i think you underestimate the importance of relationships in recruiting.
relationships - as in our coaches relationship with him and/or his brother playing for NU? (or the coeds we surrounded him with while he visited for the spring game) If the kid plans on waiting until signing day I think you are OVERestimating the value of those relationships. (in green's case) Our coaches have been recruiting green for 2 years now, his brother has been here for 2 years, and in those same 2 years our offense has been anemic. Nothing is going to change over the next 9 months in regards to our relationships. They are about as strongly in our favor as it gets. But, he's planning on waiting so he is looking for something else, something beyond the relationships.
The only thing that can change over the next 9 months making his decision clearer is with other schools, or our offense. Other schools that haven't had the time to build a relationship with him will be moving in. 9 months is more than enough time. Our offense will either be pathetic or anemic. That could work in our favor both ways, you just don't know how he's going to look at it. If Rex dominates (in addition to Helu), and Heard gets in there for 50 carries for 350 yards...Aaron might see the cupboard as stocked, or he might see the BCS win and know that NU is back. If our offense is a variation of 2009 he might see himself as the missing link, rise to the challenge, competition, all that crap.
Either way none of us really know, but personally after 2 years I'd think he'd know enough about NU to commit if there wasn't something else he's looking for...or at least wanting to confirm that the offensive identity he's been sold thus far is actually in the cards for 2010 and beyond. At this point it's not about relationships - we've played that hand perfectly...it's about the offense, one way or the other.
...or maybe he just enjoys the recruiting process. maybe he wants to take his official visits for kicks (i know i would). maybe he wants to have a high ranking and knows committing late is the way to get it. i have no idea whether we'll get this kid, i just thought it was silly to assume that what happens on the field this fall will be the biggest factor in his decision making. as i said above though, it will obviously help our cause to continue winning and running.
Maybe, but that goes into the section of "other schools building a relationship". Nothing good can come from him visiting another school. He isn't going to go visit Florida and walk away saying Nebraska is so much better. He won't walk USC's campus for a weekend and come back home thinking how great Nebraska is in comparison.
We have strong facilities, but where we once stool head and shoulders over the competition we are mearly even today. The campus, well that's not even really arguable. The longer this drags on, the less of a chance we have to get that verbal. What more can we do to recruit him? He's probably been on campus 5-10 times. We've set the bar for every other school, but we've also set the bar for ourselves as well. We have nothing more to offer him. It is what it is, if you aren't 100% sure, don't committ. Well, if he's not 100% sure today, there is little more we can do to make him 100% sure tomorrow. (outside of our offense going out and dominating the way he's been sold to think it should)
I personally don't think it's "silly" to assume that what happens on the field has a major affect on a recruit's decision making. That, right now, is the SINGLE biggest factor in our defensive recruiting. VERY FEW recruits consider NU without mentioning Suh and Bo's dominant defense. They want to play for a dominant defensive team, where they can showcase their skills and win games. An offensive recruit is no different - in fact it's probably even more important to them.
Not saying he won't commit. I hope to hell he does.
Maybe he want's that 5th star, maybe he wants to take his 5 visits. But remember...that is the same thing that we bash on other recruits for doing - so don't annoint Green the almighty and make him the exception. That 5th star means nothing on the field, that's for his ego.
Those 5 visits are going to be a lot less fun than New Orleans in 2012, or Miami in 2013. He wants to see LSU, Florida, USC, etc? I'm sure Bo can take him for a visit to the Florida schools when we have some extra time around our Orange Bowl appearance, or to see LSU before the Sugar Bowl or BCS Championship game. By 2013 he might be playing in the Big10 and then he can see the CA schools right before we beat down on the Pac10 in the Rose Bowl. Those "official visits" are fun for a few days, the steak tastes good - but commit to NU and he'll be seeing plenty of cool campuses...and going away with a big win is a lot more enjoyable than going away with bag full of promises and another offer letter in hand.
