[Husker] recruiting character vs talent

[William E. Laughlin]

Why are we recruiting people like this {Josh Williams]? -- Greg Z.


Bob Beach: To win football games and I am in no way trying to be a smart ___ here.   I believe sometimes the urge is to take a kid because of ability and not character.  The fans want wins.  If moral character comes with that then fine but let's win.  
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Bob, my first inclination was to agree with you, but this is a straw man argument. I think fans have ALWAYS embraced winning the right way at NU. Oh, I know, you'll cite the 9-3 seasons under TO and the critical fans, but I think we all saw what recruiting strictly by the number of blue-chip stars on the recruiting services has done. Over the last 4 years, some fans feel the team ended up with some talented guys whose first goal was apparently to look good for NFL scouts on film, and maybe not play lights out on every play or work on maximizing what talent they had.

With TO we had a built-in failsafe because a guy like that with a degree like he has almost guaranteed we're not recruiting strictly for talent. That was the OU way, for years.
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Beach: I think we all know which kind of season fans would rather have between a 12-0 season with some character issues and a 6-6 season that shows the members of the team are of high moral fiber and model citizens.  People might say recruit those that are top athletes and good citizens as well.  Sometimes it just isn't that easy.  The other thing is it is pretty hard to know every single aspect of a recruit's past and/or control him/her after they have been recruited.  In no way am I saying NU is going to a win at all costs mentality but the pressure to win can be overwhelming.
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I think you can screen their backgrounds and ask the kinds of revealing Q's at interviews to determine what kind of individual the person generally is -- you know, something beyond "How fast do you run the 40?" See what their goals are, and whether they are me-firsters or team players, like the kind NU used to routinely get.

I think we need to be patient and see the kinds of players the Pelini staff actually gets. This guy Josh Williams is a Callahan recruit. I won't be the least surprised if this issue is moot in a few more years.

Bill Laughlin
Wichita, KS