Recruiting Rerun?
7 comments so far
May 12, 2008 by
As things came apart for Nebraska under Frank Solich, fans generally pointed to recruiting as being a major problem driving the team's "gravitation to mediocrity". While last season's recruiting class ranked higher than most of Solich's, a lot of the players were recruited initially by Bill Callahan's staff. The upcoming class then will become a first chance to see what Pelini's staff can recruit with a year to prepare.
Already, I've heard questions about the three recruits who have committed so far and whether they're good enough to build a dominant team with. Let me address these guys one by one.
Cole Pensick is a no-brainer. Putting aside the hype comparing Pensick with Baker Steinkuhler, Pensick is clearly one of the top high school players in Nebraska and he plays a position of need. Any NU coaching staff would have offered him, so there should be no question there.
Thaddeus Randle, the defensive tackle prospect from Texas is a bit undersized at 255 lbs., but with a redshirt (which is usually the case for linemen) he's got over two years to bulk up before burning any playing eligibility. Add to that Pelini's stated preference for speed over size and there's every reason to believe that he'll be a solid or potentially standout player for NU. And again, he addresses a critical need for the Huskers.
Linebacker Shawn Bodtmann, the player that prompted questions to the BRN staff, might require a bit more faith. In addition to the offer from Nebraska, Bodtmann had offers from Syracuse and Army. The Army offer may have set off some alarms because it's not a destination of choice for top recruits. If the Army thought they had a shot at Bodtmann, perhaps that means they didn't expect him to get offers from top programs. Syracuse is a bit better, but it's hardly USC.
But Bodtmann (along with his Dad) is said to be a Husker fan. In terms of changing the culture of the team (as Pelini vowed to do), Bodtmann should bring the passion of an in-state kid. He's reportedly a top student and a weight room junkie. He also plays alongside a five star offensive tackle prospect that's also been offered by NU. And Living in Pennsylvania, Bodtmann gives NU a foothold in an area they haven't recruited in quite some time.
I think of Bodtmann's upside as a combination of former linebacker Corey McKeon and former I-back Dan Alexander. Physically, he's no bigger than McKeon (and likely not much faster), but in terms of his effort in the classroom and weight room, he might look a lot more like Dan Alexander. Sure McKeon, was never better than an honorable mention all-conference player, but Alexander was all conference athletically, academically, and in terms of his citizenship. Fans may debate the worthiness of McKeon, but what Alexander brought to the team in terms of leadership and contributing to a winning culture were exactly what you want.
Maybe Bodtmann won't propel the Huskers to the top of the recruiting rankings, but he very well could start for a quality team like the 1999 and 2000 squads that Alexander started for.
With twenty-two or more players yet to commit, there's no reason to hit the panic button yet. Give the coaches the benefit of the doubt, that they are getting good kids. If Bo Pelini can make a serviceable starting Big 12 cornerback out of Pat Ricketts, he can surely make defenders out of his own recruits.
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Brad May 12 08
"He also plays alongside a five star offensive tackle prospect that's also been offered by NU."
...and that right there was why he was offered. Despite all the hype about "straight-talk" and Callahan-bashing Husker fans quoting the book meat market, in the end Pelini is using a marginal prospect just to get to his teammate.
You know it, I know it, everyone knows it: he was offered for his teammate. All the other talk surrounding him is just for Husker fans to try to convince themselves that Bo "Nebraska way" Pelini wouldn't do that.
Bo and company might be great recruiters. It's ridiculously early. However, the talk from them isn't very reassuring. If they recruit like Solich it's going to be nearly impossible to cut that cancer out of our program all over again. We'd have to bring in another staff that excels at recruiting, and after our last staff didn't even get it's first class (2005) to it's senior year before they were fired, who would want it?
darren May 12 08
Brad - How did I know you would be interested in this topic? :-)
We agree on one very significant point - it's ridiculously early. The coaches will recruit, and their results will be evaluated.
