_____n
■ Turner Gill
■ Nelson Barnes
■ Frank Solich
■ Craig Bohl
Frequent Flyers
Atypical week of
recruiting for Nebraska
coaches means rackinc
up a lot of miles.
Illustrated here are the
paths of the Husker
coaches Jan. 25-29.
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By Mike Kluck
Special Projects Reporter
Nebraska Offensive Line Coach Milt Tenoph
remembers the recruiting trip when he woke up in
a Las Vegas hotel room, but'thought he was al
home.
hi his state of slumber, he walked the same path
he normally walked at his house
go to die bathroom.
But by the time iviiupu ivnurMi
he wasn’t in his home, the door to his
hotel room had already clbsed
behind him. Tenopir was left stand
ing in the hotel hallway with nothim
but his underwear on and had
vince a hotel security guard to
him back into his own room.
Ask any of the 112 Division I-A
football coaches who have spent the
last six weeks traveling highways,
maneuvering through airports and
waking up in hotel rooms and they
will likely give you a story similar to
Tenopir’s.
And they do aU this in the pursuit
of getting a star 17- or 18-year-old
high school footbaU senior to sign a
letter of commitment to their univer
sity on signing day - the first
Wednesday in February.
A toughjob
Recruiting is a job that most college football
coaches are untrained to do when they start coach
ing. But no matter how good of a football coach
they are, if they don’t succeed at recruiting, they
won’t be coaching very long.
“You’ve got to experience
recruiting as you are ink,” Nebraska
Head Coach Frank Solich said. “You
become aware of how important it is
-but you are constantly learning. To
this day I’m still learning.”
But recruiting is not just a learn
ing process. It is a test of survival -
physically and mentally. Coaches
must deal with cross-country travel,
weather and battling other coaches
for a recruit.
Menially, recruiting stresses the
mind. Nebraska coaches have
become accustomed to winning 95
percent of their games on the foot
ball field, but during a typical
recruiting season in which coaches
are dealing with 20 or more athletes,
a coach would be lucky to get 20 per
cent of the athletes to commit
Recruiting is not just a two-week
job in December and January. It’s a
yearlong process of watching tapes,
making and keeping contacts, and
then making decisions while trying
to prepare for a football game.
“Recruiting is a lot of time and
effort - and that is just how it is,” Nebraska
Linebackers Coach Craig Bohl said. “You’re
spending time away from your family, you’re not
home a consistent amount, and then the travel
wears on you.”
Unpredictable success
Nebraska coaches have had success through
out the yearc recruiting, but ix>t comparable to the
Hg-" success cm the field.
K Most ofthe Husks recruiting classes
■ over the past 20 years have ranked out
K side of the top 10 as determined by many
recruiting analysts, but the football pro
gram has consistently been in the top 10
_ in the nation.
Entering the national championship
seasons of 1994 and 1995, the
Comhuskers didn’t boast recruiting
classes ranked in the top Id. This year,
Nebraska has a solid recruiting class, and
many analysts have predicted that it
could beaclass in the top five.
“fth very unpredictable,” SohchsakL
“There are many reasons a person
decides to come or not come to -
your school. There are guys
that I have felt we had a good
shot at and felt like Nebraska is
the best place for them. Then at
the last minute it falls through
on you.”
ine Meoraska coaches said the lust
thing tod) in recruiting is to start with a
wide hasp of athletes who are either
interested in attending NU or who are
athletes that Husker coaches would like
to seefftqriflgibrNelxa&a.
Once toe coaches have their list, they
begin narrowing down the ath
m letes by talking to them, their
pi parents, coaches, teachers, girl
■ friends, etc.
H “You try to talk to as many
people you can to find out
about their background,” said
■ Nebraska Quarterbacks Coach
■ Turner Gill.
The right athlete ^
Since the coaches recruit
throughout the country, one of
me first Hungs they must deteanmemni
a player is whether he is comfortable with
leaving his home and area of the country
to travel to Nebraska.
Also, during this period of time -
which is usually at the end of summer and
throughout fell -NU coaches are deter
mining which players would fit into the
Huskersystem. J;
Many of the NU coaches said
atojwghjheyare trying to get some of
also looking for athletes feat work hard
and believe in team commitment.
