The Weekly Rundown: Matt Rhule on the big stage, in-state recruiting pressure and more fullback talk
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule had another week thriving on the big stage, the Huskers suffered an in-state recruiting hit but added another fullback transfer to the roster.
We hit on that and more as we start your Monday with The Weekly Rundown Column.
Sure bets
You have to feel good about these things right now:
Matt Rhule shining on the big stage: We saw it on Wednesday at a Lincoln Chamber of Commerce luncheon and again Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at Pinnacle Bank Arena for the Kenny Chesney concert.
Matt Rhule is a natural on the big stage. He shines if you give him a microphone and a platform to represent Nebraska. I’m looking forward to seeing him at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis this coming July.
However, as Rhule joked, he’s yet to coach a football game at NU. Regardless, he’s done almost everything right this off-season when it comes to treating his title as head coach with the utmost importance.
Stocking the fullback shelves: Nebraska added a second walk-on fullback transfer from Omaha Skutt on Saturday. Notre Dame’s Barret Liedbentritt joins Wyoming’s Caden Becker as the second former Skyhawk to transfer to NU this month as a fullback/tight end/h-back.
Then you have Columbus Lakeview’s Landen Ternus, who joined the program as a walk-on fullback in February. Ternus has a chance to either win or score points in the state track meet in the 100-meter dash, shot put and discus, on top of already being a state champion 220-pound wrestler. The fullback shelves have been more than stocked this off-season.
The importance of the June 23-25 weekend: Rhule set the stage on Wednesday. The June 23-25 weekend is one to circle.
It’s a unique approach by Rhule to put his primary summer recruiting weekend right before the dead period starts on June 26. This will be the third big 2024 weekend hosted by the Big Red. More than 40 2024 recruits with offers visited campus this spring.
Husker track and field: It’s never easy replacing a legend. Nebraska track and field appeared to do it quite smoothly, going from Gary Pepin to Justin St. Clair. This weekend, the first-year Husker track and field coach’s team captured the men’s outdoor Big Ten championship.
The Huskers pulled ahead with huge days on Friday and Saturday and did what they had to do to close out the men’s championship on Sunday. The women’s team also had a strong showing, finishing third.
It will be interesting to see what some of the football players can add to St. Clair’s lineup when they join the track program next year.
Surprises
These were my surprises of the week:
Rhule not flinching to put two walk-ons on scholarship: In today’s NIL world, it’s so easy not to give walk-ons scholarships. If a walk-on begins to succeed, there’s almost a mentality just to put them on a NIL deal to preserve one of your 85 scholarships.
That’s why I have a lot of respect for Rhule not flinching with the decision to put linebacker John Bullock and tight end Nate Boerkircher on scholarship.
Rhule also shared some interesting insights about Bullock. One of the biggest advocates to put him on scholarship was former five-star and Georgia transfer MJ Sherman. Rhule said one of the things that jumped out with Bullock was the GPS tracker results. The numbers don’t lie. He plays as hard and fast as any of the Huskers’ current linebackers.
By putting these two players on scholarship, it also adds more credibility to the walk-on program — that it is attainable to earn a scholarship.
How quickly Teddy Rezac jumped on the Notre Dame offer: Notre Dame’s offer to 2024 Omaha Westside linebacker Teddy Rezac came out of nowhere. His commitment to the Irish followed in a hurry.
On the surface, Nebraska’s follow-up offer to Rezac had no impact. The Rezacs saw enough in South Bend to jump on the opportunity.
It’s interesting to study the history of the Irish’s recruiting. Very rarely will you see them take a chance on a player that isn’t highly ranked or carrying other major Power Five offers. It adds to the question: What did Marcus Freeman see in a second-team All-Metro performer a year ago that nobody else did for several months? They clearly saw something with his skill set that projects to what they want to do on defense.
I also wonder if there was a commitment deadline on Rezac’s offer from Notre Dame. My feel is it was only going to be committable for so long, and if he had taken things deep into the summer, that offer might not have been there.
