Ryan Klachko admitted that he sent out his highlight DVD to college coaches a little later than some other football players.
But there was something about the Sacred Heart-Griffin High School lineman’s DVD that stuck out to college coaches. Maybe it was his 6-foot-4, 280-pound frame. Maybe it was his ability to put the opposing lineman on his back and keep him there.
Whatever it was, plenty of coaches like what they saw. Klachko visited the University of Nebraska on Monday and Tuesday, and liked what he saw as well.
Klachko made it official on Wednesday morning, when he made an oral commitment to the Cornhuskers.
“We got home (Tuesday) night. Mom and I had talked about it, Dad was in on it, and we decided to say, ‘You know what, we’re Huskers.’ ”
Nothing is set in stone until Klachko signs a letter of intent next February. But as far as he’s concerned, his recruiting process is finished.
“Nebraska is 100 percent committed to me, my offer is good, and I’m 100 percent committed to Nebraska, and that’s not changing,” Klachko said. “I’m going to be a Cyclone before anything else. I’m going to finish my years at SHG, and I want to help my team as much as I can, and I want to win a state championship, because I know I’m going to be a Husker down the road.”
Klachko said he had 14 Division-I offers, “from Boston College to Arizona.” Illinois, Purdue and Indiana were among his offers from Big Ten schools. But there was nothing about his trip to Lincoln, Neb., that didn’t impress him.
“You talk about a place that has a million and five different things, and everything is top notch. They have a lot of great things. But you’ve got to have great people to work everything, and that’s the biggest thing,” Klachko said.
SHG has produced Division I football players before, but the interest level in Klachko was unlike anything coach Ken Leonard had ever.
“He’s got the size, and they saw him on film, where he can move so well and do things people want him to do,” Leonard said. “He probably had the most offers that we’ve ever had, like 30 or 40, something like that. And I think from just about every conference in the country.
“I know he’s nominated, and I think he has a great shot of playing in the Army game (U.S. Army All-American Bowl), if he has a great year and doesn’t get hurt.”
Klachko knew that college football would be in his plans. But he never thought he’d be such a hot commodity.
“We had known we might get a couple offers here and there,” Klachko said. “Once we sent out highlight tape, it picked up like wildfire . . . It was very humbling . . . I don’t know how to explain it.
“It made me realize how much I’ve been blessed and given, with coaches like coach Leonard, coach (Ted) Wise and coach (Tim) Stewart to help me get to this next level. It really was eye-opening.”
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