Tyler Gabbert Commits To Nebraska

And here we go again.....

4* QB Tyler Gabbert (6'0 and 175 lbs. from Ballwin (MO) Parkway West) - younger brother of Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert - has become the fifth commitment in Nebraska's 2010 recruiting class. Although Tyler is a highly rated QB in the 2010 class, he isn't near the prospect his brother Blaine was - Tyler's quicker but lacks his brother's size and arm strength.

For his ESPN Scouts, Inc. profile with videos, click here.
For his rivals profile, click here.
For his scout profile, click here.



Ask any recruiting expert out there and they'll tell you this is the worst class of QBs in quite some time - click here to view the top QBs and click here to view a 'Rivals Roundtable' discussion about the weak QB class. With that being said, Gabbert is a welcomed addition to this early class. Thus far, the Huskers are off to a blistering start in recruiting with a solid five commitments.

Said Gabbert (via the LJS),

"I had Nebraska at the top before the visit so this was almost a reassurance thing. I'm just glad everything worked out the way it did. I've known Coach (Shawn) Watson for a while so that definitely helped a lot. Not only is he my position coach and offensive coordinator. He's like my head recruiter. My whole family going through (the recruiting process) a second time, everything I guess was a little smoother. With (Blaine's) experience at Nebraska, I was a little more comfortable Lincoln heading up there for camp and all that."

With Tyler's commitment, it will more than likely make prospective QBs Zach Lee and Sean Robinson, who both had Nebraska high on their lists, look elsewhere. In my opinion - and it is just that - I would have preferred to land Zach Lee. Beggars can't be choosers and as Tyler's older brother has proved to us before, there are no guarantees in recruiting.

Nebraska Catches Keeston Terry

4* wide receiver Keeston Terry (6'3, 185 lbs.) of Blue Springs, MO becomes the 4th commit in Nebraska's 2010 recruiting class.

For his Scout profile, click here. For his Rivals profile, click here.

As a junior, Terry caught 49 passes for 900 yards to go along with 500 yards rushing on fewer than 100 attempts. Terry was also offered by Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Stanford and was being recruited by Oklahoma and Tennessee.

For a 5 minute highlight video of Terry's junior season, click here.

To watch him accept his prestigious Davenport Heating & Cooling All Star Player of the Week trophy, check out the video below. In this game, Terry caught six passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns and had two interceptions in the 4th quarter. (An interesting note to this game was that Terry faced off with Marcus Lucas, who is another highly touted wide receiver from Liberty, MO that is being heavily recruited by Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma among others.) No word yet on where Keeston Terry will keep his Davenport Trophy while he's at Nebraska, although one could only assume it will sit somewhere safely locked in a case near the Heisman and Walter Camp sections.

For the video of Terry accepting the Davenport Trophy - click here.

Greg Paulus Bleeds Syracuse Orange

Junior college transfer Duke graduate Greg Paulus has decided to attend Syracuse next fall. The former Gatorade Player of the Year will battle redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib for the starting QB position this fall. Paulus will also apply to get into Syracuse's Newhouse School of Communications, which many consider the best in the field, where he wants to further study broadcast journalism and one day sit behind the same desk and attend the same karoake bars as Stuart Scott.

"Each place was unique, but in my heart, I just felt that Syracuse was the place for me," Paulus told FOXSports.com. "It's a chance to go home and make a difference. I'm excited about trying to re-energize the Syracuse program. It's a pretty neat thing."

Paulus' decision couldn't have surprised me less. Would I have liked to see him come to Nebraska this fall? Absolutely. Not only would he provide extra exposure for our university and football program, but he would have added depth behind Zac Lee which more than likely would have allowed Cody Green or Latravis Washington to redshirt. Now, I can't see the coaches having the luxury of redshirting any of the quarterbacks, especially with Kody Spano's injury and subsequent return unknown. That being said, you can't blame Paulus for returning to his home state of New York, for wanting to attend the best graduate school he could, and for wanting a chance to actually play football in the fall instead of experiencing it from the sidelines in Lincoln.

