South Sioux City running back Tony Palmer is a sleeper name worth watching in 2025
SOUTH SIOUX CITY – One of the more under-the-radar names in Nebraska for the class of 2025 is South Sioux City running back/athlete Tony Palmer.
Palmer has almost everything a coach would be looking for on paper. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Palmer led Class A with 1,488 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns in nine games, was the Class B state champion wrestler in the 215-pound weight class, and ran 10.98 seconds electronically in the 100-meter dash as a sophomore.
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To top it all off, Palmer also carries a 4.03 GPA in the classroom. However, thus far, Palmer’s recruiting attention has been fairly light. A lot of it probably has to do with South Sioux City’s football history.
Most consider the Cardinals a Class B school, but they had to play up in Class A football. The Cardinals were an outlier in many respects, but Palmer’s numbers helped put them on the map in 2023.
“A lot of people, considering that we’re South Sioux City football, we’re not really held to high standards compared to all these other Class A, big-time football teams,” Palmer said.
“I think when I get going and I motivate my teammates to play, I think that helps a lot. I had, I think, 1,600 all-purpose yards this year, which was crazy.”
Nebraska has visited South Sioux City three times since Matt Rhule was hired to check in on Palmer. Kansas State, Iowa State, South Dakota State, North Dakota State, and South Dakota have also shown early interest.
“This is uncharted territory for us a little bit because I’ve been here for four years,” South Sioux City head coach Jackon Dickerson said. “It’s the first time in my four years that we’ve had schools like that reach out and want to talk to our kids, and I think that’s a big step for our program in just terms of notability and being on the radar a little bit.”
Palmer already has spring trips set to NU, KSU and USD. He also plans to visit Iowa State and the other schools recruiting him.
The big thing now is that most schools will want to see Palmer either run track or work out at a camp this summer. Palmer’s track season has gotten off to a slow start as he recovers from a minor injury.
“Coach (Ed) Foley from Nebraska came down a couple of times, and I’ve been on the phone with Coach Keith (Williams) and all those guys, and we just have a good time, and they just keep me up to date on the recruiting process and all that stuff,” Palmer said.
“I think I’ll probably come down a couple of times this spring to Nebraska. They’re going to try and get me down there more than once.”
Dickerson said it’s been exciting to watch Palmer’s growth, and he’s looking forward to what 2024 will bring.
“He’s just got a different mentality and mindset about him to where you don’t see that walking around our hallways every single day,” Dickerson said. “He’s found a way to separate himself, not only physically, but just in his mindset and what he wants to achieve.
“He’s got big goals and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to do that. That was evident from day one. Was he the most talented player on the team his freshman year? Probably not, but he was one of the harder workers and he’s transitioned to be a leader by example. He outworks every single person on our team and he pushes others around him.”
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