DE Schwartz has the Huskers as co-leaders after visit

A new name for Husker fans to get to know is Hayden Schwartz. The three-star defensive end from Jacksonville (Fla.) Bolles was added to the Nebraska official visitor list mid-week. The talented pass rusher enjoyed his trip and says that he has the Huskers on top right now with another school following the visit to Lincoln.

“I got in a little later,” Schwartz said. “I didn’t get there until about 5:00. We got settled in and went right over to the stadium. I hung out with all of the recruits the whole trip. I met Ben Stille and Ty Robinson. My host was Ty. I got to talk with all of them.”

Since Schwartz got in a little later on Friday he was limited that night in what he could do, but Saturday was busy and full of meetings and information. He thought the best thing was meeting with people face to face after only doing things virtually for the past year.

“On Saturday, we started off with the strength coach. We talked about what coach (Zach) Duvall has going on, the new facility going in and how it will help his system. It was great to hear about the science side of what Nebraska has going.

“We did a meeting with nutrition. It’s big for me. They have it set up to see how much lean muscle you can put on. It was very impressive. After that, we did some coach meetings. I met with coach (Erik) Chinander.

“He told me where they kind of see me fitting in and doing now, and then of course, what could happen with my body. We looked at some film, which was good to do because we did that all over Zoom calls before.”

The Nebraska staff definitely sees a role in their defense for Schwartz now, but they don’t know if it would be the same role his whole time in Lincoln or not.

“Talking with coach (Scott) Frost, coach (Tony) Tuioti and coach Chinander, they don’t know what my body can do in their program. They can see me at the four as an inside guy a little bit or more to the outside end or outside linebacker first and, depending on the front, it could be as an end or linebacker.”

The Huskers definitely put their best foot forward to give themselves a chance to land Schwartz. He liked the people at Nebraska, looking back at the visit.

“It was definitely a ’10,’” Schwartz said. “It was how they ran things. They were just themselves. Everyone was very natural and down to earth. Ben and Ty were very approachable. It’s a cool culture. You can feel it just walking in. It’s not a nice, happy thing either because they push each other.

“They were very hospitable to me. I loved talking to all of the coaches like coach Frost, coach Chinander and coach T. They were very straight-up with me and very honest. I just liked that and respected that approach.”

There is another official visit for Schwartz coming up this weekend, as well as a couple of workouts. He has another busy week next week with at least one more workout and unofficial visit. He may try to get another trip in, too, next week.

“I have done a couple of individual workouts and took an official visit to Michigan last weekend,” Schwartz said. “There were a lot of similarities with Michigan and Nebraska. Coming from Florida, the two places had very similar feels. I am going to Missouri this weekend.

“It’s good to be able to compare and contrast the schools with the visits. Sometimes it’s not huge things. It’s little things that you notice. Sometimes they are even hard to explain. You just kind of feel it.

“I worked out with Florida State and Florida already. This week I go to Texas and TCU for workouts and then to Missouri. Next week I work out with North Carolina and an unofficial visit to Duke. I am also going to go down to Miami.”

Schwartz will know a lot more about his process and timeline at the end of the month. He feels like he is getting out there to see a number of schools and things will clear up for him as he goes through more visits.

“I am thinking that I need to get through June first, honestly,” Schwartz said. “I really need to get through these visits and really take into consideration all of the places I have been. I have been thinking of making a decision in July possibly. That could all change depending on what happens in June.”

The Huskers are sitting on top of Schwartz’s board after two official visits as a co-leader.

“The visit put Nebraska really high on my list. Right now, since I visited Michigan and Nebraska, it’s those two at the top based on my offers and what I have going right now.”