Meet Anterio Sloan

Joining 4* OL Andrew Rodriguez in Nebraska's 2010 recruiting class is 4* CB Anterio Sloan from West Helena, Arkansas - who committed on Sunday. For his rivals profile, click here. For his scout profile, click here.

"Nebraska wasn't even in the picture before," Sloan said. "It was Kentucky or Texas A&M, and I was trying to figure out and balance both. Nebraska came in and outdid both of them." (At least he said 'outdid' and not 'outbid.') Sloan's decision was comprised of two things. One being his conversations with Marvin Sanders and the other being UNL's pharmacy program.

At around 5'9 and 170 lbs. depending on who you want to believe, it's fair to say he isn't blessed with great size. However, after watching the following video, you can figure out quickly that this kid has serious talent to go along with an extremely high football IQ.

(you'll absolutely want to crank up your stereo speakers for this one)



Nice job Bo. Starting off a strong 2 for 2 this early in recruiting definitely isn't going to hurt moving forward.

The Scout 300

It's that time of year again. That's right, it's time to talk recruiting.

Scout.com has just released their Top 300 recruits for the 2010 class. Although I think we all could really care less at this time as we have more pressing issues to worry about (Cody Green's health), it was good to see at least one future Husker make the list. In fact, offensive guard Andrew Rodriguez (Aurora, NE) came in at an impressive #71. And regardless if he chews tobacco as a high school junior or not (see picture), his 6-6, 300 lb. frame will help open holes in many years to come, ala Toniu Fonoti (we could only hope). Other notables towards the top of the list on the Huskers' radar include OLB Justin McCay, QB Blake Bell, RB James McConico, S Dietrich Riley, WR Marcus Lucas, and DE Jordan Allen.

On a side note, sorry for the sporadic posts as of late. I am down here for the time being and hopefully I can make it back alive and with limited damage to my already limited brain cell count to blog another day (no worries, I'll have some photographic evidence). In the meantime, A. Rose will move into the DXP editor's office and carry the site for awhile. Don't get too offended.

Importance of a Top Ten Recruiting Class

Nebraska's #33 ranking on Scout.com and #28 ranking on Rivals.com was a decent haul for Bo Pelini. However, Pelini still must realize that you can't be satisfied with these type of recruits year in and year out. There is plenty of progress that must be made. I've already given my thoughts on the importance of the information that the recruiting services give us. I also know that the majority of Nebraska fans tend to disagree with me. So here you go...

Ralph D. Russo from Associated Press Sports recently wrote an article that examined the correlation between recruiting rankings and success on the field. The study conducted here spans three seasons from 2004-2006 for recruiting and from 2006-2008 for on the field success (when the recruits of 2004-06 had a major impact.)

Four of the top recruiting services - Rivals.com, Scout.com, Max Emfinger, and Tom Lemming of CBS College Sports - were all factored here. With 10 points for a No. 1 recruiting class down to 1 point for a No. 10 recruiting class, each school's three-year recruiting performance was tallied. (For example, USC was rated No. 1 by all four services in 2004, so it received 40 points for that season.)

Recruiting Results

1. USC - 103 points

2. Florida State - 66

3. LSU - 55

4. Oklahoma - 53

5. Michigan - 52

tie Florida - 52

7. Tennessee - 38

8. Georgia - 37

9(t). Texas - 31, Miami - 31

Now, using the final rankings in the AP poll for each of the last three seasons (2006-08) and a 25-point scale, 25 points for a No. 1 ranking and 1 point for a No. 25 ranking, here are the top teams on the field over the last three seasons.

Results on the Field

1. USC - 68 points

2. Florida - 63

3. Ohio State - 62

4. Oklahoma - 54

5. Texas - 50 1/2

6. LSU - 48

7. Georgia - 40

8. West Virginia - 39

9. Boise State - 36

10. Virginia Tech - 35

Some notes worth mentioning from the author:

'- Michigan was 13th in the AP rankings from 2006-08, finishing eighth in 2006 and 18th in '07 before going unranked last season.

-Ohio State had 19 points in the recruiting rankings, finishing in the cumulative top-10 in 2004 and '06, but out of the top 10 in '05.

- Florida State finished 2006 and '07 unranked in the AP poll and was No. 21, good for five points, in last season's final rankings.