At this point, you can only look at what Pelini did at the tail end of the last cycle, and what he has done thus far. In that regard, I think Steve's overview of the 2009 verbal commits is spot on. ("No reason to hit the panic button, yet.")
We'll just see what comes next. And, I'm sure vigorous discussion and debate will continue. No doubt, all of NU's fans want them getting the best players the absolutely can. Too bad the nature of talent evaluation is so subjective.
Next up - summer camp season.
ze bop May 12 08
K, so i'm only following this recruiting stuff peripherally and know next to nothing about these recruits: well, now I know more because of BRN, yippeee!
That Randle guy sounds pretty good to me. I mean, if aTm and Okie St. wanted him, he's got to be pretty good.
The main thing I like hearing in the article is that Bo P is focusing on speed. That combined with looking for players with the right attitude 'outweighs' the size thing.
Anyway, this is all for '09, so wtf, I'm not gonna worry about it too much. I have about 100% faith in Bo and crew in recruiting great players down the line. It may take a year for recruits to see what NE looks like under Pelini, but after that, I dont see much problem with NE reeling in excellent prospects.
Besides, BO P can undoubtedly coach up/motivate players about as well as anybody. Look, I'm all for getting the best talent, ala the Sooners, Trojans, etc., but great coacjing can make up for any shortcomings thereof. Take that Hestor guy on LSU for the last few seasons. The guy really was nothing special in terms of talent, but he was the starter on a NC winning team. The guy just filled a role and did what they needed him to do, evidently better than anybody else.
Dwayne May 12 08
This staff is fine and the class is probably not far too from where I'd expect it to be at this point. NU isn't going to get 5 star recruits all across the board so the staff is identifying areas where depth is going to be a concern and they are addressing it. Half the issue with getting quality depth is having the numbers in the first place. And while some 4 and 5 star prospects may commit this time of year, many wait until the last month to commit. Recruiting is much about establishing relationships and I like where the staff is going as far as the northeast and midwest(PA and OH)because NU has lacked in that area for quite some time. It may just be about the fourth fertile recruiting area in the nation.
Greg Morrow May 12 08
This class should most definitely be a qualitative upgrade over Pelini's relatively rushed class, in the same category as Callahan's '05 was over '04. Like Zac Taylor over Jordan Adams, for example. I always say Callahan's best classes were his last two. They had fewer "stars" as '05, but more serviceable guys who'll be on the team longer than the many and varied JCs and hotshot bottlerockets, who fizzled.
Bo's not going after JCs, anywhere on the scale of Callahan's first two classes. There's no systemic "panic switch" to reach for, because Callahan's last two classes have provided good developmental depth, with a few guys "that close" to soon being recognizable names, conference wide. Besides, Pelini already addressed quite well, spots like linebacker and D-backs. He brought frosh in for those, of which Callahan continually reached for JCs. You know the list.
With Callahan's fine final two classes (classes that weren't ranked that highly) and Pelini's many developmental guys, the team isn't as "brittle" any more, along the depth of the roster. Competition will bring out the "gems" who want to play the most.
It's no longer as much an issue of just finding guys who can play, which Callahan seemed to always be faced with. Though linebacker, almost the whole secondary and tightend still has a "help wanted" sign hanging up, with mostly unproven players. Or, in the case of the secondary, guys who've had to be rebuilt, confidence wise.
donfl May 14 08
Brad, where are you coming from? the cancer was surgically removed when Peterson and Callahan were excised from the nation. Tell me why you are concerned when BO took Solich's recruits and turned them into a top ten defense in one season? TO learned in by playing Miami that speed, speed, and more speed on defense was the real answer to success on the D side of the ball, and look what happened in that decade. We may have some low points in the return to excellence but I am totally confident in BO's ability to get us there. GBR
darren May 17 08
Scout.com just updated it's player ratings.
Now, Bodtmann and Pensick are both listed at 3-star prospects. Funny how that works...
Had these two had those ratings prior to their choice of NU, would there have been so much hand wringing? I seriously doubt it.