Walk on program is failing?

The fault scale is without question tipped towards coaching right now and development has been a huge probably for most of the last ~15 years.

I don't want to throw any individual player under the bus here, but we have seen countless players come through the program who needed to play better and didn't. And I'm not necessarily saying it's their fault. But, you just can't miss on players to the level Nebraska has in recent years whether that's from recruits not panning out, transfers, injuries, etc.

 
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soup said:
So, one comment that still is boggling my mind that Dave made in the presser.  Was that the walk-on program needed to be fixed?  My question is, is it really broken?

Just two years ago 24 of the 79 players that traveled to Miami were walk-ons.  We started 3 to 5 walk-ons on the O line last year. We have how many walk-ons on the two-deep right now?

I guess I don't get it?  Does he expect to go back to the days of the 80s and 90s where they could get the kids to walk onto Nebraska that are now being offered D1 scholarships?  

Maybe he needs to call up his buddies, Bohl, Solich, Gill, etc.  To ask them to stop offering scholarships to these Nebraska kids that should be walking on at Nebraska.  (never mind South Dakota State, North Dakota State, etc.)  These programs didn't exist, recruiting wise, in the 80s and 90s.  Now they are giving these kids a full ride rather than walking on at Nebraska.

Is this just from a lack of paying attention to the program, or is it just believing the hype that any coach that is not a native Nebraskan killed the walk-on program.  
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Not sure if serious...

 
Actually the walk on program does need some work in regards to relationship building. My uncle had a kid offered a walk on spot to go to Nebraska. NU never once spoke to the high school coaches to ask about the kid. The 2 previous kids over the last few years that were offered walk on spots to NU from the school spoke to the high school coach prior to the walk on offer. This was during the Bo years. So I would say some things and be improved regarding the walk on program 

 
Moiraine said:
There is always going to be a talent gap between Nebraska and Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State due to population density.

People hate to hear that though.

What we need is a really, really good coach who can do more with less.
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Eh. If you're playing for championships, have good recruiters, and are in the national eye, the kids will come. I think those three things are very possible at Nebraska. As easy as it is at tOSU, Michigan, and PSU? No, I don't see us taking tOSU's crown but with the right people in place and a winning program, a consistent top 12 class is very attainable.

 
DrunkOffPunch said:
No, I don't see us taking tOSU's crown but with the right people in place and a winning program, a consistent top 12 class is very attainable.
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I don't think Nebraska has ever consistently recruited Top 12 classes. That's a pretty lofty goal IMO. Perhaps if they return to dominance and become a powerhouse program again, but, that would require a lot of things going the right way.

I'd settle for just making the most out of the talent they currently have and that's been unattainable for almost 20 years.

 
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Enhance said:
I don't think Nebraska has ever consistently recruited Top 12 classes. That's a pretty lofty goal IMO. Perhaps if they return to dominance and become a powerhouse program again, but, that would require a lot of things going the right way.

I'd settle for just making the most out of the talent they currently have and that's been unattainable for almost 20 years.
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Why not pursue that goal?  Which is what Riley and the staff have been trying to build in recruiting infrastructure and disciplines.  We were seeing some of those fruits this year, but with all of the uncertainty about this staff's job now I expect the wheels to come off in recruiting.  And it will take another 2-3 years to get that system built back up again.   

 
soup said:
Why not pursue that goal?  Which is what Riley and the staff have been trying to build in recruiting infrastructure and disciplines.  We were seeing some of those fruits this year, but with all of the uncertainty about this staff's job now I expect the wheels to come off in recruiting.  And it will take another 2-3 years to get that system built back up again.   
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Finding a great coach that can do well with top 30 talent is a bigger priority, and one that's much more possible.

This argument comes up every season. It's as simple as geographic distribution of talent. Nebraska has an advantage over other schools in low population areas due to our great facilities, and can even snag some great players occasionally, but we will never consistently get top 10-15 classes 

 
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Hayseed said:
The walk on program is suffering from lack of qualified walkons due to the changing demographics of Nebraska and the limit on number of players. 

Us old guys need to get used to the fact that we can no longer stockpile half the state on the sideline and other schools offering scholarships are more attractive.
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Always room for improvement, but you are exactly right.  Getting a full ride at North Dakota St, is much more appealing for most, than a walk-on position at Nebraska.  Money talks.  I'm sure there are other things we could do to help lure better walk-ons to our program, but I'm just a simple fan and I'm not sure what those would be.

 
Enhance said:
I don't think Nebraska has ever consistently recruited Top 12 classes. That's a pretty lofty goal IMO. Perhaps if they return to dominance and become a powerhouse program again, but, that would require a lot of things going the right way.

I'd settle for just making the most out of the talent they currently have and that's been unattainable for almost 20 years.
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Lofty yea. But as of right now we have a WR commit with the nation's most offers. A CB who if he was 3 inches taller would be a consensus 5 star and top 20 player overall. I don't think getting players of that caliber is unreasonable. You just need the right coach.

 
I don't think getting players of that caliber is unreasonable either.  However, I do think it is unreasonable for us to fill an entire class with that caliber of players like Bama' and others do. 

 
Hedley Lamarr said:
Actually the walk on program does need some work in regards to relationship building. My uncle had a kid offered a walk on spot to go to Nebraska. NU never once spoke to the high school coaches to ask about the kid. The 2 previous kids over the last few years that were offered walk on spots to NU from the school spoke to the high school coach prior to the walk on offer. This was during the Bo years. So I would say some things and be improved regarding the walk on program 
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Yep. On signing day a couple years back, I interviewed Noah Johnson, who is a preferred walk-on from Sutton. I asked him how MR and Langs feel they can use him in their offense. He said he hadn't even met them.

 
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DrunkOffPunch said:
Lofty yea. But as of right now we have a WR commit with the nation's most offers. A CB who if he was 3 inches taller would be a consensus 5 star and top 20 player overall. I don't think getting players of that caliber is unreasonable. You just need the right coach.
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Of that caliber, I would agree. It's reasonable to expect Nebraska to snag some of the recruits from the programs in recruiting hot beds. I'm just not confident they could do it consistently and rank in the top 12 year to year, and a large part of it comes down to @Moiraine's point - geographical distribution. Nebraska is at a significant disadvantage in regards to population and local talent.

To me, it's possible in the sense that (technically) anything is possible. It is not in my opinion, however, feasible. Nebraska will almost always be a program that has to find a way to do more with less.

 
soup said:
Why not pursue that goal?  Which is what Riley and the staff have been trying to build in recruiting infrastructure and disciplines.  We were seeing some of those fruits this year, but with all of the uncertainty about this staff's job now I expect the wheels to come off in recruiting.  And it will take another 2-3 years to get that system built back up again.   
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the fruit is rotten-  sure offer guys who will never qualify and guys who use us a marker till someone better offers us and you'll get a top 25-30 rating which is about what Riley's done so far- why does everyone think he's actually doing any better than the guy before him?

good coaches usually only take a year or two to take a losing team and start winning....i.e. Scott Frost

 
The kids with talent got to smaller schools now if they don't get an offer from the bigger universities.  The only real exception to that is the true lifetime fans of a program will take a preferred walk-on status.  Instead of pushing walk-on programs as much I can see teams taking graduate transfers.  Build that relationship in high school recruiting then come back to them after they have developed on someone else's dime.  I don't like that idea, but it's becoming more common place.  I heard a Coach from JMU talking about having to re-recruit their kids that have that option.

 
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