Meaningful month ahead for Nebraska in recruiting, promotion, roster management (2024)

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska moved out of the middle phase of the football offseason during the past few days and into the push toward training camp. In two months, the Huskers will be back at practice.

No month on the calendar accentuates the reach of Nebraska football among its primary audience — prospective players — quite like June. And no month brings to the forefront principles that coach Matt Rhule hopes to use as a separating factor in building his roster.

Rhule and several Nebraska coaches are on the road early this week. They worked a satellite camp Monday in central Texas, with events planned for Tuesday in the Houston area.

The first of two Friday Night Lights sessions is set for Memorial Stadium this week. Individual and position-specific camps in Lincoln also begin Friday.

Here’s a look at three main objectives for Nebraska in this critical month of June:

Recruit like there’s no tomorrow

Last year, Rhule and his staff collected commitments between June 8 and July 1 from 13 players who signed in the 2024 recruiting class. Included in the June haul were key signees Mario Buford, a cornerback out of DeSoto, Texas; tight end Carter Nelson of Ainsworth, Neb.; and wide receiver Jacory Barney from Miami.

Though the number of pledges gathered this month might not match June 2023, look for the impact of June visits on the 2025 class to rate equally as significant — if not more so.

“All things being equal, we’d like to have most of our class finished in the summertime,” said Ryan Callaghan, Nebraska’s director of recruiting systems and strategy.

Word spread fast in the recruiting community last year that Rhule used his camps like few other Power 5 coaches. The Huskers offered eventual signee Braylen Prude, a defensive back from Pearland, Texas, at the Houston satellite camp last year at this time.

More offers flew in the camp sessions at home, to the likes of offensive linemen Jake Peters and Landen Davidson, defensive backs Evan Taylor, Rex Guthrie and Donovan Jones and wide receiver Quinn Clark. All were relative unknowns before they visited Lincoln.

A key reason for the abundance of camp offers: Rhule values verified measurements. No better place exists to measure and test prospects than at Nebraska. Inevitably, the coaches will find some gems, especially as Nebraska’s reputation grows as a program that’s seeking to find talent at camps.

Monday, a lineman originally from Germany received an offer.

The 2025 class stands at eight commitments. Most recently, Nebraska landed four-star quarterback TJ Lateef of Orange, Calif.

It has big weekends on tap for official visitors June 14 and June 21. The first group includes four-star linebacker Christian Jones of Omaha Westside, the top prospect in the state of Nebraska. Jones is set to also visit USC and Oklahoma this month.

Lineman SJ Alofaituli, a top-100 prospect from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, headlines the next weekend. It also includes four-star running back Jamarion Parker of St. Louis, Mo., a past visitor to Nebraska and top target, and the in-state tight end duo of Chase Loftin out of Millard South and Reiman Zebert of Platteview.

Loftin visited Missouri last weekend. Zebert made a trip to Stanford.

Had such a great time in Palo Alto this weekend. I really enjoyed spending time with the coaches, staff, recruits and players. Thank you for everything! #thefarm @CoachByham @TroyTaylorStanU @CoachPehrson @K_VanIderstine @CoachViane @LilcountryAG @DylanJCruz_ @StanfordFBrec pic.twitter.com/WABoqde8u0

— Reiman Zebert (@ReimanZebert527) June 3, 2024

The Huskers’ path to June recruiting success, as usual, starts close to home.

Promote the brand

Rhule remains in the program-building phase of his time at Nebraska. He might, in fact, never exit that phase. It’s in Rhule’s coaching DNA to promote his players, assistant coaches and the brand he represents — even as he cheers for the Huskers’ successes on other playing fields.

At Nebraska, it’s an easy sell for the coach, what with its history and plentiful resources.

The in-house-produced “Chasing 3” documentary series continues this week with the release of its third offseason episode.

What's NExt!

Tune in Tuesday for episode 3 of "Chasing 3".

🗓️ Premieres Tuesday, 5:30 pm CT
📷 Subscribe now: https://t.co/yrGF2OOEoQ pic.twitter.com/s851ipwauo

— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) June 1, 2024

It serves as a formidable recruiting tool and shines a light on aspects of the program and players Nebraska chooses to feature. This time, it’s tight end Thomas Fidone and running back Rahmir Johnson. Both players have overcome multiple injuries in their time at Nebraska and resisted temptations to look in the transfer portal as Nebraska stacked losing seasons.

Of Johnson, Nebraska’s assistant director of strength and conditioning Matt Hobbs said in the episode trailer: “He’s bigger than he was before. He’s stronger than he was before. He’s faster than he was before. I would not say that’s the norm. But that might just be Rahmir Johnson’s norm.”

Solid marketing. The audience, again, is made up of recruits. But Rhule’s reach extends much farther.

Fine-tune the roster

Part of the opportunity ahead of the Huskers in June involves the current players.

Rhule’s second roster is largely set after the spring period to enter the portal ended more than a month ago. Graduates still can opt to depart. Nebraska hasn’t added any transfers since January. It lost only linebacker Chief Borders (to Pitt) and lineman Ru’Quan Buckley (to Michigan State) after the spring.

Why has stability won over in Lincoln with Rhule at the helm?

“Honesty and family,” said Vince Guinta, the Nebraska senior director of player personnel and recruiting. “That’s it. It’s real simple. Be honest with people up front. He does a tremendous job of setting expectations. So you know what to expect as a player.

“When we’re all honest and we operate in a great family environment, people are going to want to stick around.”

Sixteen early enrollees joined the program in January. The second half of Nebraska’s newcomer class checked in during the weekend.

Move-In Day ☑️🧳#GBR x #WhatsNExt! pic.twitter.com/jCN816XXjc

— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) June 2, 2024

The latest arrivals include 10 players targeted for the secondary or pass-catching positions. Nelson, an eight-man high school star who was coveted by Notre Dame and Georgia, might be asked to help Nebraska on offense this year.

June delivers a chance for him and others to get comfortable. Training camp will be here soon.

(Photo of Matt Rhule: Dylan Widger / USA Today)

Mitch Sherman is a staff writer for The Athletic covering Nebraska football. He previously covered college sports for ESPN.com after working 13 years for the Omaha World-Herald. Mitch is an Omaha native and lifelong Nebraskan. Follow Mitch on Twitter @mitchsherman