“Everybody can sign a kid,”
Nebraska Defensive Ends Coach Nelson Barnes
said. “You want to make sure thelrids you sign are
those you want to sign.”
Most information about a recruit is learned
throughout die football season, which involves
calling coaches and kids after the Huskers finish
their daily practice.
“A lot of times my wife will complain during
die season because shie will say I’m home, but Fm
not at home,” said Nebraska Receivers
Coach Ron Brown. “Meaning that
although I’m home, I’m not reallyeon- ~
centrating or spending time with the fam
ily. Since I recruit a lot of the kids in the
West Coast region, I can be up to mid
night making recruiting calls.”
By December, the NU coaches will
have their list narrowed to an average of
20 or 30 athletes per coach. The coaches
said Ihe Big 12 Championship game and
preparation fra: a bowl game hike away
time from being on the road.
But when they are able to hit the road,
it becomes an enduring process.
lrs no vacation
Brown said he remem
bers the year he was recruit
ing a kid from St. Louis,
who later decided to go to
Tennessee. Brown was in
St. Louis for a recruiting
trip but missed talking to
the athlete and flew to his
next visit in Phoenix.
Upon arrival in
Phoenix, Brown called die
1 athlete in St. Louis. He
wasn’t home, but die ath
lete’s mom said if Brown
was at his house at a certain
time, he could speak to him
for20 minutes. Brown
caught the next flight back to St.
Louis and was at the athletels house
at the desired time - but the athlete
never showed up.
“I had a nice visit with his moth
er,” Brown said.
After the visit, he proceeded to
catch the next flight to Phoenix and
continued with his recruiting.
Nebraska coaches said they can t eliminate
those wasted trips where recruits don’t show up,
but they try to be as prepared as possible so those
things don’t happen.
But even when those mishaps don’t happen, a
recruiting day can be a long one for a coach.
Solich said one time he was recruiting in the
East Coast and was in three or four different cities
and states in the same day before finally checking
into a hold room.
The next morning, he received a phone call
from then-Head Coach Tom Osborne, who asked
him where he was, and Solich couldn’t remember.
‘jftwaskind ofembanassing,” Solich said “I
vx
where I was. But it’s not that
uncommon when you hit so
many different homes and
states”
Meeting new people
Although recruiting is
somewhat of a numbers game, Nebraska coaches
said recruiting involves developing relationships.
--“\bu meet so many families and
young people when you’re recruit
ing and you hear how football
impacts their life,” Brown said.
“There are also a lot of heartache
stories out there, and as a coach you
almost become like a surrogate par
ent”
Gill said the success of recruit
ing is meeting people, spending
with them and then being ahlf»i
to diem. He said it is ii
detennme if Nebraska s
the kids’future
“Nebraska is x
everybody” Gill said
such a stressful time for athlef
Nebraska coaches said it is impor
tant for them to have solid relation
ships with tb
“The pie
is so much a
“Overnight ti
public figure
Because
athletes, Br
enjoy tb
hype tha
goes int<
recruiting
The numbe
of recruitinj
publication
and tans interest m recruit
ing have grown tremen
dously over the years, he
said
Withthepressiseonthe
kids, Brawn said relation
ships often deteriorate with
the kids he has worked with.
“This is an intense time
for a few months,” Brown
said
Despite the intensity,
the travel, the late hours, the
pressure, the disappoint
ments and all the otter fac
tors that go with recruiting,
Nebraska coaches said they
still enjoy the job - all
except maybe die time on
Offensive Line
Recruiting Area -
Southwest
“Being
able to relate
to people -
that's what
recruiting is
about''
rieaa lootDaii coacn
Recruiting Area -
entire country
“No
question that
it is important
that you have
coaches on
your staff
willing to
work hard on
process”
Recruiting Area -
Central
"Youhave
to work at
recruiting.
You want to
get to know
the players
and
something
about them”
Receivers
Recruiting Area -
Southwest
“It's
important to
have
everybody on
the same
page. If you
are going to
have a recruit -
visit a
professor, you
want to make
sure they are
there to meet
himr
Recruting
is a lot of time
and effort -
and that is just
the way it is.”
Rush onds
Recruiting Area -
Southwest
“You try to
convince and
show the kids
that it would
be an honor
to have them
in your
program