[Husker] Recruiting

[jon johnston]

On Dec 14, 2007, at 9:38 AM, Gary Fead wrote:

> Good Morning All:
>
> In reply to the question about the recruiting and why we don't seem  
> to be hearing much about it - could it be that the current staff  
> (starting with Coach Osborne) don't pay much attention to  
> "Rivals.com" and their rating system? And because of this the so  
> called "Big Red Insider" Sean Callahan is now more of an "outsider"  
> - quite honestly I hope this is the case.

Why is that? What bugs you (and not just you, but a lot of people)  
about rivals.com and scout.com? Is it the way by which the rating  
systems are determined? Is it their undue influence?

Keep in mind that while coaches are limited by contact periods and  
numbers, Internet recruiting sites are not. They can keep interviewing  
and posting whenever they want and as many times as they want.

For that reason, you can bet that Nebraska has someone who reads those  
sites because they can be incredibly informative, even though a lot of  
information has to be taken with a grain of salt. You can't rely on  
them, but you can't entirely dismiss them either. Makes life difficult  
for those "black and white" people in a grey world.


> I for one would rather have the coaches recruiting "under the radar"  
> players who will be team players and play for Nebraska and not for  
> their ticket to the NFL. I'll be honest I don't watch NFL football  
> and once players leave NU for the pros I don't follow them at all  
> they end up lost on my screen unless they do something worthwhile in  
> the community or get in trouble and then we all hear about it.
>
> Gary Fead
> Omaha

I understand the whole concept of "play for Nebraska", but the fact is  
that Nebraska should be pursuing a lot of the highly-ranked national  
recruits as well. The best athletes are most likely going to the NFL.  
We want them, the ones that have their heads screwed on right. .

With the internet being what it is, there aren't many 'under the  
radar' guys left anywhere, and I really mean anywhere.

I don't follow recruiting like a religion, but last year I read Tom  
Leming's "Second Season" and Bruce Feldman's "Meat Market", both of  
which were incredibly informative (Feldman's book is rather terrifying  
while being wildly entertaining... Christmas IS coming). Gave me a  
different attitude about recruiting and about sites like rivals - they  
are unfortunately a necessary evil.


> Note:  Comcast has been bouncing a lot of list traffic recently.   
> The problem appears to be on their end.


Comcast is extremely difficult to deal with when it comes to email.  
They block systems from sending mail based upon very rigid standards  
and definitions that they won't reveal and are constantly changing.  
Given that you can get a free gmail.com account and keep it regardless  
of what ISP you use, I'd recommend you do that if Comcast blocks too  
much of your email.

Jon Johnston
http://www.cornnation.com