he a good coach?

Let's look at what happened to our dominant winning percentage during Frank's tenure. If we look at 1968-2003, we see that we're still number one, but our overall winning percentage dropped from 0.83699 to 0.82280. But what about our lead over second place?

Second place dropped from 0.80112 to 0.78322. Under Coach Solich's care, our lead increased from 3.5 percentage points to almost a full 4 percentage points over the second best team from that same era.

And that's all we should have ever hoped for from Frank. He wasn't a brilliant offensive mind. He wasn't a good public speaker. He didn't put a pretty face on Husker football (actually, this is probably the biggest factor that made the shallow, hateful and insecure BRB-types hate Frank so much.)

But he was a perfectly adequate caretaker. He was the best person at the time to keep TO's systems chugging along. And he did that quite fine, unless you're a spoiled simpleton who doesn't understand the basics of Husker football. He kept us in or near the top ten most of the time. Played for an NC one year. How much more can you hope for? '94-'97???

Frank maintaining TO's systems at Nebraska is a much better and more effective option than almost any other coach doing something different at Nebraska.

Now we have Bo back, who is a much better coach than Frank IMHO. However, the most important thing is that we have TO back helping Bo to put the tried and true systems back in place.

Firing Frank after 9 wins and hiring a career mediocre hack like Callahan to "flip the culture" was the biggest mistake ever made by an AD in D1 college football. Like our winning percentage over the 36 year TO-FS span, there isn't even a close second. True Husker fans must remain diligent and help to insure that NOTHING like that ever happens again in the Husker football program. Don't put up with the spoiled fans. If someone doesn't like to watch good coaches running effective systems for the most successful team in the country and feel like they need a "name" coach who will move on in 5 years anyway and who won't have as much success doing his own thing, then they can find another team to support. Practically every other team in the country could fall in that category.

In college football, there is the Huskers. And then there is everybody else. Let's keep it that way.

I want to thank Nemesis for allowing me to post this here!

Oh and the comment made about the spoiled fans: It's right on the money. The fans almost ran Tom Osborne out of town and in our own efforts to "improve on" our current coaching situation, we almost ran it directly into the ground.

See Nebraska football for what it is and what is stands for, rather than what we sometimes want it to become.

We, as fans, are as much responsible for the 4 years in Husker history most of us would like to forget. Steve Pederson didn't do this on his own, He is quoted as saying he was giving Nebraska what they were asking for. Like Nemesis said, and I reiterate, let not let this happen EVER EVER again!

Recruiting the Nebraska Way

Now that the football season is over and the next "big" event most of us are looking forward to is the spring game (well ok some do look to signing day, but I don't get to wrapped up in that) which is a ways off, I thought I would post a little on Nebraska's (Tom's) philosophy on recruiting.

Lately we hear a lot about the stars when it comes to recruiting. We read a name on the new Nebraska commit list and the first question is "how many stars does this kid have?"

Our thoughts and focus as fans are sometimes tunneled to "what can this recruit do for Nebraska football". Although a valid question, one that is more important in the over all scope of life is "what can Nebraska football do for this recruit'. Sometimes we as fan get a little caught up in laying out some high expectations for these athletes. The question "what have you done for me lately?" is all over various forums and in the local papers.

Now, don't get me wrong, having high expectations for these student athletes is something that we have always, well, expected. WE ARE NEBRASKA! Right!

So where did this attitude come from? Bob? Tom? Winning?

Most possible a combination, but one name really sticks with me, (and maybe I just didn't know Bob D well enough, I don't know) Tom Osborne. He is the perfect example of the Nebraska work ethic. Tom is one that required 100% out of his players each and every day. But the one thing that separates Tom from most coaches is this: his complete dedication to the Athlete. Tom cares. Not only how the player succeeds on the field but also off the field.

It was this approach to the student athlete that brought Turner Gill to Nebraska.

As a kid growing up, Turner wanted to play football for Oklahoma. It's natural for a kid to want to play for the school near by your home town. But as Turner entered his senior year in high school and looked at his options for college, football was not the only reason to choose a school. He had grown up a bit since his childhood and even though he wanted to attend Oklahoma and receive his education there, history had not been written for him quite yet.

Enter Tom Osborne!

How we look back and see how a combination of events brought something really great to Nebraska. Tom’s past couple of QB’s were more of the “pocket-type” passers. Vince was a great passer, but not so great outside the pocket or on the run. With Tom making the decision to change to more of a power running game, (in the early to mid 70’s the team was basically built for a split offense, 50% run 50% pass) he needed to look at a mobile QB that could run the option. He still wanted a QB with a good strong arm, but more emphasis was going to be put on the running game.

I would venture to guess that Turner never really considered Nebraska as an option, until he met the man, Tom Osborne.

What was it that Tom could offer this high school senior that either Oklahoma or Texas could not?

In the book “Heart of a Husker” Turner said his decision to attend Nebraska was made final on the conversation he had with Tom. Turner was not only interested in playing football, but was also interested in gaining a quality education. Tom Osborne and Nebraska fit this bill for Turner.

This is how Tom recruited.

His attitude towards recruiting was “what can Nebraska do for this student athlete” and not “what can this athlete do for Nebraska”. This approach made Tom a very successful recruiter and coach and mentor for the many student athletes he came in contact with over the years!

Thank you Tom for you untiring dedication to Nebraska Football

NDHusker