Football

Nebraska (and its ‘different vibe’) beats out Michigan State to land verbal commitment from Ru’Quan Buckley | Recruiting

by
Huskers Today
December 5, 2020

Nothing else about the year was normal, but this worked out pretty nicely for Buckley, who hit it off with defensive line coach Tony Tuioti, Frost and the rest of the Husker staff at the beginning of the year and has been in consistent communication since.

“I feel like every coaching staff feels like a family and has that energy, but Nebraska, the coaching staff, they’ve got the family energy and all that,” Buckley said. “But I felt a different vibe from the environment surrounding it, compared to the environment I’m in now.”

In fact, Nebraska was the first school to offer the 6-foot-6, 280-pounder as a defensive lineman. He thinks he could play either way at the next level, but is excited to get to work with Tuioti on the defensive side of the ball.

“In my heart, throughout the years, I wanted to play defensive line, so I pushed myself to get bigger and faster,” Buckley said. “They saw that I’m a good O-lineman, but Coach ‘T,’ he saw that I could be a good defensive lineman and that he could coach me up to be the best.