- Miami has not been ranked in the final AP poll since 2005.'

Not counting Ohio State (who has finished #13 or higher in recruiting rankings every year since 2003), only three teams (#8 West Virginia, #9 Boise State, and #10 Virginia Tech) were able to finish in the top 10 for on the field success without a top tier recruiting class. And it's not too hard to figure out how these teams finished in the top 10 with sub-par recruiting classes when compared to the rest of the top 10 - very mediocre competition from very mediocre conferences.

It is interesting to note that since 1998, every school that has won a national championship is in that Top 10 recruiting list above with the exception of Ohio State, whose case I explained above.

It's going to be difficult to get back into that elusive Top 10 recruiting list. Clearly, the combination of recent success and program prestige play the most important roles. It's also evident that with recruiting success comes extremely high expectations, just ask Phil Fulmer, Larry Coker, and Lloyd Carr. To be the best, you need to recruit the best.

The moral of the story is that recruiting needs to improve. Exactly how Nebraska will manage to do that remains to be seen. Bo Pelini has proven to be a tremendous head coach in only one season at Nebraska. However, he won't consistently be winning Big 12 championships anytime soon with these recruits.

The 2009 Nebraska Football Recruiting Class: Where Else Were They Gonna Go?

(C.J. Zimmerer @ Omaha Gross High School)

With a full year under his belt as Nebraska's head coach, Bo Pelini just wrapped up the '09 football recruiting season. The class of 20 recruits fills some needs, brings in some talent, and hopefully will contribute to winning a Big 12 title in the very near future.

Some pundits and message board contributors have gone to great lengths to give this coaching staff credit for not having any "last minute" decommits, which should be applauded. But realistically, where else were these guys going?

A few players out of our 28th ranked class had multiple offers, but very few were from name programs. Four players had no other offers at all and only five recruits had other offers from programs that Rivals ranked in the Top 25 recruiting classes of 2009. Outside of Cody Green, Jason Ankrah, Rex Burkhead, Chris Williams, and Brandon Kinnie, not a single player had an offer from a class ranked in the Top 25. Take away that Arkansas offer from Kinnie and the number dwindles to four. The total number of offers from Top 15 classes for our 20 recruits was 6, with Chris Williams holding dual offers from LSU and OU.

You can go a step further and say both Cody Green and Chris Williams, who both were offered by LSU and Williams by Oklahoma, would not have been the top recruit at each one's position by those schools. LSU has the #1 ranked dual-threat QB in the country and both LSU and OU signed 4 LB's a piece and each had two that ranked as 4-stars (if stars do mean anything to you.)

I'll give Pelini's staff credit on out-muscling Kansas on 4 recruits that held KU offers, but Man-gyro beat out the Huskers for 5 guys that we offered. You think Tom Osborne would have lost a recruiting battle to Kansas?

The counter argument that others will make is that Bo's staff isn't looking at Rivals-rated talent, but rather looking for guys that fit our system. They can develop the diamonds-in-the-rough that no one else wants. I hope that's true, but if Nebraska is ever to compete with Texas and Oklahoma, we have to win some of the recruiting battles with those schools.

There were 15 different recruits that held an NU offer along with either a Texas or OU offer and we pulled in Chris Willams. In head-to-head recruiting battles with the best of the Big 12, we went 1 for 15. We're never going to get 'em all, but if we want to win Big 12 titles you have to do better than 1 for 15 with the talent you obviously covet.

All-in-all Pelini's staff put together a decent class, albeit with some question marks, but in no way should anyone be surprised by the lack of a single decommit on signing day. I mean did you really expect Robinson to switch to Tulsa, or Coffey to Washington St., or Kerr to San Diego St., or Zimmerer to nowhere?

Jason Ankrah Choo-Choo-Chooses Nebraska

Jason Ankrah (Gaithersburg, MD), the 10th rated DE on rivals.com and the 26th rated DE on scout.com, committed to Nebraska on Sunday over Michigan, Penn State, and Maryland. Highly rated defensive tackle Terrence Stephens, Ankrah's high school teammate who visited Nebraska with him back in November, has recently committed to Stanford. Regardless, one out of two ain't bad here.

