[Husker] Recruiting

[David Elfering]

As someone who followed it closely in the early 90's, I recall being rated anywhere from 15 to 40. Frazier was indeed a major recruit, but overall the services didn't always know what to make of the offensive line recruits we signed. Some were "short" by other's standards. If I recall correctly all American center Aaron Graham was passed over by Texas schools but Milt Tenopir helped maximize his potential.

I discarded all my old analysis years ago, but here is a list I ran across that shows some of the class rankings: https://sites.google.com/site/nebraskafootballhistory/recruiting

The "speed" kids Osborne recruited were mainly defensive when they changed schemes in the early 90's, and they weren't always highly touted recruits (from my admittedly fading recollection). One such example was Dwayne Harris who played a key role in Osborne's first championship. Well thought of but not a news making recruit at the time. Abdul Muhhamed was 5'9" tall and 160 pounds and probably not a highly rated receiver, yet made key clutch catches over the middle enroute to Osborne's first championship. 

Stars are nice, making plays, being part of a team and maximizing potential are better. 


On Dec 27, 2011, at 1:12 PM, Skylar Dodds wrote:

> That's actually a common misconception.  TO's classes where he won
> championships were almost always in the top 10 by Lemmings and others
> (Rivals wasn't around back then).  T Frazier was a 5-star.  Tom's
> championships came when he realized he needed to recruit championship speed.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: husker-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:husker-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of
> Mike Nolan
> Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 1:02 PM
> To: Robert Christensen
> Cc: husker List
> Subject: Re: [Husker] Recruiting
> 
> Part of the thing to keep in mind that the recruiting services generally
> rank players based on how they fit into pass-oriented NFL style offenses,
> especialy QBs and OLs.
> 
> As Nebraska transitions back towards something more like the option offense
> of the Osborne era, I would expect Nebraska's recruiting classes to suffer
> in the rankings.
> 
> I don't care.  Osborne won 3 national championships with players from
> recruiting classes that as I recall were not Top 10 caliber classes.
> 
> Notre Dame has had several losing seasons in the past 10 years with its
> nearly perennial top 5 caliber classes.  (But I have always said that Notre
> Dame is a special case, a player being recruited by Notre Dame goes UP in
> the rankings of the recruiting services, just because Notre Dame wants him.)
> --
> Mike Nolan
> 
> _______________________________________________
> husker site list
> husker at tssi.com
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/husker
> 
> 
> -----
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 10.0.1416 / Virus Database: 2109/4106 - Release Date: 12/27/11
> 
> _______________________________________________
> husker site list
> husker at tssi.com
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/husker