Nebraska football flips Syracuse DT commit

Nebraska has flipped Syracuse commit Vincent Carroll-Jackson. The 2023 Central Dauphin East (Penn.) defensive tackle committed to the Huskers on National Signing Day.

Carroll-Jackson’s commitment is the fifth of the day for the Huskers and the third in a one-hour span to join Texas A&M DL transfer Elijah Jeudy and 2023 Oklahoma LB Eric Fields as the latest pledges.

Inside Nebraska reported Wednesday morning that Baylor WR Josh Fleeks is transferring to the Huskers, and 2023 four-star Malachi Coleman recommitted to Nebraska this morning as well.

Carroll-Jackson, 6-foot-5, 280-pounder, is Commitment No. 22 for Nebraska overall in the cycle. He is a three-star prospect ranked as Pennsylvania’s No. 17 high school player in the 2023 class. He was briefly committed to the Orange and former defensive coordinator Tony White, who unofficially took over the Huskers’ DC job on Dec. 8.

Carroll-Jackson committed to Syracuse on Dec. 11, just four days after he had announced an offer from Nebraska. He elected to secure his spot in the Orange’s class but soon scheduled an official visit to Lincoln for the Huskers’ monster Dec. 16-18 visits weekend.

That visit was a bit secretive but was made public on Saturday afternoon, and the Harrisburg native made the visit public himself on Monday afternoon.

Carroll-Jackson then went into decision mode coming off of that impactful visit. He also earned offers throughout his recruitment from Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Pitt and Rutgers. But he told Inside Nebraska that, following his trip to Lincoln, he was down to two choices: stay committed to Syracuse or flip to Nebraska.

Carroll-Jackson chose the latter on Wednesday, giving the Huskers another East Coast recruiting win behind an effort spearheaded by head coach Matt Rhule, DL coach Terrance Knighton and recruiting staffers Omar Hales and Mike Wallace – each of whom have strong ties to Pennsylvania and the East Coast.

Carroll-Jackson has only played high school football for one season — total. But that one season at Central Dauphin East in Harrisburg, Virginia, showed enough to make Georgia’s defensive line coach, Tray Scott, offer Carroll-Jackson a scholarship Dec. 2. Florida followed up with an offer the next day. Then Pittsburgh. Then Syracuse, where current Husker DC Tony White was for the past three seasons.

Carroll-Jackson verbally committed to ‘Cuse Dec. 11, but the Huskers offered on Dec. 7 and convinced Carroll-Jackson to visit Lincoln Dec. 16. That visit seemed to do the trick, as he flipped to Big Red on NSD.

Carroll-Jackson is the textbook definition of a late bloomer, but the Huskers are all in on the 6-foot-5, 285-pound defensive lineman. He is extremely raw and still learning how to play college football. But if Georgia saw something in him, it’s a safe bet there’s something there. Now Nebraska’s staff, led by Knighton, is tasked with turning that raw potential into results on the field.