[Husker] Mania Brown was different

[Alan Siporin]

 As has already been mentioned, Callahan has recruited committed recruits
several times this year. Imagine what was written on the Missouri boards
after Brooks, their highest rated recruit, switched to Nebraska.

But the Mania Brown example is quite different. He was a player who had
already been on the squad for more than a year. Solich had a commitment from
his cousin, Ngata, and a big part of Ngata's decision was the cousins desire
to play with each other. BYU was alleged to have illegally contacted Mania
Brown about transferring. Ngata decomitted, but BYU eventually lost him to
Oregon. Brown did transfer to BYU, though. Lots of bad blood between
Nebraska and BYU staffs after that, but nothing came of it, sanction-wise.

Meanwhile, one can only speculate how that one move altered the course of
Husker history. A front two of Ngata and Brown could make up for a lot of
deficiencies elsewhere, player-wise or coach-wise. Of course, there is never
any way of knowing. We can only wonder.

As far as the decomitt phenomenon, the only way to stem that is to have an
early signing period, like basketball. But why would the NCAA do something
sensible with football like they do with basketball? Like a real playoff.

Alan Siporin