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How Nebraska’s ‘Friday Night Lights’ grew into key event








Campers participate in Nebraska football’s Friday Night Lights camp Friday, June 3, 2022, at Memorial Stadium.




Nebraska football’s camp season continues Friday with the return of the program’s “Friday Night Lights” camp.

The summer camp event, which Nebraska coaches have operated annually since 2015, will bring over 200 high school prospects to Lincoln this weekend.

All participants typically run through drills testing measurables such as 40-yard dash times and broad jump distances before progressing onto position-specific drills run by Nebraska football staffers and players.

A participant’s goal is to achieve personal improvements and show coaches they deserve a scholarship offer or opportunity with the team.

Though the makeup and scope of Nebraska’s Friday Night Lights camps have shifted from year to year, it has reliably led to the Huskers gaining ground with existing recruiting targets and discovering new ones.

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Friday Night Lights

Micah Parsons, now a three-time Pro-Bowlers with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, attended Nebraska’s Friday Night Lights camp in 2017.




Former head coach Mike Riley began the event as a way to bring elite prospects to Lincoln and found immediate success in doing so. A crowd of 2,500 watched the star-studded 2016 camp, and then that number rose to over 6,500 in 2017 when future NFL star Micah Parsons headlined the talent on display.

Many current Huskers also made a name for themselves at Friday Night Lights camps in years past. Offensive lineman Gunnar Gottula earned an offer during a 2021 edition of the camp, and quarterback Dylan Raiola dazzled Husker coaches later that summer.

Defensive back Mario Buford and tight end Carter Nelson impressed in 2022, as did wide receiver Dae’vonn Hall.

However, those camp performances came prior to Matt Rhule’s arrival at Nebraska. Under Rhule, NU’s summer camp efforts have never been more impactful and wide-ranging — but the month-long focus has perhaps come at the expense of the FNL camp’s marquee status.

Nebraska landed 12 commitments last June, six of which came from players who earned their Husker scholarship offer at a camp. Only one of those players, Donovan Jones, did so at the FNL camp, with other camp dates proving more fruitful.

Whereas Nebraska operated just one FNL camp a year ago coinciding with an official visit weekend, this year’s edition will have the entire focus of the Husker coaching staff. NU’s second FNL camp, scheduled for June 14, will overlap with a visit weekend, and the summer camp schedule will have concluded by the time Nebraska hosts over a dozen official visitors on June 21.

Nebraska coaches will operate 10 camps over a 12-day stretch with Friday’s camp kicking off the summer slate in Lincoln.





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