Sports
Thursday, February 2,1995 Page 7
Green highlights Nebraska recruiting class
Star I-back
glad to be
a Husker
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
OMAHA — At 8:05 Wednes
day morning, the Nebraska I-back
stable was restocked for the next
four years with one swipe of Ahman
Green’s pen.
The record-setting I-back from
Omaha Central, who was a con
sensus high school All-American
last season, made it official, sign
ing his national letter of intent to
play football for Nebraska in the
fall.
“It’s a big relief,” said the 6
foot-1, 210-pound Green, who
committed to Nebraska on Jan. 6.
“Now I can focus on better things
like academics and track.”
Green became the fourth Cen
tral I-back in the last decade to
sign with the Huskers, following
in the footsteps of Calvin Jones
(1991-93), Leodis Flowers (1988
90) and Keith Jones (1984-87).
“Coach (Tom) Osborne and
(Frank) Solich did a tremendous
job recruiting him,” Central coach
Joe McMenamin said. “They were
diligent all summer long. Ahman
really appreciated that. They told
him that they would not recruit
another running back.
“They told him that he’s the
No. 1 player in the country as far as
they are concerned. That means a
lot to Ahman, hearing that from
Coach Osborne. It was probably as
good a job as they’ve ever done
recruiting a player.”
As a senior, Green averaged 9.8
yards per carry and 176.8 rushing
yards per game while running for
1,591 yards and 14 touchdowns.
He said he did not expect to
redshirt next year.
“If I do get in,” Green said, “I’m
going to do what I can to help the
team. I don’t have to start. But I
don’t want to redshirt. I’m looking
to be on the sidelines and play and
get some time in.”
Osborne said Wednesday after
noon that Green was pegged by the
Husker coaches as the best run
See GREEN on 8
Scott Bruhn/DN
Ahman Green, a senior at Omaha Central High School, signs his letter of intent as his
mother, Glenda Scott, looks on in a conference room at Central Wednesday morning.
Green, an All-State running back, will play football for Nebraska.
Recruiting ‘easy’ for Osborne
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
Maybe Tom Osborne underes
timated the power of a national
championship.
One month to the day after
claiming the school’s first national
title in 23 years, Osborne collected
26 national letters of intent con
taining1 signatures of each of the
recruits the Comhuskers had ex
pected to sign.
“This was an unbelievably easy
year,” Osborne said Wednesday
afternoon. “There was nobody we
had to go back and rerecruit. We
have been on the phone continu
ally the last several days, just ex
pecting that somebody, somewhere
was going to bail out.”
A dumbfounded Osborne said
never before had recruiting been
so easy.
“Nobody even said, 'Well, hey
coach, I’m having second
thoughts.’ Nobody even wiggled.
I couldn’t understand. It was just
kind of unbelievable.”
The 26 Huskers-to-be hail from
14 states, including seven players
from Nebraska. The group con
sists of 25 high school seniors and
one junior college transfer. The
Huskers got two quarterbacks, six
linebackers, four defensive backs,
eight linemen, two tight ends and
one running back.
“If our evaluation is bad,”
Osborne said, “then we didn’t do
very well. If our evaluation is good,
then we did very well.”
Nebraska was nearly finished
recruiting by the time the team left
for the Orange Bowl on Dec. 23.
At that time, Osborne said, only
one scholarship remained, and it
was being held for Omaha Central
I-back Ahman Green, who com
mitted on Jan. 6.
But the large number of early
commitments did not hamper the
Huskers’ class, Osborne said.
“We evaluated players and rank
ordered them on the board,” he
said. “Generally speaking, we drew
a line. We said anybody above that
line is really an excellent football
player — people that we would
take in a minute. We didn’t take
anybody below the line.”
He said the Huskers signed five
of the top seven offensive line
men, both of the top two quarter
backs, the No. 1 running back, four
of the top five linebackers and four
of the top six defensive backs.
“The one thing I do know is that
most of these guys can run,”
Osborne said. “And that’s a good
See OSBORNE on 8
Nebraska
lands pair
ofBulldogs
By Todd Walkenhorst
Staff Reporter
OMAHA — It’s been 20 years
since two Omaha Burke recruits
came to Nebraska in the same year,
but on Wednesday it happened
again.
