Recruiting Objectives For Nebraska Recruiting In April

April proved to be a fruitful month for Nebraska on the field and the recruiting trail. Spring ball is now in the rearview mirror and the calendar has flipped to May. It’ll be a slower month for Nebraska on the recruiting trail but still plenty on the table. Coaches will be on the road, recruits will be visiting and most importantly, the staff is hard at work organizing the board and preparing for June camps and official visits.

Before we div in on recruiting objectives for May, let’s take a quick look back at the April objectives and see how the Huskers did.

Nebraska not only gained momentum in 2025, they more than doubled the commits in the 2025 class, adding Lincoln (Neb.) Southwest three-star athlete Jackson Carpenter, Maize (Kan.) High three-star wide receiver Bryson Hayes, Littleton (Col.) Heritage three-star athlete Tanner Terch and Highland (Uta.) Lone Peak three-star tight end Bear Tenney. The Huskers now hold seven commits in the cycle and very well could be in the double-digits by June.

Nebraska did not land any 2026 commits in April, but gained positive momentum with some top targets in the cycle over the course of the month. 2026 Littleton (Col.) Heritage four-star tight end Camden Jensen and 2026 Fort Collins (Col.) High three-star offensive lineman Mason Bandhauer are two regional targets the Huskers are trending for after hosting them for visits last month. Top-ranked prospects including St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet four-star defensive lineman Titan Davis, Dunlap (Ill.) High four-star tight end/athlete Mack Sutter, Des Moines (Ia.) Valley four-star athlete Jayden McGregory and Southlake (Tex.) Carroll four-star wide receiver Brock Boyd all visited Nebraska in April as well.

The Huskers lost four scholarship players to the portal in the window, necessary roster churn to get closer to the 85-man scholarship limit. Nebraska added a PWO portal commit in Montana transfer linebacker Vincent Genatone and is evaluating some potential transfer additions, but unlikely to take any new additions on scholarship given limited numbers already. All in all, considering the scholarship limitations and the tampering the Huskers had to deal with, they managed the spring portal window well.

Recruits will be visiting Nebraska throughout May, but the main priority for the staff this month is hitting the road and visiting prospects during the contact period, which is open till May 25 before a short quiet period May 2-29 leading up to a busy June. Nebraska’s ten assistant coaches have 140 visit days, essentially an average of 14 days on the road for each coach. A new rule implemented this year is that coaches are only allowed to visit a prospect once during the contact period, but will be allowed to interact with the prospect. Special teams coach Ed Foley is already making the rounds in Nebraska and South Dakota. Wide receivers coach Garret McGuire is in Texas, making the rounds in the greater Dallas-Forth Worth area. Defensive line coach Terrance Knighton and defense backs coach Evan Cooper are in Florida making rounds in Miami and Orlando. Linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek is in Missouri and will likely make rounds in Kansas as well. Main objective on the road should be to extend camp invites, expand the 2026 board, use in-person evaluations to reset the 2025 board at positions of need and extend early 2027 offers.

At this point in the 2025 cycle, Nebraska is focused on just a handful of targets at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end. Of course there’s still work to be done at those positions, but the board is relatively established at this point. The Huskers don’t have a single offensive line commit in the cycle though and their board remains large and somewhat undefined. Eureka (Mo.) High four-star offensive tackle Jack Lange, a top target at the position, committed to Missouri last month. With Lange off the board, here’s the remaining realistic offensive tackle targets still on the board: Bixby (Okla.) High four-star Broderick Shull, Paramus (N.J) Catholic three-star Malachi Goodman, Riverview (Fla.) Sumner four-star Ziyare Addison, San Francisco (Cali.) St. Ignatius three-star John Mills, Owasso (Okla.) High three-star Blake Cherry, Winner (S.D) High three-star Shawn Hammerbeck, Buffalo (Minn.) Senior three-star Ryan Babatz and Salt Lake City (Uta.) West three-star Halafihi Tapu. On the interior, Nebraska remains in pursuit of Honolulu (Hawaii) Saint Louis three-star center Houston Kaahaaina-Torres, Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman five-star interior offensive lineman Douglas Utu, Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman four-star SJ Alofaituli, Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman four-star Alai Kalaniuvalu and Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley Northwest three-star Brock Heath, among others. It’s a large, messy board that requires some restructuring. Coming out of April, Shull, Goodman and Mills appear to be the top three tackle targets. Kaahaaina-Torres remains the top center target alongside Alofaituli, but Nebraska is going up against formidable national contenders in their pursuit of the Bishop Gorman trio. Organizing the board and setting official visits with top targets for the next two months should be a priority for the staff heading into the summer.

Nebraska holds just one true defensive commit thus far in the 2025 class in Omaha (Neb.) North four-star defensive lineman Tyson Terry. Aforementioned Jackson Carpenter and Tanner Terch, along with Millard (Neb.) North three-star Caden VerMaas are athletes that could play either side of the ball (Terch and VerMaas have been recruited to Nebraska as defensive backs). Nebraska is still looking for defensive linemen, linebackers and cornerbacks in 2025. Top linebacker targets Omaha (Neb.) Westside four-star Christian Jones and Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley four-star Dawson Merritt are nearing closer and closer to decisions, can the Huskers win out for their top two targets at the position? Local Millard (Neb.) North three-star athlete Pierce Mooberry has just one official visit scheduled, to Nebraska, thus far. The Huskers are recruiting him at linebacker and would love to keep him home. At defensive line, Palatine (Ill.) High four-star Jaylen Williams and West Fargo (N.D) Sheyenne three-star Kade Pietrzak are two top targets for the Huskers, but the board could afford to be expanded heading into the summer. The defensive back board remains large, with the Huskers working to add length to the room.