NU Football: Tackle commits to Nebraska
Huskers add d-lineman to recruiting class
BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 - 12:20:04 am CDT
His coach used words like relentless and attacking, “an excellent technician.”
No, Nebraska’s latest football commitment, Thaddeus Randle, isn’t the biggest defensive tackle you’ll find.
He’s 6-foot-11/2, about 260 pounds. But he also runs the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds, fast for a guy on the inside. And maybe even more important than that: “He has a low center of gravity,” said his high school coach, David Aymond. “His feet never quit.”
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Story Photo
Husker football coach Bo Pelini. (AP file)
Story Photo
Husker football coach Bo Pelini. (AP file)
So when it comes to winning the battle of leverage in the trenches, the player from Galena Park, Texas, does so more often than not.
Nebraska coaches saw enough to like that they offered Randle a scholarship.
And on Monday, only about a week and a half after the Huskers first started courting him, Randle called NU coach Bo Pelini to tell him he was coming aboard.
“(Pelini’s) like, ‘We’re ready.’ He was jacked up about it,” Randle said.
Randle has started at North Shore High School — located in the Houston area and the alma mater of former Oklahoma State quarterback Bobby Reid — since his sophomore year. That’s not easy to do, said Aymond, whose team went 14-1 last season.
Aymond and some of his assistants who played at LSU were familiar with Pelini and Husker linebackers coach Mike Ekeler, the primary recruiter of Randle.
“I think that side of it opened the door for our contact,” Aymond said. “Still, that doesn’t help you land players. You have to recruit on credibility and do a selling job. (Ekeler’s) very intense and that’s the way it is at our place. And it shows in Thaddeus’ play.”
The third known commitment for NU’s 2009 recruiting class, Randle becomes the second defensive tackle on the list, joining Lincoln Northeast standout Cole Pensick. The Huskers also have a commitment from Pennsylvania linebacker Shawn Bodtmann.
Randle said he liked the program’s tradition, but also the feeling he got about how Nebraska’s coaches connect with players.
Yeah, Randle said, Ekeler is definitely intense.
“I liked it, though. He was talking how he liked the way I move my feet, my hand placement and stuff. I never stop running to the ball.”
Aymond said he sees Randle as the type of player who will grow right along with the Husker program.
“I think Thaddeus and his family see it as a chance to be part of a program on the rise, because it will be on the rise with the changing of the guard,” Aymond said.
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
