Ahead of busy March, Rhule wants recruits ‘to see it and know it’ at Nebraska’s practices

Nebraska’s Matt Rhule has fond memories of an era where college football recruiting was based around players’ senior seasons of high school. By taking over at Nebraska in late November, Rhule got the same experience in his first go-round with the Huskers.

But, that approach won’t necessarily be feasible for every recruiting class Rhule puts together — and he knows it. Nebraska recently extended a scholarship offer to Omaha middle schooler Tory Pittman III, and the Huskers have other offers out to players in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 classes.

“It gets earlier and earlier and earlier, and that’s not really my day of doing things,” Rhule said Monday. “But I have to keep up with the times.”

In terms of Nebraska’s 2024 recruiting class, the Huskers are scheduled to host an impressive crop of recruits on the weekend of March 25. The timing of that visit — the first Saturday Nebraska will practice this spring — is no accident.

Rhule said he wants recruits to come watch practices or mat drills to gain an understanding of what he and his coaches are like, and to see if that approach aligns with their goals.

“I want people to see it, because some people will love it and be like, ‘Wow, they’re going to maximize me,’” Rhule said. “Some people want a different vibe, so I want them to see it and know it. I think people would be smart to come watch us practice and figure out if this is the right place for them.”

Borders on TikTok: Of Chief Borders’ 13,000-plus followers on TikTok, some are Nebraska fans and some are fans from Borders’ previous school, Florida.

However, many of them will never watch Borders play a single down of football. Nebraska’s sophomore linebacker posts videos of his day-to-day life on the platform, with much of his content coming from his experiences as a student-athlete. So far, so good for Borders as he’s steadily built up an internet following over the past 18 months.

“Growing up, I always had a bright smile, bright character and just had fun,” Borders said. “I am a football player, but I’m definitely a student-athlete and I don’t like putting myself in a box. I just love doing new experiences and TikTok is a great way to grow my brand and get people to see and my team and what we have to offer, not just as a football player but as a person.”

Borders’ most popular TikTok is of him attempting to learn the pole vault with Nebraska track and field athlete Jessica Gardner. It’s been viewed more than 3.4 million times, and Borders said even ESPN reached out about displaying the video on its platforms.

“I guess we’re heading in the right direction,” Borders said.

Film with Fidone: After learning that Marcus Satterfield would be his next offensive coordinator, the first thing Thomas Fidone did was turn on film.

The Nebraska tight end scoured hours of Satterfield’s South Carolina offense, hoping to find clues about what his new role in the offense would be. And the more he watched of South Carolina tight ends Jaheim Bell, Austin Stogner and Nate Adkins, the more Fidone saw himself.

“I could see myself in all three of those positions,” Fidone said. “Austin Stogner is more of a blocking tight end, where they have Jaheim Bell as the receiving tight end and he can line up as a running back. They’ll do fun plays with him, reverses and screens so I can see myself doing those things, but I can also myself in the trenches throwing blocks and getting dirty.”