One of the assistant coaches still recruiting for Nebraska after Bill Callahan’s firing discovered right away how challenging the task can be during this time the Cornhuskers are without a head coach.
Dennis Wagner went to a basketball practice this week to see a high school player who already had pledged to sign with the Huskers. When Wagner walked into the gym, he found recruiters from Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas checking out the player.
“All of a sudden it’s like a dead animal on the prairie and the birds are circling,” Wagner said Friday at a booster breakfast in Omaha.
Interim athletic director Tom Osborne has said any Callahan assistants who want to be considered for jobs by the next head coach should keep recruiting.
Only two of the Huskers’ nine assistants, defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove and cornerbacks coach Phil Elmassian, are known to have decided not to continue recruiting.
The Huskers have assembled a class of 22 recruits, with a number of those wavering on their decisions. Four players who previously pledged to Nebraska have decommitted.
Wagner, the offensive line coach, offered no insight into the coaching search. He said he tells prospective recruits Osborne has the situation under control and Nebraska will remain a great place to be regardless of who is named head coach.
“I wouldn’t have come here as a coach, and they shouldn’t come as a player, unless they want to be at the University of Nebraska,” Wagner said. “In the coaching world, part of the profession is knowing that there is going to be change, whether it’s voluntary or involuntary. Players need to choose the school that will allow them to have success over five years.”
