The Huskers announced their 2009 recruitment class and while not a blockbuster class for Bo Pelini’s first class, they do address certain needs with the departure of some key players. Perhaps the top recruit was athlete Cody Green out of Texas. At 6’4, 220 pounds, Green has the physical prowess to be one of a multitude of positions, with a cannon arm and long strides when running. Green could compete for the starting quarterback position or could attempt to play wide receiver, linebacker or safety.
The total class for the Huskers was 21, but the most alarming aspect of the class is that only two of those 21 came from the state of Nebraska, the lowest number in the history of recruitment with the Huskers. That begs the question, where is all of the great football talent in this state? It is difficult to say that maybe the Huskers focus their recruitment efforts squarely too much in states such as Calif. and Texas, which make up 14 of the 21 recruits in the 2009 class.
For UNK, we just had one of the best kickers in the history of the school, Geoff Carnahan, graduate scoring over 250 points in his career. A kicker from Kearney Catholic, Carnahan showed his ability to knock through field goals with ease, even kicks from over 50 yards. If anyone who remembers the Huskers bowl game against Auburn, about three years ago, we had the ball on their 35-yard line with a chance to tie with a field goal, but due to a lack of kicking power, they went for it on fourth down and came up short. Now, how did the Huskers not even give Carnahan a look? Of course hindsight is 20/20, but it seems as though the Huskers are relying more on Nebraska talent to attempt to walk-on the program and are focusing their attention elsewhere.
While that may be the reason, it might also be that there is truly a lack of talent at the high school level here in Nebraska. One thing this state is known for is producing lineman, but nothing else. Take a look at Danny Woodhead, one of the most prolific rushers in Nebraska high school history. Maybe Nebraska gave him one look, but because of his size, it never materialized and he took his game to Chadron State, where he became the all-time leading rusher in NCAA history until this last year.
Nebraska has never been a hot bed for high school football talent, in fact, the state just had its first “five-star” recruit last year in OL/DL Baker Steinkuhler from Lincoln Southwest, which of course Nebraska signed. Steinkuhler didn’t play much for the Huskers last season, but should fill in well for an offensive or defensive line looking to rebuild. The fact of the matter is, is that Nebraska has some of the most intense players you will find in this country, but the lack of extensive coverage and great teams has this state scrambling to market its premier players.
The last great recruiting class this state had, that I can remember, would be in 2006. That year, Millard North saw its State Championship rushing trio get scholarship offers from iowa, Nebraska and Washington. But for as great of high school players as they were, one no longer plays football and the other two play minimal amounts of time, if any at all.
The question remains to be answered, but it doesn’t seem as though the talent in this state is going to change any time soon. For those that follow high school football in the state, it seems that we have the talent, we just need to market it better to schools across the nation. It is necessary to get the word out about our talent or recruits in this state will never get a chance to showcase their abilities at bigger schools. Take for example Silas Fluellan, the current quarterback for the Wayne State Wildcats. In 2005, his senior season for Bellevue West, he threw for an average of 250 yards per game and 37 touchdowns, both state records. As far as I remember, he did not garner any Division I attention and for the life of me I could not tell you why. Fluellan had a cannon arm and had scrambling ability. Maybe at 6’0 his size hurt his stock, but look at Chase Daniel who on a good day is barely above 6’0.
Nebraska has the talent to get nationally recognized but with the lack of marketing of our players, our talent will continue to go unnoticed. But with that dark storm cloud comes the silver lining. With Division I schools missing out on this state’s talent, they fall right into the laps of schools such as UNK, Chadron State, Wayne State and so on, for our viewing pleasure.
If we want our state to begin producing top of the line college football talent, it all begins of the advertising side.
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