On another recruiting note, QB Cody Green's Dayton High Broncos lost in the Texas Class 4A Division II state championship game to Sulfur Springs 69-49. In a game where there was 1,402 total yards, 63 first downs, and 118 points scored, Green had his share in the stat book with 329 passing yards (23/34) and 6 touchdowns as well as another 94 yards rushing. Sulfur Springs QB Tyrik Rollison - the #2 dual-threat quarterback in this year's recruiting class (uncommitted) - threw for 398 yards and 4 touchdowns and rushed for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns. I'm pretty sure that wasn't eight-man football.

Kicking It With Cody Green

(this is a follow-up to the previous post)


According to Scouts, Inc. at ESPNU:

"On the hoof, Green looks about as good as anybody in this class physically. He is big, rangy and very athletic with long arms and legs. Looks like Terrelle Pryor in terms of measurables. However, we are not convinced he will remain at quarterback at the next level and may be better suited as a wide receiver, H-back or possibly find a home on defense. Right now he is more advanced as a runner and athlete than he is as a passer. Is a smooth, long striding prospect that shows good initial quickness and escape-ability in the pocket. Works out of the shotgun and is an ideal read-option player."

This trainee working for Scouts, Inc. might be on to something. If for some reason quarterback doesn't work out in college for Cody Green, there is always placekicker. In Saturday's Class 4A Division II state semifinal game, Cody Green kicked the game winning 24-yard field goal with 4 second left to give Dayton High a 31-28 win over Kerrville Tivy. (for the game recap, click here.) Green's Dayton Broncos were trailing 28-21 when he lead them on a 10-play, 78-yard touchdown drive with 1:50 remaining. After a Tivy turnover, Green rushed twice down to the 7-yard line before he attempted the game winning field goal (which happened to be the team's only field goal attempt on the year.) Dayton (13-1) will play Sulfur Springs (13-2), who is lead by Tyrik Rollison - the #2 dual-threat quarterback in this year's recruiting class, this Saturday at 2 p.m. in San Antonio's Alamodome for the Texas Class 4A Division II State Championship.

As for what the future holds, Alex Henery need not worry.

Keeping Up With Cody Green

Against Brenham in the Texas Class 4A Division II Region III championship game last weekend, Nebraska QB recruit Cody Green rushed for 260 yards and 2 TDs on only 21 carries and added 71 passing yards with 2 TDs. For this spectacle vs. Brenham, Green was named as the Southwest Regional Football Player of the Week by ESPN RISE football on Wednesday. Green's Dayton High Broncos will play @ Kerrville Tivy High in the state semifinals on Saturday. Interestingly, Dayton's only loss this season came in September vs. Texas Tech QB recruit Jacob Karam from Friendswood.

This season Green has 2,700 passing yards with 28 TDs to go along with 1,400 rushing yards with 25 TDs. That's an impressive 213 yards/passing and 112 yards/rushing per game. To read more about Green, click here for a great profile done this week (including a reason why he wouldn't mind redshirting?!?) that takes a look at him both on and off the field.

Gabe Lynn Just Wants to be Friends

According to the Oklahoma Rivals site, Gabe Lynn a four-star cornerback from Jenks, OK, has dropped Nebraska from consideration. But the way he framed his decision is quite strange:

"I'm not interested in Nebraska like that anymore. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and North Carolina are who I'm still looking at. I like Nebraska for the fact that my brother [Phillip Dillard] is there but I'm not considering them anymore," he said.

Lynn also apparently told Coach Pelini, “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Welcome Freshmen. Now Cut Your Hair!

With the start of fall camp and school right around the corner, incoming freshmen are making their way to Lincoln. This means taking part in summer conditioning, being assigned a dorm room and a roommate, being granted a number on the official roster, and of course checking out the incoming freshman female talent. But here's to hoping for at least two members of Nebraska's 2008 recruiting class that their arrival in Lincoln also includes a trip to the barber.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you Exhibit A - Quentin Toailoa:


And Exhibit B - John Levorson:


Toailoa's mane actually extends beyond the parameters of the picture!! Now I know that he has that whole Haka thing going on and perhaps the coif helps with that, but cripes, that's a lot of hair. He could smuggle kickers in there. Levorson on the other hand is just a mess. Does the university not hand out those little black combs on picture day like my elementary school used to? Oh and the Tastee Inn called and they'd like their grease back (too obscure for those non-Northeast Lincoln folks?).

