A deeper look at a Nebraska official visit

There was a lot to absorb from his official visit to Nebraska in late April. The atmosphere at the Huskers’ spring game was cool. The new facilities were impressive. He saw it all after a tornado delayed the San Francisco St. Ignatius Academy junior in Omaha for a few hours that Friday.

But the steak and lobster he and the rest of the recruits ate for dinner may have been the highlight of the weekend.

“It was super good,” Mills said.

That’s something Nebraska’s recruiting staff hears often.

“Everybody always says, ‘Man, are we ever gonna not eat?’” Nebraska director of recruiting operations Avery Gossett said. “‘I’m gonna have to fast after this.’”

NU, set to host dozens of official visitors in June, pulls out the red carpet for recruits. Within the glamorous weekends, facility tours and subsequent social media posts are more moving parts than meet the eye.

The crowd and ambiance of Lincoln on a Saturday in the fall help the football program sell itself. In the summer — when recruits and their families have more time on campus and more attention from coaches — the recruiting staff has to get creative with how to give potential future Huskers a sense of the atmosphere of a full Memorial Stadium.

Recruits first gather outside the east side of the stadium, getting a glimpse at the building’s original facade. They then go onto the field with videos playing on the scoreboard to remind them what it could look and sound like with 85,000 people creating an impenetrable wall of sound. Meanwhile, coaches, recruiting staff and support staff are all present.

“Obviously it’s an awesome experience to have these recruits and families come and visit on a game day and experience a game day here at Memorial Stadium, but summer we don’t have games, and so we’ve worked really hard,” Gossett said. “Coach (Matt) Rhule has a very creative mind. He has many ideas that are really beneficial to recruiting and the recruiting side of things.”

Even though the spring game was the next day, Mills and the other recruits went to the stadium the night before, tried on uniforms and took photos. His player hosts were Teddy Prochazka and Gunnar Gottula, who both told him they enjoy working with offensive line coach Donovan Raiola.

A recent modification to a recruiting weekend has been a greater focus on academics, setting up meetings between recruits and their intended college.

Aspects like the quieter, less flashy parts of the visit, contrast with the broader theme of weekends built on spectacle. Exposing recruits to the rabid community support and tantalizing possibility of what life could look like if Nebraska returns to its previous glory. The newly renovated facilities and weight room Mills described as “massive” play into the aura of the weekend as well.

Mills is a three-star recruit. Later in the spring, a five-star offensive lineman, David Sanders, also visited. This June, NU will host recruits of all kinds, with different ratings. Nebraska tries to treat all of them equally well.

“We have our recruiting staff all around at all times during these visits to make sure that everybody feels that sense of family and community within these walls here,” Gossett said. “I think we do a great job of making sure everybody feels the same. We don’t look at the stars. We don’t see that. Everybody’s on the same playing field here. Whether you’re a walk-on or rated five-star, which we don’t really look at, it’s just — everybody’s the same, and everybody we want to have the same experience.”