Signing Day
I’m not a huge fan of the day (I believe its over hyped) but there is always fervor over National Letter of Intent signing day. But getting good people into the program is necessary.
Here is a list of the recruits and preferred walk-ons. (essentially what Nebraska does with the preferred walk-on title is they will target Nebraska’s 2nd tier talent and offer them the preferred walk-on status to keep them from going to smaller D1 programs or Division 2)
Nebraska addresses some needs with a top notch QB recruit (Cody Green), he’s already on campus and will be in the mix to start next year (that’s right...start). Rex Burkhead is a running back from Plano, TX which is one of the most popular football locations in Texas and comes in with some unreal stats (3500 yards and 57 TD’s in his Jr. & Sr. year in HS) The defense looks solid across the board headlined by Jason Ankrah.
As for the local kids, Cole Pensick is the lone Lincoln scholarship recruit. The 6-1, 259 Lincoln Northeast product is one of the best defensive players in the state. C.J. Zimmerer is the only other Nebraska scholarship kid from Omaha Gross HS.
As for the walk-ons, Lincoln is represented by Tyson Clark from Lincoln East and Devin Paulsen from Lincoln Christian.
Discuss
The Comments
Gene says You never know how all February 5, 2009 at 8:17am
You never know how all of these kids will pan out, but the class looks pretty solid IMHO. Is it just me or are there a lot of defensive backs?
Tom says RE: You never know how all February 5, 2009 at 6:12pm
If I had to guess I would say Bo likes to have the option of fast/quick defensive guys who can blitz easily. Perhaps these DBs will fit the bill.
I just love watching the blitzing from guys like Terrell Farley. Not big, but fast and disruptive. Size doesn’t matter, but speed sure does. And we need it!
I like this class. The OWH had a great article about Rex and Taylor Martinez. Very humble.
D.M.B. says From the press conf when February 5, 2009 at 9:50am
From the press conf when asked about the number of DB signees:
“We were a little thin (on defensive backs) last year. When we came in here the numbers were down, especially at the cornerback position. Next year we’re going to lose four safeties, so it’s an area we needed to address. We have a couple of guys that can swing either way, corner or safety, guys on our current roster and the same with a couple of young men who came in here. It just provided us with more depth and more versatility as we move along.”
Small cheep shot on Calla-canned. Also remember, this is Bo’s first full recruiting class. Calla-canned and Co. basically stopped recruiting after T.O was hired. That was two months lost. And then Bo and Co. had very little time (a month or so because there was a dead period which allowed Bo to go back to LSU) to keep last years class together. I don’t know if any of last years recruits lost were DB’s but I’m sure it didn’t help.
Gene says RE: From the press conf when February 5, 2009 at 10:56am
I didn’t realize they stopped recruiting after T.O. was hired. Cheap.
That said, I was pretty impressed with the number of DB signings.
D.M.B. says RE: From the press conf when February 5, 2009 at 3:39pm
Well I think they saw the writing on the wall. I remember specifically that the coaches during the off week before the Colorado game that they concentrated on Nebraska HS’s only. They hit many of the HS’s in the state because I think they didn’t want to go out to national recruits and say “hey we don’t know our situation but COME TO NEBRASKA!”
Fletch says I didn't take that as February 5, 2009 at 10:17am
I didn’t take that as much of a swipe at Callahan. Bo doesn’t need to do that or get involved with that, it had nothing to do with him.
D.M.B. says RE: I didn't take that as February 5, 2009 at 3:40pm
Oh cheap shot might have been over exaggerating, but he certainly was making mention of the fact that Calla-canned left them with little to no depth in the secondary.