I heard stories during the glory years of the Peter brothers pinning players down and shaving their heads against their will at the outset of fall camp. Given the looks of things, I sincerely hope that's another tradition revived under Pelini.

Bonus hair-related tunes from Pavement in one of their more celebrated tracks:

Khiry Cooper Is On The Clock

18 days and counting...

Cooper is one of Nebraska's prized recruits who could surely fill Maurice Purify's shoes as both a possession receiver and a deep threat.

Khiry is listed at 6'2 with a 4.5 40. The problem is Khiry was drafted in the 5th round of the MLB draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He already has turned down a $200,000 signing bonus which is a good sign for Husker fans.

"I get the sense from Khiry that he is very aware of what's in front of him," Eric Newman (Nebraska pitching coach) said. "His situation at Nebraska is not something that you walk away from for $200,000. For lack of a better word, you've got to make (the Angels) pay.

"I don't know if I said this directly to Khiry, but if he gets anything less than a couple million dollars, he's probably shortchanging himself."

What I think Newman is getting at is that this kid has serious game in baseball and football. Reporting day for camp starts August 3 and the deadline to sign in MLB is August 15.

"There's nothing we can do about that," Ted Gilmore (receivers coach) said. "We can't offer him any money."

That's not true Ted. You actually can. But, it's probably not worth it.

The assuring thing for Nebraska fans is that Ron Brown recruited Cooper. Brown loves Jesus. Cooper attends church camps. Brown met Khiry and his mother at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event. Hook, line, and sinker.

"He's got a non-negotiable mechanism on how he makes decisions," Brown said, "and it's not going to be a situation where people talk him into something.

"Is that a guarantee we're going to see him here at Nebraska? No, but I don't think he'll be wooed. I feel very good about it being in his hands."

Khiry, we promise that you won't have to sell beans...


In fact, you should see what girls previous receivers (Terrence Nunn) are able to bang just for being a football player at Nebraska...



Bring your hands and you'll do better than Terrence.

The Cody Green Diamond

5* QB Cody Green has verbally committed to Nebraska. Here is his scout profile and his rivals profile. This is big for Nebraska in many different ways. Green could be that guy to get other big (4 and 5 star) recruits to take notice. In order to get those recruits, it is always crucial to get the first big one (especially a QB) and Bo did that. Also, it is assuring to know that we haven't fallen completely off the map in the eyes of some of the top high school football players. Getting players of this magnitude this early is a great first step. Time will tell.

Green is listed at 6'4 and 220 lbs, and he supposedly runs the 40 at 4.6 seconds. His high school coach says 'it's like having another coach on the field' and that he has a 'cannon of an arm'. A few weeks ago he stated he had narrowed his choice to Nebraska and Texas A&M and luckily for us he chose the wiser one. I will be praying every night that he doesn't pull a Blaine Gabbert, but this kid is actually smart (3.6 GPA) and I think he will stay true to his word. In fact, he said this: “It doesn’t matter. Once I make my decision, my decision is done. I’m not going anywhere else.”

It's definitely exciting to have that first marquee recruit arriving in Lincoln under the new regime. He will be competing with Zac Lee, Kody Spano, Patrick Witt, and Jim Ebke when he steps foot on campus. This kid will get some playing time right away.

Here is the only youtube video I could find. I like the fact he wears '21' as a QB. That's cool. I also like the fact he is the biggest kid on the field.

Pay Lache Seastrunk

Rivals.com published an article recently on Lache (pronounced Lake) Seastrunk who is a high school sophomore running back from Temple, Texas. Watch this video and continue to remind yourself he is a high school sophomore.



Texas, LSU, Oklahoma, and Miami are his top choices right now. I am not condoning cheating but someone please give Dale Jensen his home number.