Burke’s Adam Julch and Aaron
Wills made their intentions offi
cial to attend Nebraska on football
scholarships. Both athletes were
relieved that signing day had fi
nally arrived.
“It feels great,” Wills said.
“Now we can get on with our lives.”
Julch, a 6-foot-6-inch, 300
pound offensive lineman, is look
ing forward to playing at Nebraska.
“It feels real good because I can
concentrate on my football career,
and it’s a big load off of your back
to get it over with,” Julch said.
“I’m going to a great university, so
I should have the time of my life.
It’ll be interesting.”
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne
said if Julch had not committed so
early, he may have had many other
offers.
If he lived in Chicago and held
out,” he said, “he probably would
have had 40 or 50 schools offer
him scholarships.
“He was as good a lineman as
we saw offensively, a great pros
pect.”
The Huskers also signed Wills,
a tight end and outside linebacker
from Burke. Nebraska overlooked
the 6-foot-2-inch, 230-pounder
early but reconsidered after per
suasion from Burke coach Larry
Jacobsen, Osborne said.
“(Jacobsen) said he was a good
player,” Osborne said, “so we took
another look at him.”
Jacobsen said that Wills was a
good player who could contribute
to the Huskers.
“I think Wills is a sleeper,”
Jacobsen said. “Both offensively
and defensively, a lot of poten
tial.”
Jacobsen said both players
should be able to contribute to the
Husker program in the near future.
“Both have a lot of potential.”
Duke assistant to take over for Steele
Craig Bohl comes
back to Nebraska
after 12 years
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter ”
Former Nebraska football player Craig Bohl
will be named today as the Cornhuskers’ new
linebacker coach, the Daily Nebraskan has
learned.
The post was vacated when Kevin Steele
left Nebraska on Jan. 20 to accept a coaching
job with the Carolina Panthers of the NFL.
Bohl, 36, served as the defensive coordina
tor for the Duke football team last fall.
Bohl said an official announcement would
be made today by the Nebraska athletic depart
ment.
Upon arriving at Lincoln Municipal Airport
early this morning, Bohl told the Daily Ne
braskan that he was in Lincoln to discuss the
linebacker coaching position.
“I am going to decide some things (Thurs
day),” he said. “Nothing has been formally
offered and nothing has been formally ac
cepted, but obviously you can see that I am in
town.
“I’m certainly excited to be back here.”
Nebraska athletic director Bill Byrne de
clined to comment Wednesday night.
Bohl
1982 photo
Duke coach Fred Gold
smith, who led the Blue
Devils to a 8-4 record and a
berth in the Hall of Fame
Bowl last season, told
Durham, N.C., radio sta
tion WDNC on Wednes
day night that Bohl was
returning to his home state.
Goldsmith told the radio
station he was indebted to
Bohl for the work he had
done and was sorry to lose him.
Bohl, a Lincoln native, graduated from
Lincoln East High School in 1977, after play
ing three years for the Spartans. He then played
in the Nebraska defensive backfield from 1978
81 and was a Husker graduate assistant from
1981-1983.
“Nothing has been formally offered and nothing has been
formally accepted, but obviously you can see that I am in
town
■
CRAIG BOHL
prospective assistant Nil football coach
Bohl’s parents and relatives live in Lincoln.
Bohl and his wife Deanna have 4-year-old twin
daughters, Mai lory and Morgan, anda 6-month
old son, Aaron.
Bohl, who arrived in Lincoln alone, was
met at the airport by his mother, Roberta Bohl.
Bohl said he would be honored to work
under his former coach, Tom Osborne.
“In our profession,” Bohl said, “I don’t
think He has any peers on his level. He’s a
proven winner. I think he’s really done an
excellent job working with student athletes
over the years.”
Bohl spent the 1984 season as a full-time
assistant at North Dakota State. From there, he
coached at Tulsa (1985-86) and Wisconsin
(1987-88), before accepting a job as the line
backers’ coach at Rice.
Bohl followed Goldsmith from Rice to Duke
prior to the 1994 season.
“Nebraska has a program that’s a hallmark
as far as consistency,” Bohl said. “I think this
year, obviously, was the pinnacle of that. I
don’t think there are many guys out there that
are like Tom Osborne.”