Geography Matters
4 comments so far
February 4, 2010 by
Geography is destiny. Where you are often dictates the outcomes in your life, whether you want to admit it or not. You geography affects everything - your economic opportunity, the medical health problems you may encounter in life, even things as small or as simple as your everyday mood. Where you are often dictates what you are and how you live. This social-psychological truism can be applied to college football programs. Geography is a major factor in recruiting players, which is one of the most essential elements in a program's health. There are other factors, sure. But geography is important. It's not about weather. Weather is an overrated factor. I am talking about access to population centers, and high school programs that churn out players. For Nebraska, there are some serious geographical challenges. The Husker staff addresses them by protecting home turf, extending how they think of their "home" region, and going to where players are plentiful.
Start at Home
Good recruiting for any program starts with locking up your home state or area. This is as true for a talent rich region like south Florida as it is for states with less players. Consider population density and imagine what Rutgers would be like if every player from the state of NJ would stay and play for their state college. And last time I checked, Nebraska was not densely populated. This makes it especially important to protect home turf.
If you only produce five to ten D-1 scholarship worthy players per year, then they might as well all be wearing scarlet and cream. This coaching staff understands that. Of the 21 scholarship players in the class, four are from Nebraska. Only one of them - Andrew Rodriguez - was a "lock" to go to another D-1 school. The previous coaching staff may not have offered the other three. This staff did make the offers.
They realize, like most Husker fans do, that seeing Nebraska-bred players dot the rosters at Iowa State, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Washington, Notre Dame and Miami (as they have in recent years) undermines the integrity of in-state recruiting. Nebraska MUST keep in-state players, even when the almighty recruiting analysts might consider those offers a "stretch". It's a message: Nebraskans play for Nebraska.
Extended Territory
The next geographical step for Nebraska is extending its perceived "home" area to a more regional base. Consider it the NU media market, or the grain belt, or just the other less populated states that are nearby. But, for NU to succeed they need to win recruiting battles in Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Missouri, Minnesota and the Dakotas. If prospects live in that region, the Huskers must be in on them. It is geographic survival of the fittest.
For the 2010 class, I would say that NU did pretty well on the regional recruiting front. They were able to pull 5 of their 21 players from the Midwest region. The Huskers got two of the top players in Colorado - Mike Moudy and Kenny Bell. Tobi Okuyemi hails from Minnesota. Chase Rome came to NU from Columbia, Missouri. They were also able to extend over to Illinois to get late addition Corey Cooper.
Texas!
Recruiting in the Big 12 conference means you must recruit well in Texas. Period. End of Story. The state-that-thinks-it-is-a-country has enough quality players to support a multitude of quality programs within its borders and several more outside of them. Nebraska needs to get its share to succeed against conference foes.
Again, the class of 2010 shows this principle in action. Five of the newest Huskers hail from within the lone star state, more than any one state represented. Ciante Evans, Jay Guy, Chase Harper, Harvey Jackson, and Donovan Vestal all came to NU from Texas. Over the next few years, you can expect to see the percentage of the Husker roster that is from Texas to continue to increase.
Opening New Areas
The last geographic element in NU recruiting boils down to staff relationships. The areas and coaches they no best are often reflected in how they source players. Need proof? Consider how hard Bill Callahan recruited in California. Or, look at how hard current Ohio coach Frank Solich is recruiting in the state of Nebraska. For this class, the geographic-relationship bias points to the deep south and the "rust belt".
For starters, Nebraska got two players out of Florida. One - Lavante David - is a junior college player who came via a junior college in the area. So, that is a bit of an exception. The other, Brion Carnes, is from Manatee High in Bradenton, Florida. Nebraska has had good success in getting players from Bradenton, most notably Tommie Frazier. So, that is not terribly new or surprising.
Under Callahan, Nebraska made great en roads in to the state of Arizona. Wise, considering its booming population and proximity to California. Under Pelini, fans should start to notice more players coming from the deep south, considering his time spent at LSU. That holds true in both of his first two full recruiting classes. For 2010, the Huskers inked Walker Ashburn from Louisiana and Jamarcus Hardrick from Mississippi. Though, again Hardrick comes via the JC route so there is an altered geography.
Finally, there is the obvious relationship between Pelini and his former high school, Cardinal Mooney in Youngstown Ohio. He's had two classes now. And in each one, there is a scholarship player from Youngstown. Tim Marlowe signed in 2009 and Braylon Heard signed for 2010. NU also got Mark Pelini (yes, a relation) to walk on from Youngstown to Lincoln.
The relationship that allows NU to get Ohio players is fascinating. That is Big 10 territory (or not so much?). I can think of Huskers from Ohio on one hand. (Heck, I can't get much past DeJuan Groce.) This is a region and a high school where NU's competitors are not having much success that I can tell. Sure, Stoops is a factor as it is his home area too. But, any advantage or new territory NU an open up is important for overcoming the challenges of its own geography.
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kw Feb 04 10
I agree with you that you have to start by locking down your in-state recruits first. It will be interesting to see what transpires in the next couple years. The Big Ten had a mass exodus this year. Of all the highly touted recruits in the Big Ten region, very few signed with Big Ten schools. Most of them went to the SEC, Big 12, or other conferences. The odd thing is that the Big 10 had a rebounding year in the Bowls.
tim Feb 04 10
who is andrew martinez do you mean andrew rodriguez
darren Feb 04 10
Tim - so noted, and corrected. Thank you for pointing that out. I apologize for the error.
Job 1: Get the names right. It is TAYLOR Martinez, and Andrew Rodriguez.
It is not ideal for writers to check and proof their own material. So, we're thankful for sharp-eyed and helpful readers.
Greg Morrow Feb 04 10
Nebraska could've went elsewhere and picked 3* duplicates of Marsh, Evans and Cotton. Just that, would've put Nebraska's class ranking a few notches higher and past Mizzou, for example.
It's simply National perception and Nebraska doesn't need to fight people off to keep them, is all. Not that these guys deserve much more than the "NR," that Rivals dropped on them. They get to go to the big school, everybody's happy.
Cotton will contribute sooner than the other two and finish with more starting time, imo, assuming they all stick it out.
If Marsh approaches walkon legend Matt O'Hanlon and Evans contributes even half of what walkon Todd Peterson did, they'll fully justify their scholarships.
Guys like this add to the already large depth of numbers of competitive guys and what's nice, it looks like the out of state group doesn't look to be too shook up at the sight of all that competition.
One thing about numbers. If any particular guy's that good, he'll separate from the pack like a pace setter "rabbit," at the start of a 1500 meter race.
The roster is building up so classic Nebraska.
A few top end athletes mixed in with a bulk of solid prospects. Of which Nebraska only needs a few from each position grouping, to step up.
Nebraska got a hotshot in state guy, a few top out of staters, and the rest who'll need 3 or more years. Mix in the in state and out of state walkons. Of whom, a couple or more, are sure to eventually be standouts.
Btw. No biggie, of course, but Marlowe was part of Pelini's 1st of these 3 classes, in '08.
At the time, I though he was a reach, but he does have nice quicks, with those returns.