What to watch as Nebraska enters busy recruiting stretch

The Nebraska football coaching staff has now entered its busiest recruiting month of the year.

After hitting the road in May to make in-home visits, Husker coaches hope to see several of those recruiting targets in Lincoln. With Nebraska set to welcome hundreds of high schoolers to campus for June football camps — and official visits scheduled later in the month — fireworks are likely for NU’s recruiting efforts in June.

Whereas Nebraska added three commits in June 2021 and four pledges in June 2022 under the previous coaching staff, head coach Matt Rhule’s efforts one year ago led to NU adding 12 commits in a one-month span.

That said, there may be fewer under-the-radar prospects who emerge this June because of the connections Nebraska made last summer.

One of its current 2025 commits, Maize (Kansas) wide receiver Bryson Hayes, earned an offer last June when his 40-yard dash time and overall camp performance impressed Nebraska coaches. Just as NU coaches evaluated 2025 prospects a year ago, they’ll be looking at the 2026 and 2027 classes this year as well.

The main focus for Nebraska this June is the Class of 2025, which is already beginning to take shape.

Here are the key storylines to follow during a vital month for Husker recruiting:

Nebraska currently has eight commits in its upcoming recruiting class, five of whom pledged to the Huskers in April or May: Hayes, Lincoln Southwest wide receiver Jackson Carpenter, Littleton (Colorado) Heritage athlete Tanner Terch, Highland (Utah) Lone Peak tight end Bear Tenney and Orange (California) Lutheran quarterback TJ Lateef.

Nebraska invited dozens of recruits to campus for unofficial visits during the spring with a handful of official visits scheduled around the Spring Game.

Several of those targets committed elsewhere — namely Lee’s Summit (Missouri) North wide receiver Isaiah Mozee with Oregon and Lancaster (California) Quartz Hill cornerback Adonyss Currie with Texas A&M — but Nebraska remains a contender for most of the players who visited Lincoln in April.

It’s a strong sign when players who previously took unofficial visits later come back for an official visit, and NU has several recruits scheduled for return visits later this month.

College football programs are currently in a quiet period of the recruiting calendar which runs from May 30-June 23. On-campus visits are permitted during the period, opening up four weekends where programs could hold official visits.

Nebraska has opted to focus on two of those visit weekends, June 14 and June 21, where over two dozen prospective 2025 recruits are expected to take official visits. The June 21 weekend will be NU’s biggest of the summer with several current commits taking visits alongside in-state targets and elite national recruits.

June is as much about the players hoping to break onto Nebraska’s radar as it is about the recruits already in the Huskers’ 2025 plans.

Nebraska coaches will spend a portion of the month evaluating current and future prospects during camp competition. Teams can conduct a maximum of 10 camps and Nebraska will utilize all 10 during a 12-day span, with the events officially titled as Matt Rhule football camps.

The camp slate in Lincoln begins on Friday, June 7 with one of NU’s annual marquee summer events, the Friday Night Lights camp. Typically an opportunity for high-level prospects from surrounding states to work out in front of Husker coaches, NU’s first FNL Camp has already reached its registration limit.

NU coaches will conduct camps on five consecutive days from June 7-11, a stretch which includes a camp date for special teams players, a fullback-specific session and a camp for post-graduate players on June 10.

High school seniors, transfers and junior college players will work out during the post-graduate camp, and it was at that event a year ago that Nebraska coaches discovered James Williams. A sophomore defensive lineman, Williams earned a walk-on roster spot and played in four games last fall with a bigger role on the horizon this season.

A second FNL camp will be held on June 14, followed by a final high school camp on June 16 and youth camps on June 17-18.

Not all of the month’s recruiting action will take place in Lincoln.

Just as Nebraska is operating its own camps this summer, many smaller universities invite coaches and athletes from around the country to satellite camps. The relationship is mutually beneficial — big-name schools draw more players to the camps, while NU coaches can see more players than if they’d participated in coaching the events themselves.

Linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek and running backs coach EJ Barthel kicked things off by attending the Lindenwood University camp on Saturday, one of the Midwest’s largest annual summer camps.

Prior to Nebraska-operated camps beginning on Friday, the majority of the NU coaching staff is expected to be in Texas this week for a pair of satellite camps. Husker coaches will attend the Mary Hardin-Baylor camp in Belton, Texas on Monday, followed by the Houston Christian Showcase in Houston on Tuesday.

The Hardin-Baylor camp will draw from the Austin and Waco areas, where wide receivers coach Garret McGuire recruits heavily, while defensive line coach Terrance Knighton has furthered NU’s efforts in Houston.

Husker coaches attended both camps a year ago, identifying at least one player who earned an offer from the event then signed with NU’s 2024 recruiting class: Braylen Prude.