Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini met with the media on Wednesday afternoon to discuss Nebraska's 2013 Signing Class.
Pelini touched on a number of topics during his press conference which spanned more than a half-hour. Among the topics Pelini discussed were adding depth on both lines in the 2013 recruiting class, his thoughts on new NCAA recruiting legislation, and the many positives about the University of Nebraska that Pelini and his staff can sell to prospective recruits.
Read the transcript of Pelini's press conference below.
Opening Statement
“I am excited about this recruiting class, I appreciate
everybody’s effort. There were a lot of people that worked really hard to make
this class what it was. We signed a total of 26 guys that includes 13 different
states plus Canada, so obviously that requires a lot of work. We have 15
walk-ons that are coming, 13 that are good to go, and two others that are a
work in progress as far as school admissions that type of thing. I’m excited
about this class, I think it adds a lot to our football team, not only with
talented football players but tremendous young men, a lot of character type of
kids that I want to coach, and kids we want to represent our university, the
state and our fans.
“At this time I would like to also announce that Braylon
Heard and Chase Rome are not going to be a part of our football program
anymore. With this group we have going forward, our goal this coming year is to
win it all, I think this is a good step forward.”
On how much the
coaches addressed the lines this recruiting class
“Well if you look at what we have done with our defensive
line, six guys this year and four guys last year that gives us 10 in the last
two classes. I think these guys will make a big difference for our football
team and how we play defensively so I am excited about this group.”
On how many of the
defensive line recruits Coach Pelini wants to play right away next year
“Six, if they can. I don’t know, time will tell. It will be
different for every guy. It depends on how they pick up things, how they work
from now until the season starts. I think all six guys have ability and
potential to contribute, that’s what through all these rankings and other stuff
you have decide, across the country you are looking at potential. I saw a thing
the other day, they were talking about the top-100 quote-un-quote ranked guys
from either two or three years ago there were 46 guys that didn’t play, so you
are talking about potential this time of the year. Now we have to make an
impact on these guys and get them developed to play championship football.
There are a lot of things that go into that moving forward.”
On the running backs
in this class and when Coach Pelini wants them to play
“Once again if they are capable they will play. I think they
are both very capable. They are outstanding young men that come from great
families. They are strong character kids who obviously have played winning
football. You look at those two guys and they are talented young men who have
the potential to come here and make an impact, that’s why we recruited them. In
my opinion we got two of the best in the country, no question in my mind.”
On if the number of
prospects recruited from different states will change (13 different states this
year)
“You know every year is different, I don’t know. I know one
thing—we will turn over every stone and evaluate hard. We are particular on who
we go after and why we go after them. There is a lot more than ability, it’s
obviously how they play on film, and the type of character they have, it is the
intangibles and leadership, guys we believe will fit into our program. Like I
said, that is important to me and it is important to our staff, I think we
found 26 guys that we wanted in our football team. There were some kids that we
recruited early on that we decided we didn’t want in our football program. At
the end of the day I feel good about the group that we have. Once again I
appreciate the coaches, not only the traveling and the work they put in but our
recruiting staff, the secretaries that fly people places. It’s a team effort to
put a class together like this. I think this is a tremendous class that has a
lot of potential in it, and today is really a culmination of a lot of hard
work.”
On how the last month
has been for Coach Pelini and his staff
“Yeah recruiting in general is a whirlwind, and let’s face it
all depends on the young man. Let’s face it, to some kids commitments don’t
mean a lot, but to some they do. With some kids a commitment you know as a
coach if it means a lot or it does not. Until you get that fax, you know that
commitment isn’t official. At the end of the day you have to keep recruiting
them until the very end, our coaches were on the phone with each and every
recruit. Once again there are some kids that say ‘yes’ and they are committed,
there are others that you don’t pay much attention to the commitment and you
know you have to keep recruiting and have backup plans if things change. Things
change daily with recruiting, and we have a pretty good understanding of that.”
On if he has seen
anything that has happened this recruiting season before (de-commitments &
recommitments, etc.)
“I don’t know if it is about an early singing day or what, I
think at the end of the day the coaches, the administrators and the NCAA should
go sit in a room together and until that happens and we have good one-on-one
interaction so we all know what is going on, and me personally I think the high
school coaches should be a part of that. Until that happens, it’s not going to
get fixed; you know this isn’t any different than any other year. It just maybe
it happened here locally because we took more guys so there was a lot more
situations that brought it to light on how crazy this is (recruiting). In my
opinion this system needs tweaks and be fixed, where it is heading right now with
some of the rules I think it is going down a gravel road. I say that because
when I walk into a high school there is a head coach there and I see how
concerned they are with the rules that are affecting their young men it tells
me that it is probably not going down a good road.”
