Matt Rhule and his Nebraska football staff went into this recruiting cycle knowing there would be an eventual reduction in roster sizes. With a rather large room already in place that coaches knew would need to be culled this offseason, the Huskers were selective in who they brought in through this class.
The secondary — particularly the safety position — is approaching a mesh point where returning seniors like DeShon Singleton, Malcolm Hartzog and Marques Buford are going to be challenged by a large group of players Rhule recruited who are entering their second and third years in the program.
With the 105-man roster limit in place, colleges might adopt a similar template to NFL teams that generally allocate a specific number of players at each position. With five defensive backs being in your base defense, I would anticipate Rhule wanting to keep 20 to 22 players in the room, give or take.
Caden VerMaas had been on Nebraska’s radar since the spring of 2022 while still a freshman at Millard North. He attended the Red-White game that April and then worked out for the previous staff at a pair of Friday Night Light camps in the summer, reportedly running the 40 in 4.6 seconds at one of them.
He attended Nebraska’s home games versus Georgia Southern — Scott Frost’s final game as Nebraska’s head coach — and Oklahoma, and then after a strong start to his sophomore season, former Husker director of player personnel Sean Dillon asked VerMaas to send his midseason highlights. VerMaas sent the clips on Monday morning, Oct. 3, and a few hours later was on the phone with interim head coach Mickey Joseph, who personally offered the versatile athlete as a nickel and free safety.
Joseph invited VerMaas back to campus a few weeks later to attend the Illinois game. The Oct. 29 contest was Joseph’s first — and only — large-scale recruiting weekend with numerous top targets spread across several classes attending, many of whom Matt Rhule would take the baton with after he was hired a month later.
When Rhule eventually did take over in late November, VerMaas was among the select in-state players who were invited to a recruiting event on Dec. 4. VerMaas and his family spent the day visiting with Rhule and the assistants who had been hired by then, mainly Evan Cooper, Terrance Knighton and support staffer Omar Hales. He was officially re-offered by Rhule during the visit.
Nebraska made sure VerMaas knew he was a priority. During the January contact period a few weeks later, Tony White and Ed Foley were at his school to see him as soon as coaches were allowed on the road. Not long after, on Jan. 18, 2023, Foley was accompanied by Rhule as the Husker head coach wanted to personally check in on him at Millard North. The staff welcomed VerMaas back on campus two days later for the Huskers’ massive junior day.
By this time, VerMaas had begun to pick up interest from Iowa State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wyoming, Northern Illinois, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa and other regional schools.
He took a trip to Evanston, Illinois, to check out Northwestern on Jan. 29, 2023, but later admitted he called home during the visit and told his mom he was homesick and was thinking about just committing to Nebraska.
VerMaas held off and took a trip to Iowa in early March and would later receive his second offer from Iowa State on March 30. The Cyclones, who also run a 3-3-5 defense, had been recruiting VerMaas to play their rover position.
Caden VerMaas with his parents and coach Matt Rhule. / @Caden_Vermaas on X
Even though his recruitment had just begun to pick up steam, VerMaas kept coming back to the idea of committing to the hometown Huskers, the team he grew up rooting for and where his family has had season tickets for over a decade.
He attended a handful of spring practices in 2023 and after watching a scrimmage on April 15, VerMaas was ready to commit. On Monday morning, April 17, VerMaas called then-director of player personnel Omar Hales to see if he could schedule an in-person meeting with Matt Rhule, Evan Cooper and Tony White.
The trio of coaches met with VerMaas on April 20, where he became the first commitment of the class. After VerMaas told the small group his decision, he was pulled into a coaches’ meeting where he shared the news with the rest of the staff.
When he returned two days later for the spring game, VerMaas embraced the role of spokesman and became an active peer recruiter for the next 20 months.
Despite being committed, VerMaas chose to take part in Rhule’s first Friday Night Lights camp roughly two months later on June 16, 2023, where he worked out for Rhule and his future coaches for the first time. At the camp, VerMaas ran 4.44 seconds in the 40-yard dash, 4.45-seconds in the pro agility, and had a 32-inch vertical.
A do-it-all stalwart for Millard North, VerMaas was a three-year starter for the Mustangs as a two-way player, amassing more than 3,600 all-purpose yards and 46 career touchdowns over the last three years at the varsity level. On defense, he played a roaming safety, amassing 93 tackles, five interceptions and four forced fumbles.
As a senior, he was named first-team Super-State by the Lincoln Journal Star and second-team All-Nebraska by the Omaha World-Herald as a running back.
He and childhood friend and teammate Pierce Mooberry are the first Millard North players to sign with the Huskers since Sean Fisher in 2008.
A multi-sport athlete, VerMaas is one of the fastest players in the state with PRs on the track of 7.16 (60m), 11.02 (100m) and 22.39 (200m) and is also a member of the 4×100 relay team. VerMaas, who also played baseball for most of his life, decided to train for MMA in the spring of 2023.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound VerMaas plays even faster than his verified track times would indicate. He’s a fluid runner who has a great initial burst when he plants and drives and shows really good change of direction. That redirection served him well on offense at Millard North and as a defender allows him to make up ground as a possible free safety for the Huskers.
I tend to lean toward him ending up as a rover, though, where he can fit in the run game and be an option lining up as a slot corner.
An early enrollee, VerMaas was able to join the Huskers on their bowl trip but didn’t take part in any practices as he played through some minor injuries as a senior and wanted to get healthy.
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