A hectic couple of months of recruiting finalized with signing day in Lincoln, Nebraska. Since Matt Rhule was hired in November, his staff has been working tirelessly to improve their roster for the present and set a foundation for the future.
Nebraska’s 2023 recruiting class features 39 new players, composed of 28 high school recruits and 11 transfers. According to 247 sports, the class ranks overall as the 29th best in the country.
Rhule and his coaching staff, since the beginning of the recruiting process, have been heralded for their hard work. The staff, especially special teams coordinator Ed Foley, has been on the road constantly, visiting schools in Nebraska and all around the country.
Rhule said Wednesday that hard work is the expectation from him and his staff
“Going to eight schools a day in Nebraska is the bare minimum, it’s not something special,” Rhule said, “We’re just doing our jobs.”
There was one recruit who was signed today that was the epitome of that expectation.
Rhule said that offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield was on the road when he was near Regis-Jesuit high school in Aurora, Colorado. Satterfield was not intending to visit the school but decided to give a call to their head football coach. Satterfield, through his impromptu visit, was told about cornerback D’andre Barnes.
Rhule said that after talking with Satterfield, they offered Barnes, who ultimately signed with the Huskers.
Overall, Rhule said that he likes each player for who they are in the class of 2023, but what stood out to him was the class’s speed.
Rhule said that you’d be hard-pressed to find faster guys than Malachai Coleman, Jaylen Lloyd, and Brice Turner. Nebraska fans should get used to the speed of classes, as Rhule takes track results very seriously. While he acknowledged that talent on the track doesn’t automatically mean recruits will be great football players, he calls them a “rock to lean on.”
Two of the more interesting signings for the Huskers Wednesday were Ismael Smith Flores and Jeremiah Charles. Charles and Flores played one year of organized football at Arlington-Martin Highschool under Nebraska Tight Ends Coach Bob Wager. Rhule said before he hired Wager, Wager called him to talk about Flores. The staff didn’t recruit Flores in the December period but once Wager joined the staff and showed Rhule Flore’s tape he was blown away
When Rhule went down to Texas to see Flores play a basketball game, Wager tipped Rhule on Charles who was also playing. Rhule said that Charles’s track numbers stood out to him. After seeing him play basketball along with watching his football tape on the sideline with defensive backs coach Evan Cooper they zeroed in on Charles as well.
Rhule said Wager definitely helped get them to Nebraska but they also fell in love with the school
“Bob certainly had a lot of influence in that but those guys also came here and fell in love with the university and the opportunities on this campus.”
Now that the 2023 class is all wrapped up, coach Rhule said that the staff’s attention now shifts more toward the players who are in Lincoln
“Now the focus is just purely on the guys here,” Rhule Said “There’s a lot of winners on this team and there’s a lot of guys I need to do a great evaluation on to help them be the most successful they can be.”
Nebraska and its staff can finally take a bit of a step back from recruiting but the true challenge of taking the pieces they gathered and making a winning football team from it begins today.