On what bothers Coach
Pelini with the new recruiting rules
“I think first and foremost it is going to affect the kids
in high school. They are going to be concentrating on things they shouldn’t be
concentrating on. That is academics, being the best football player they can
be, that’s developing as a young man and enjoying his high school career. The
more time a kid is sitting on his phone texting and on the telephone and all
the other things that are taking away from that are doing the kids, the high
schools and high school coaches a disservice. That’s just my opinion, as far as
early signing and if a kid commits that is it, those are things that need to be
talked about and resolved. I am sure there are coaches out there across the
country that disagree with what I am saying. I should say this though, it could
affect the players on your campus already, because the more time you have to
spend with the bells and whistles and all the things you have to try and figure
out how to get kids on the campus and stay, is the less time you have to spend
with the kids that are already in your program. You have a tremendous
responsibility to help coach and help guide the young men. You are already
limited to 20 hours a week.”
On how recruiting affects
a coach
“Well you only have so many hours in a day, I could go into
this into a really deep level, but to me it isn’t going to affect me much. You
are going to have to change some things in your staff and how you go about
things to make the most and give yourself the best opportunity to obviously
keep up with the Joneses. At the same time I know this—my first responsibility
is with my wife and my kids, second of all, obviously it’s my job to coach the
kids on campus first. Obviously part of that is to recruit, and believe me we
are going to do what is necessary to put together the best class possible.”
On what happens that
makes the kids want to choose Nebraska
“I think the perception outside our state and outside of
people familiar with our university; obviously the tradition people understand
that, but what Lincoln has to offer, the University and what the state has to
offer. We have said this more than one time when we get a kid on campus and
they are able to see the facilities and more importantly meet the people,
interact with the people in the city in downtown and see the passion that
surrounds this program really helps sell us.
“Also the aspect of kids coming in to see what Dennis
Leblanc and his staff can do, and Keith Zimmer his staff. Not just what we can
do for them in football, but what this whole university does to develop these
young men. Which is more than just developing them into a football player;
everything we try and do is as a group, that means the athletic department
gives to our student-athletes when they walk out the door that is the most
important thing, they will be ready for the challenges ahead in life once they
graduate from college, and at this university, in my opinion, it is the best
out there in developing kids and making sure they are going to have the
opportunities to reach every goal they have and beyond from football. When kids
come in here, and just as importantly when the parents come in and see that it
sells itself. I think they see there is no place like Nebraska when they have
the opportunity to see it up close.”
On the last 24 hours
with Tre’vell Dixon (de-commitment to recommitment)
“Obviously I coached down in Louisiana for a number of
years, the mother – Paula-- wasn’t on the visit. He was probably to a certain
extent being pulled in a number of directions and wasn’t quite sure. I think he
knew all along that this was the best place for him, but a kid that grew up in
a small town that is a big step. I give him a lot of credit for being able to
sign his name and go out there, outside of the box and know he is going to get
on a plane and go a long way away from home to play football and to get his
education. It wasn’t an easy thing to do but at the end it is now our
responsibility to make sure we make that the right choice for him in what we do
for him.”
On Josh Banderas
being an ambassador for this class
“You know sometimes it’s a shame when guys commit early like
Josh and Johnny Stanton, you go down the list with young men who committed
early and stayed committed the whole time through sometimes that gets lost in
the shuffle. The focus goes on the end of the class and who committed late, who
is committing and who is de-committing. When there is a big core group of guys
that committed early and stayed committed helped us finish off this class on Facebook
and stuff like that. It shows there is a group of kids that took a leadership
role in this thing and I think it will pay off for us because I think they will
be leaders for a long time to come.”
On what Coach Pelini
saw in QB Johnny Stanton
“He is a tremendous football player like the rest of these
guys; he has great potential and a lot of character. He is a tough kid that can
do multiple things from the quarterback position, he can throw, he is tough, he
can run inside and outside, you add him to the stable of quarterbacks we have
on campus I feel real good about it.”
On how the three
players that enrolled early have progressed so far
“They have done well. Coach Dobson is saying nothing but
great things. If you look at a guy like Courtney Love he is already very
developed in kind of what he looks like and what he is capable of doing right
now, but he is still being trained in a big-time program for the first time. David
Knevel is a guy that was behind, he is being exposed to a lot of things for the
first time, but he has come a long way in a short amount of time, and D.J.
Singleton is the same. Those guys that start early, that’s not an easy thing to
do to start mid-year. You kind of go in and it is those three guys trying to
interact with a football team that all knows each other. In our program we have
a lot of good young men that take these guys under their wing and show them the
way. They fit right in and haven’t missed a beat.”