Advanced Scouting...By Accident

After five years of living in Texas I finally made it to my first high school football game last Friday night. As luck would have it the game allowed an early glimpse of a future Husker (perhaps, maybe, we'll see how things shake-out). Anyway, as I was saying I attended the Baytown Robert E. Lee homecoming battle against Port Arthur Memorial H.S. Port Arthur's star player just happens to be one David Whitmore who is currently committed to the Huskers.

So how did I find myself at said contest? Well, my lovely fiance is a proud Baytown Lee Gander (seriously their nickname is the Ganders), as is pretty much her entire family. Kind of like my family full of Rockets from Lincoln Northeast. But I digress...

Now onto the scouting:

From what I could see Whitmore has a lot of developing to do before he contributes in any meaningful manner. He is SKINNY and that means a lot coming from me. That's sort of like Mark Mangino calling someone fat, if you catch my meaning. Whitmore's legs look like they should be holding up popsicles rather than a future DI football player. He does, however, have plenty of height which will certainly come in handy amongst the 6-4 receivers that now dot the Big 12 landscape.

Whitmore wasn't thrown at much on Friday. It was difficult to tell if this was by design becuase Baytown's QB play was spotty at best. Two plays do standout though.

On the first, Whitmore was beaten on a hitch move. This obviously caused an automatic cringe from Jeffie Husker, given Nebraska's recent struggles with this route. What I liked, however, was Whitmore's ability to close on the reciever while the ball was in the air. In fact after making up a large cushion, Whitmore actually put himself in position to intercept the pass on a perfectly timed turn to look back at the ball. Unfortunately, the refs called pass interference on Whitmore for using his hands to gain the advantage while in the air. I thought it was a terrible call based on what the official thought was going to happen, rather than the way Whitmore pulled it off.

On the second play Whitmore had to defend a bubble screen type pass thrown to his side. Despite showing initial hesitancy, Whitmore fended off a block from another receiver and made a pretty nice open field tackle. In fact, Whitmore made in my mind a prototypical CB tackle by simply getting low enough to take out the reciever's legs (or pins - for you Jim Rose fans). That play occurred right in front of me, and I couldn't help but give him a one-man standing ovation. Had it occurred at Memorial Stadium I would have been joined by 85,000 fans as it was clearly a better tackle than any of us have seen this season.

One thing that surprised me, however, was I didn't see Whitmore take even one snap on offense. I know Texas football is different than Nebraska high school football, but the fact that he doesn't crack the offensive starting lineup seems a bit worrisome to me. Overall, I'd say Whitmore has a lot of athleticism and good potential. He showed me plenty of speed and good hips (not the Eva Mendes type), meaning he is already less stiff than Andre Jones. In addition, I came away extremely expressed with his ability to close on receivers and make a play on the ball in the air. You just can't teach those skills.

So we'll see now if Whitmore winds up in Lincoln and if so, how well my attempt at a scouting report pans out.

Losing Sucks. Developing Talent Sucks Worse.

Jonas Gray is a prized 4-star recruit out of Detroit that has committed to the 2008 Husker recruiting class who chose NU over Michigan, Michigan State, Louisville, Ohio State and Florida to name a few. He is ranked the #4 running back and #47 overall by Rivals.com. After seeing what Callahan and Co. have done to develop 5-star recruit Marlon Lucky in his career, I was interested in seeing where this stud recruit is at because obviously he isn’t going to improve once he steps foot on campus under the current regime. Here is a video of his commitment and a work-out.



His straight up and down running style is eerily similar to Dahran Diedrick. It looks like he barely passes the ‘paper test.' The chalk is going to have alot of tackles over the next 4 years. Do you call that skipping or running?

Kenny Demens, his best friend, high school teammate, and 4 star outside linebacker, was suppose to be a package deal with Gray. Where Gray went, Demens would follow. Demens is 6’1, 225 lbs, 4.6 forty and Gray is 5’10, 213 lbs, and 4.44 forty. Both look very impressive by the numbers. The big difference, however, is that Demens' wasn't snowed by the Nebraska coaching staff and was smart enough to realize the reality of the situation.

Now to the point of this rhetoric.

