Three & Out: Official visitors, struggling powers, and what’s left for NU

This is HuskerOnline.com’s feature in which recruiting analysts Mike Matya and Bryan Munson give their weekly takes on topical issues concerning Nebraska football, baseball and recruiting.

Today in our next installment of “Three and Out” we hit on Official visitors, struggling traditional powers, and what’s left on NU’s Board.

There is so much to keep track of right now. Who is Nebraska going to hire? Who are the new names in the portal? Where are the coaches on the recruiting trail?

Despite the season, the class is staying pretty true to form with what we said it was going to be going way back to the summer. 13 has been the number. 13 was still a projection of super seniors plus some attrition. This class could get to 15 or so, but it won’t get much higher.

Nebraska will try to put on some of those finishing touches with the three (and possibly a fourth) uncommitted official visitors that we know about for this weekend and next week.

Talk about off of the radar to possibly being the next guy in the class. Now I can understand why things didn’t pick back up with Jalen Marshall or for other high school, four-technique defensive ends in general. I really like Tagaloa’s film on both offense and defense. He moves very well for a guy listed at 6-4/260. I have put in a futurecast for Tagaloa to Nebraska.

I know how most of you feel when you see an unrated player. Hartzog is very explosive. I don’t know a thing about Mississippi high school football or what the 3A classification means or compares to in Nebraska or in Texas. However, Hartzog’s production is undeniable (Mr. Football for 3A) and so is his speed and explosion. He’s a great athlete who figures to play nickel or dime and also to the field side as a cornerback. He is a nice compliment to Jalil Martin, who is longer than people realize, (6-3 based on the all-state honors I read) which projects him to boundary and possibly also to safety.

The Abilene Christian transfer was second team all-conference and made the FCS all-freshman team (he still has a redshirt year available). Stapp is another speed guy that goes along well with Hartzog. Stapp states he has 4.45 laser timed 40 speed along with sub-4.0 second pro agility quickness. Wow. Minnesota and Mississippi State have offered, along with Nebraska so far. If Nebraska doesn’t get Stapp in this weekend he could be a mid-week visitor next week.

Langi should be viewed as the replacement for Damion Daniels. Langi is listed at 6-6/330 on the Independence roster. He does a great job at what you look for in an interior defensive lineman and then some. You need a player to take up blocks and eat space. What Langi can add is that he can get pressure from his interior defensive line position. I feel really good about Langi choosing Nebraska.

– Bryan Munson

There is no immutable law of the college football universe that states, “once a blue blood, always a blue blood”. In this age of parity, staying nationally relevant is a tough task for any college football program.

The below college teams won a combined 11 national championships during the 80s and 90s, but all have struggled in recent years to reclaim and replicate their past glories.

The 2021 season was particularly a tough one for all of them.

Miami 7-5

Florida 6-6

Texas 5-7

Florida State 5-7

Washington 4-8

USC 4-7

Nebraska 3-9

Three of those seven programs are in the process of hiring new coaches. Scott Frost barely survived at Nebraska and was forced into making staff and contract changes in order to be able to stay the head coach in Lincoln.

[* does not include interim head coaches]

In spite of their recent struggles, five of the seven tradition-rich programs have won national titles this century. Nebraska and Washington are the exceptions, and Miami barely made the cut. Neither the Huskers nor the Huskies have won a conference championship in this century.

Almost all seven have gone through at least half a dozen head coaches over the past two decades. The two exceptions are Florida State and Texas. They had Bobby Bowden and Mack Brown respectively to give their programs stability which meant less turnover at the head coaching position.

In an interesting side note, Steve Sarkisian was actually the head coach at three of these colleges: USC, Washington and now Texas.

When and if Nebraska will ever reach that rarefied air again nationally is anyone’s guess. But it’s not going to be easy.

That’s why you see these astronomical salaries for the new coaching hires at places like USC and LSU, and other schools like Michigan State and Baylor looking to lock in their current head coaches long term. Once you have a head coach who is a proven winner, they are worth their weight in gold and you’d better hang on to them for dear life.

– Mike Matya

I believe Nebraska will add multiple commitments to their 2022 class this weekend. It could even be a “clean sweep”. But even if it is, Nebraska will still have a few more spots to possibly fill . What positions and who are the names to pay attention to?

The Cornell grad transfer is getting more offers every day. It seemed that Nebraska was going to be interested in an offensive lineman from the portal going back to the Valen Erickson decommitment, and they were likely going to be looking for an offensive guard. Nourzad has been pretty private around because of finals and the time that recruiting is taking from him again. The Huskers should get a visit.

Nebraska is definitely interested in Roy and how can you not be? He has tremendous get-off on the snap and his sack production is undeniable. Roy is waiting for Nebraska to figure out if there is room for him. I think it could get there and Roy seems to be patient enough to want to wait it out. Roy mentioned that he would like to get back to Nebraska at some point to talk about academics, strength and conditioning, as well as nutrition. I don’t think he will get much attention from Nebraska through December, but if there is room, he will be on a very short list of guys to get in.

With the news that Marvin Scott is going to the portal and Sevion Morrison is already gone, it’s possible that Nebraska could be interested in bringing in another running back to go with Ashton Hayes. Hayes, in my mind, is a little more of the “Duck-R” which really hasn’t worked well at Nebraska, in all honesty. But it says something about his skill set. Hayes could see time at running back, wide receiver and as a returner. Johnson has good size and speed and is more of a traditional, every-down back based on his film.

There are definitely going to be some priority PWOs to get in as well. Nebraska would really like to get Charlie Weinrich in to get a competition going for the place kicking duties. Nebraska also recently offered South Dakota commit Kyson Van Vugt. His length alone makes him an interesting project on the defensive line or as a longer, walk-up outside linebacker. Last but not least would be Vince Genatone. I am not sure where Genatone will end up playing, but I can just about guarantee that the position he begins at is not where he will end at. Genatone is just too intriguing of a prospect to see him leave the state. He should be a priority PWO.

If I had to throw a curveball into any of this it may be specialist. Nebraska has offered a PWO to Weinrich, but I believe that they are still evaluating specialists. I am not sure how serious this is, and it would more than likely require an offer now as opposed to a “compete and earn one” opportunity. I am still trying to track down the lead I have heard about at this spot.

– Bryan Munson