On Drake Martinez,
and his recruiting process
“They were really excited, but I tried to be a little hands
off in that recruiting to a certain extent, and have a respect for the fact
that I think Drake knew I wanted him here. He is young man that can play a lot
of positions. We are starting him off on defense at the safety position. We
knew he was talented but at the same time it is different for a young man when
his brother is here. I didn’t want to make him feel pressured by us, or anybody
because his brother plays here and it is expected he comes here and plays. In
fact I was probably too hands off at times by giving him some space and when
the times right he would tell me. It started to get a little too close so I got
on the phone and we talked about it and tried and figure everything out. It
became really clear that he knew this was the place for him and this was a
tremendous opportunity for him. I’m thrilled because I think he has potential
to be a heck of a football player.”
On if the family
structure will became a bigger selling point in Nebraska recruiting
“Yeah I think so, I think that is important. Like I said we
get the kids that we want, I think a certain type of young man gravitates to
our program. We don’t go in there with a lot of bells and whistles, it is
pretty black and white. It is pretty special here, I think if you hear the
right things it is a place that sells itself to a certain extent. We want to
make sure that we are making a relationship with the family. I sat down in
every single one of these kids’ homes. They get to know me and I get to know
them, we are on the same page as far as what the expectations are, there are no
promises whatsoever other than we will give them an opportunity and we demand a
high standard from them when the walk in, until they leave. Other than that you
are going to earn what you get around here. I talk a lot more about things
other than football when I sit down with these kids and their families on
recruiting trips. In my mind that is the most important thing, because football
will work itself out with each kid. The reality is, is that most of these kids
won’t play in the NFL. You watch this thing on ESPN about recruiting all day
and most of those kids you saw on TV the reality is most of them won’t play in
the NFL. There is a lot more to this, than just on the field with these kids.”
On the number of the
recruits signing late, and if he likes it that way
“Not necessarily. Every class and every situation in the
recruiting process is different. Your needs sometimes become a lot clearer
after the season than before the season. A lot of things play into this, is it
nice to have some scholarships? At times yes… but there is times I wish we can
fill them up before a bowl game. The reality is today is the signing day and
whether you are all committed out at that point is going to change and will
change until signing day.”
Continued… comparing
to other schools that sign the majority of their recruits early
“That will never happen here, I don’t want that to happen
here because I think you learn a lot about a player their senior year. I think
some of the best players didn’t play their best football until their senior
year. To me that’s why I would rather see the recruiting process slow it down
some. I think there would be less mistakes and it would give you a lot better
chance to look at kids during their senior year when you should be evaluating
them.”
On the walk on class
and if the past & recent success helped out
“I think our walk-on program speaks for itself, and sells
itself. Jeff Jamrog and the coaches and the group that is involved with
recruiting the walk-ons do a heck of a job evaluating and seeing who will fit
with us more. It’s going to end up being 15, but we have taken more than that
and we have taken less than that. We take the kids that we feel are right for
us. It makes sense both ways, but we feel really good about this group. The
reality is that most of the kids will play for us and help contribute to the
team and it has been huge for us since I have been here.”
On if the team is
open to open competition
“I am very consistent, and we as a staff are very consistent
from day one until the day he graduates there is no kid that has been promised
anything besides an opportunity. We tell
them ‘if you guys are going to play, you got to show it on film’ if you can’t
put it on film, you won’t be out there playing. We tell this to kids on day one
and that isn’t going to change any time. Are we going to lose some kids because
of it? Maybe, but you know what at the end of the day is I am going to concern
myself with the kids we start with on Aug. 31. There is not a kid on this team
that we went in and promised him that he would play right away, that doesn’t
happen here. One thing that we have in our program that is black and white is
consistent. That is why we don’t have many problems. Is a kid going to leave
every once and a while? That is just the way it is these days. If you look across the country with kids
leaving the program we are below the norm. We have had four kids in the last
year or so and that is probably the average, we have been below the norm. If
they leave in my mind they are better off somewhere else, and our program is
better with someone else.”
On the talent in
Kansas City, past, present and future
“It is pretty local to us within that 500-mile radius. There
is good football down there. We have recruited hard down there. I know this
coming year is a strong year in Kansas City, I know I have done some junior recruiting
already. You talk about Kansas City, but we want to get deeper into St. Louis
because we haven’t had a lot of success there but we want to continue to
recruit hard. The closer we stay close to home base the easier off we will be.”
On the in-state
talent next year
“Generally pretty good, there will be some evaluation that
needs to go on but I am not going to through a number out there but there will
be more than this year.”
On playing younger
guys this coming season
“I can’t look into a crystal but we are going to fire our
guns next year. I told every kid that we recruited to get their butts ready to
play because that is going to be our mindset. We are trying to use every ounce
of depth we have, our mindset like I said is to go out and win them all. I
haven’t addressed it much in the past, but I think we are at a point in our
program where I look back and the one mistake I did make was not playing some
of these younger kids more. I made that decision maybe a little too quick and I
have kicked myself for it. You live and learn. Sometimes you have to learn from
your mistakes.
