Spring Game Offers Unique Recruiting Advantage

8 comments so far April 3, 2009 by Renny Vandewege

Normally, Nebraska is at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting. Cold weather, bad location, no ocean. But thankfully, spring time in Nebraska is a good time of the year when it comes to football and recruiting.

Spring football is a unique animal. For one month in the offseason, teams are allowed the opportunity to conduct 15 practices with coaches involved. It provides opportunities for younger guys to work on technique as well as give the players the chance to dive into the playbook a little deeper and learn some of the intricacies of a coach’s system. Barring major injury, spring ball is a great thing for football programs. Nebraska provides a rare advantage in that its spring game is as close to the real thing as it gets. And with that comes a big advantage in recruiting.

Most schools draw a nice crowd to their spring game. The weather has finally turned warm and it provides a chance to see some of the up and comers. With the exception of very few teams out there, Nebraska’s annual Red-White scrimmage is in a league of its own. Expecting nearly 80,000 people on hand, the feel around downtown and that around the stadium is very similar to the atmosphere on an autumn Saturday. The Huskers need to take full advantage of this situation by bringing in as many highly talented recruits as possible.

I’ve had the pleasure of working at an SEC school for a living the past few years. You know, the SEC that claims it is the best in the world. Well at my particular institution, a crowd of 10,000 people in the stands for a spring game is a big deal. To show a recruit that Nebraska can draw in 80,000 people to a scrimmage is a huge selling point. It simply cannot be overstated. The passion of the fan base is top notch and is one of the biggest selling points during the fall but especially during the spring. Young players will notice this and I truly believe that putting on a big show in the Spring can heavily influence a 17 year old early on in the process.

Nebraska has to work extra hard in the field of recruiting simply because of location. But to show these recruits how we do things in April will go a long ways to providing a happy signing day next February. Already, the Huskers have an impressive list of recruits expected to come in for a visit (Blake Bell, Andre Dawson, Keeston Terry to name a few) and I’d imagine that list will grow over the next couple of weeks.

Nebraska must take advantage of its incredible and unique atmosphere of football in April and turn that into success in the recruiting game this season.

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