Notre Dame appears to be moving on from Under Armour: Sticking on the subject of Notre Dame, I find it very interesting that the Irish are dumping their deal with Under Armour.
The Irish were among the five original Adidas football schools, along with Nebraska, UCLA, Wisconsin and Tennessee. Like Notre Dame, the Bruins left for Under Armour but got out of that deal. They are now with NIKE and Jordan Brand.
Will Adidas get Notre Dame back in its lineup, or will the Irish jump to NIKE or Jordan Brand?
Under Armour’s lineup is now led by Wisconsin, Maryland, Auburn, South Carolina, Utah and Texas Tech. There was a time when UA was trying to talk to Nebraska around eight to 10 years ago. NU sure looks smart now sticking with Adidas, as the Huskers are the brand’s original football school and have one of the top deals in the country.
The jury is still out
Questions still surround these things:
Will Dylan Raiola be in Lincoln for the June 23 weekend?: There are two things to watch moving forward with five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola. Will he be at Georgia this weekend for its big recruiting event and returning in early June for his official visit?
The other thing to keep tabs on is if Raiola will take an official visit to Nebraska on the June 23 weekend? There’s a lot of smoke that things are trending in that direction, but the Raiolas have yet to confirm anything publicly. There’s also plenty of smoke he’s on the verge of committing to the Bulldogs.
Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten: The he said, she said battle between the Big 12 and Pac-12 continues this spring. What is the future of the Pac-12 and its media rights deal? Will the Big 12 be able to successfully poach Utah, Colorado and possibly Arizona and Arizona State?
With that said, what about Washington and Oregon to the Big Ten? In my opinion, they would be great additions to the league. They would help the Big Ten secure arguably the four largest football brands in the Pacific time zone.
My only question is what would their value be to the overall Big Ten media rights deal? If they joined the Big Ten, would it be at a reduced rate, similar to the way Nebraska had to enter the league in 2011 before eventually earning a full share of the pie? Would they come at a reduced rate?
This has my attention
Moving forward, this has my attention:
Carter Nelson at state track and his June visits: Ainsworth tight end Carter Nelson has seemingly been preparing his body for this week all year. He’s gradually eased his way back onto the track, and now he’ll try to capture three gold medals — in the pole vault, high jump and discus. Nelson will also run a leg on Ainsworth’s 400-meter relay team.
Nelson went 14-1 in the pole vault last week, a PR. He stopped at 6-1 in the high jump once he hit the Class C automatic qualifying mark. How high will Nelson set the bar this week in Omaha?
Meanwhile, he’s also set up official visits to Georgia (June 2) and Notre Dame (June 9). What about Nebraska? Will Nelson be a part of the June 23 weekend? Penn State is also another team to watch for a potential official visit.
WR Dae’vonn Hall at state track: Four-star Bellevue West wide receiver Dae’vonn Hall has a chance to contend for both the high jump and 100-meter dash titles this week in Omaha. Can Hall run under 10.6 in the 100 meters and jump near 6-10 in the high jump?
Jaylen Lloyd’s quest for gold: How close to 25 feet will Jaylen Lloyd get in the long jump, and can he break 50 feet in the triple jump? Also, what type of time will he run in the 100-meter dash? He’s yet to run under 10.77 this track season, as he has eased his way back from injury.
More official visitors added: One of the more recent official visitors added this June was Refugio (Texas) wide receiver Ernest Campbell. He fits the profile of many of the players Rhule has targeted. Speed. Campbell has 10.2 to 10.3 times in the 100-meter dash.
QB Logan Smothers: Is quarterback Logan Smothers considering returning to Nebraska? Rhule said the door remains open for him. Logan is so private, that it’s hard to have a read on what direction he’s leaning.
Finals week: It will be a relatively quiet week in Lincoln. Final exams are taking place, and then the players will get some downtime before reporting back to campus on May 31.
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and can be heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.
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