The defensive line will be an area of concern heading into the 2022 season. Not only did 34-game starter Ben Stille exhaust his eligibility, but the Huskers also lost key reserve Deontre Thomas, when he decided not to use his final season of eligibility with Nebraska. On top of that, nose guard Damion Daniels decided to forgo his final season to enter the NFL Draft. Less than two weeks ago, the team lost reserve Jordon Riley when he followed Tony Tuioti to Oregon via the transfer portal.
The team returns two known quantities in Ty Robinson (11 starts in 20 career games) and Casey Rogers (19 career games with one start), but the rest of the room is full of unproven question marks. The staff will be targeting this position group heavily through the transfer portal leading up to fall camp. With three or four spots remaining, depending on the status of Deondre Jackson, if things go well, you can expect at least another body or two to be added by summer.
No matter how much talent you have at the skill positions, the game will always be won or lost at the line of scrimmage. And unlike skill position players, the vast majority of linemen need at least two years to develop before you can expect them to contribute. That’s why it’s so important to add at least a couple guys on both sides of the line in every class to plug into your system. While the transfer portal can help supplement misses or gaps, having a plentiful pipeline on both sides of the line is vital to the longevity of a good program.
Unfortunately, the Huskers fell short in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The team wanted at least two defensive linemen in this class, but added only one late in the cycle.
Just like on the O-line, the Huskers lost a commitment from the D-line as well. Hayden Schwartz was an early target for the staff. They made sure to have him in for an official visit June 11-13 and accepted his commitment a month later on July 14, over finalists Michigan and Northwestern. The Jacksonville, Florida, native even came back to Lincoln on his own dime in early October to watch the Huskers take on Michigan. But with the Huskers struggling through their fourth losing season under Frost, Schwartz wanted to keep his options open. Programs like Minnesota, West Virginia, Miami, Florida State and UCF were still actively recruiting Schwartz, so he decommitted from the Huskers on Oct. 18. He ended up signing with Minnesota.
During the spring and summer, Nebraska targeted several guys and even had a few on campus. They struck out on border-state targets Domonique Orange (Kansas City, MO) and Caden Crawford (Lansing, KS), losing out to Iowa State and Iowa, respectively. They hosted Nick Campbell out of Lake Minneola, Florida, on June 26-28, but he ended up at NC State.
The top two targets on their board were Jalen Marshall (Overland Park, KS) and Nico Davillier (Maumelle, AR), and both were on campus for official visits June 4-6 during the Friday Night Lights event. Nebraska was in Marshall’s final four with Missouri, Oklahoma State and Indiana, but lost out to the Tigers. The Huskers were also in Davillier’s top group along with Arkansas and Oklahoma, but the hometown Razorbacks won out.
Then-defensive line coach Tony Tuioti continued to search for someone into the season, with offers going out to Trevon McAlpine (Saraland, AL – signed with Texas Tech), Devonte Tezino (Killeen, TX – signed with Baylor), Independence CC teammates Jeffery M’ba (signed with Auburn) and Amipeleasi Fifita (signed with Houston), and Snow Community College’s Seleti Fevaleaki (signed with Oklahoma State). Misses, all of them.
In December, Nebraska put the full-court press on four-star Ben Roberts out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Roberts had been committed to Oregon since September, but after the coaching change in Eugene, Nebraska tried to swoop in and steal him away from the Ducks. The Huskers had him in for a visit December 10-12, but Roberts still signed with Oregon a few days later during the early signing period.
Tuioti was able to find someone to bring into the fold, however. Brodie Tagaloa hasn’t played a lot of football. He played basketball exclusively until his sophomore year of high school. After impressing on the gridiron that year, he got his first scholarship offer from Tuioti and Nebraska on May 5, 2020. A two-way standout from powerhouse De La Salle High School in Concord, California, Tagaloa collected additional Power Five offers from Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State and Tennessee over the next six months.
Just as his recruitment was starting to get going, his junior season was disrupted by the pandemic. The season was moved to the spring and the Spartans played a six-game schedule March 13 through April 17, 2021. Washington State extended an offer in March while Tagaloa continued to impress. Through it all, Tuioti stayed in pretty consistent contact, even though Tagaloa was primarily focused on other schools for most of his recruitment.
Brodie Tagaloa
Nebraska Athletics
By the end of summer, Tagaloa began to narrow his focus on two Pac-12 schools; Washington State and California. The Golden Bears, who he officially visited in June, were considered the favorites. In August, he accepted an invitation to participate in the Polynesian Bowl on January 22 in Honolulu. Unfortunately, his senior season was wiped out after he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game. Predictably, his recruitment slowed, although Cal and Wazzu continued to pursue him.
After working through his board, Tuioti focused on Tagaloa in late November. He visited Brodie in-home on Monday, Nov. 29, and lined him up for an official visit Dec. 3-5 at the end of the same week. Brodie was accompanied on his visit by his parents and two of his siblings. Tagaloa had planned on waiting until the second signing period in February to sign. That plan was scrapped, however, and he ended up committing during his visit and signing with Nebraska during the early signing period 10 days later.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Tagaloa played both defensive end and tight end for De La Salle. Nearly every team that offered him wanted him as a tight end, including Cal and Wazzu. But the Huskers like him as a four-technique in their 3-4 defense. With his size, he has the potential to slide inside as a three-technique in a four man front in some packages as well.
I’ll be interested in how Tagaloa’s career unfolds in Lincoln for several reasons. After scouting his film, I agree with his two other finalists that he has higher potential at tight end. The other reason is obvious: Tony Tuioti is no longer at Nebraska.
Tuioti is the reason he signed with the Huskers, plain and simple. The two bonded through their shared Polynesian background, and Tagaloa openly admitted after his commitment that playing for a Polynesian coach was very important to him. Brodie always seemed to prefer playing on the West Coast, like his two brothers; Boss played at UCLA from 2016-2019 and Beaux is currently at Cal. Will Tagaloa’s heart still be in it at Nebraska?
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