Bottom line is who is going to improve more to get to the next level? Callahan drops his NFL experience to every high school recruit he can. That's the problem. He treats these 'kids' as professional athletes. Sure you can come in and learn a complex NFL playbook, but that's all you'll learn. The fact is that these recruits still need to learn basic football skills and more importantly, what it is to be a college athlete and a part of a team. I remember hearing that Callahan was asked why he wasn't more involved with these players not as a coach but as a mentor. His response? 'My door is always open.'

One thing Callahan supporters have always said is that he can recruit, but for what? If you go by ‘star’ recruits, we should dominate the Big 12 north. Take this as a vent of frustration or take it as a very simple analysis of one recruit. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling, actually I know, that this is just a continuing trend of landing another top recruit that will become victim of an incomprehensible 100 lb. playbook and lack of fundamental coaching.

Gray said that his commitment to Nebraska would bring ‘more power to the class’ and make them ‘a top 3 class’, but who would argue, including Gray, that at this point he would have been better served being part of Demens’ package deal. Regardless if we are a Top 3 class or Top 30 class, it’s all about coaching at this point. Bo Pelini took ragtag players that were terrible the year before to elevate them to the #11 defense in the country in - hold your breath - ONE year. You can’t argue that there is (or was when they first stepped foot on campus) more talent today than then. Not even close.

Sorry Jonas Gray. I am probably wrong and you are probably a really good running back. The only thing I can tell you is that you might be better today than you will be in 4 years. Which is why we, as Husker fans, hope the Bill Callahan experiment has finally come to an end.

Bill, dude, you're done.

Nebraska's Player Lounge is Like Whoa

And you thought Callahan was promising all of those recruits early playing time. Try the promise of spending four years hanging out here. For more pics clicky.

Blaine Gabbert Videos

In the first, he discusses his ability and some of the schools he was originally looking at.



In the second his committment to Nebraska is discussed along with some highlights. Major bonus is that Rivals.com hottie Ashley Russell introduces the video.

Ranking the Recruiting Class

Here is how some of the "experts" view our class. From listening to what some of our coaches are saying, it seems as though they feel it is our strongest class of the Callahan era. I like the way this class looks from top-to-bottom and I think we hit a couple of major needs at DB and DT. I also like the number of playmakers we seem to have picked up. I guess we'll wait around a couple of years and find out.

Rivals
1. Florida
2. USC
3. Tennessee
4. LSU
5. Texas
6. S. Carolina
7. Auburn
8. Notre Dame
9. Georgia
10. Alabama
11. Oregon
12. Michigan
13. Nebraska
14. Oklahoma
15. Ohio St.
16. N. Carolina
17. Illinois
18. Florida St.
19. Ga. Tech
20. Clemson

Scout.com
1. Florida
2. LSU
3. So. Cal
4. Texas
5. Tennessee
6. Auburn
7. S. Carolina
8. Oregon
9. Pittsburgh
10. Michigan
11. Notre Dame
12. California
13. Miami-FL
14. Ga. Tech
15. N. Carolina
16. Ohio St.
17. Georgia
18. Penn St.
19. Alabama
20. Nebraska

Tom Lemming
1. Florida
2. Tennessee
3. Texas
4. USC
5. LSU
6. S. Carolina
7. Notre Dame
8. Nebraska
9. Auburn
10. Georgia

Max Emfinger
1. Florida
2. USC
3. LSU
4. Tennessee
5. Texas
6. Auburn
7. Alabama
8. S. Carolina
9. Ohio St.
10. Notre Dame
11. Georgia
12. Miami-FL
13. Michigan
14. Nebraska
14. Oklahoma
16. Illinois
17. Florida St.
18. Clemson
19. Ole Miss
20. Texas A&M

PrepStar
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. LSU
5. Tennessee
6. Notre Dame
7. S. Carolina
8. Michigan
9. Auburn
10. Nebraska

Scouts Inc.
1. USC
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. S. Carolina
5. Tennessee
6. LSU
7. Auburn
8. Notre Dame
9. Miami-FL
10. Michigan
11. N. Carolina
12. Illinois
13. Georgia
14. Ga. Tech
15. Va. Tech
16. Texas A&M
17. Alabama
18. Clemson
19. Pittsburgh
20. Ohio St.
21. Penn St.
22. Nebraska