Well last Wednesday, February 6, 2008 came and went in Lincoln Nebraska and once the day was finished the Huskers had a recruiting class that numbered 28 signed recruits, plus an additional 30 recruits who will walk-on, paying their own way in hopes of earning a scholarship after a year or two. There was only one invited walk-on who turned down the offer among the 175 plus that Pelini's staff looked at to get the number down to the 31, who were formally recruited, just like the 28, with the difference being that those 31 were not offered a scholarship, just the opportunity to be given the same chance to make the football team as everyone else.

One huge noticeable difference with Pelini's first recruiting class was that there was no mention of any single recruit's name or where his class ranked in the National Order of things. No, Pelini's standard quote of the day went something like this. "I don't really want to get into anyone today specifically," he said. "Like I said, we're recruiting talent and potential. I'm proud of every recruit we have. What they become in the future, that remains to be seen." Or, when asked about all the recruiting hype; I think you have to temper what the expectations are. Everybody wants to talk about what the No. 1 recruiting class is. They want to put numbers on it and talk about who had a good class and who didn't have a good class. It's hard to say. Talk to me two, three years down the road and I'll tell you how good a class it was." Now for those of your who still aren't satisfied with that, from what I could find the 2008 Huskers class ranked anywhere from 21-30 depending on which service you favor. I want to explore this recruiting class ranking a little deeper.

The Huskers recruiting class from the early 1990's did not rank much higher than this year's class, yet those players won 3 National championships over the next 5 years. In fact a certain 6'6" 225 pound linebacker from Missouri who went on to enjoy a very successful NFL career, Mike Rucker was not even recruited by any other college except for Nebraska according to Husker coach Ron Brown. A four or five star recruit always will draw interest from several major colleges that part is true, but it can work the other way also. According to Coach Tim Beck, a school signed a particular high school kid, then called one of the recruiting services and asked them to rate the kid higher, the next day, boom, the kids ranking jumped up by one star. So what exactly caused that? Just like the fact that the media can't pick the national champion in August, how can you expect a college to determine what a high school senior's talent will be based on his potential 4-5 years down the road. You are talking about a 17-18 year old who has never been away from home in his life and how will he adjust to that. Former coach Bill Callahan had the number 5 recruiting class back in 2005 and was always very quick to point that fact out. However at the end of the 2007 season, that 2005 class finished the year ranked 95^th in NCAA division 1 football. Fans expect a return on their investment so to speak. Tell them that they have the 5^th best recruiting class, then give them a season like they just had, then they start thinking that they don't have a very good coach.

Another factor that affects the recruiting rankings is style, or fitting a particular mold. A recruiting service might give a higher ranking to a player who is 6 foot 2 inches tall as compared to one who plays the same position, but is only 5 foot 10 inches tall, because that 6'2" player fits the "standard mold" better than the other. It has absolutely nothing to how that player performs when the game is on the line in the last minute of the game, no it measures what his high school coach claims to be that players 40 yard dash time, or vertical leap, or standing long jump, not whether he can shut down that receiver. Also the level of competition isn't really measured in the recruiting ranking either. Does it measure whether he makes all of his meetings, is he an active member of social clubs in school, does he go to church, to class, how does he react with family members? That is what the coach who is recruiting the player is suppose to find out, and in order to do that you have to have the trust of the high school coaches. Did that kid have a down year because of injuries to himself or his teammates? Did he have personal issues that affected his play, which is why they put the word "coach" on the back of your shirt? Do you need more evidence? How about the fact that the 2004 recruiting class of the Kansas Jayhawks ranked just 51^st in the country. That All-Americans Aqib Talib and Anthony Collins, according to rivals.com, were two-star prospects. So were Dexton Fields and Joe Mortensen. Marcus Hereford and James McClinton were three stars. Now where did Kansas rank this past season? Just like predicting the weather 10 days from now is not an exact science, predicting how that 17 year old will perform when he is 21 is not either.

Finally I believe that the closer to the program or area the kid is from, the more of an "X-factor" you have. In other words, if the kid comes from around the area, or is familiar with or is a fan of the school, then you have something that is hard to gauge, call it that loyalty factor if you will. The kid who spent 4-5 years every fall when he was 8 to 12 years old, with his radio on while he tossed a football, pretending to be Scott Frost, or Tommy Frazier, or running like he was Johnny Rodgers or Mike Rozier, those are the things that the Rivals or Scout can't measure, those are the kids that Callahan ignored and that Pelini is bringing back. GBR Out.

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JEH45 said:

	Bugeater: Since I embarassed myself last season re my pick as to where BR would finnish, what are you seeing for next year? What kind of rebuilding does Bo have to do?
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February 12, 2008
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Bugeatersteve said:

Well if we are to believe the "Recruiting Experts" he has the players that were left over from "Mr. Bill". You will see a much improved Defense that I know for certain. We saw a dramatic turn around from 2002 to 03 in his first year as the Defensive coordinator, so I expect the same. I also look for a similar performance on the offensive side of the ball, since Pelini kept that coordinator (Shawn Watson). All in all I think 8 wins are in the forecast.

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February 13, 2008
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JEH45 said:

	Are the faithfull happy Watson was retained? Do you know what the offensive scheme will be this year? Lloyds believes you should go back to good old nebraska option football. I do not agree.
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February 13, 2008
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Bugeatersteve said:

	Yes the "Masses" are happy that Watson was kept. The offense will be similar to what was ran last season yes, with a few wrinkles that Pelini would like to see, he likes the spread that Missouri runs.
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February 13, 2008
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