LINCOLN, Neb.—Nebraska coach Bo Pelini thanked a bunch of people by name for helping him put together his 2009 recruiting class, even the boosters who lent their aircraft to fly him and his assistants around the country.
Pelini would not, however, utter the name of any of his 21 signees.
“Until I see them line up for us and start competing, that’s when we’ll start talking about them,” he said at a news conference Wednesday.
Some of the players you’ll likely hear Pelini talk a lot about eventually—if the recruiting analysts are right—are guys like quarterback Cody Green of Dayton, Texas; running back Rex Burkhead of Plano, Texas; defensive end Jason Ankrah of Gaithersburg, Md.; and linebacker Chris Williams of Abilene, Texas.
Nebraska’s list of recruits showed that Pelini’s program is continuing to strengthen its presence in Texas. Eight players from the Lone Star State signed. The Cornhuskers also landed six Californians.
The Huskers brought in four defensive backs to shore up a secondary that needs help at cornerback and loses four safeties after next season. They also signed three defensive linemen.
“These are the kids we thought are the right kids to sign for the University of Nebraska,” Pelini said. “We’ll find out two or three years down the road if it’s the right group and how good it is.
“You can talk about all these ratings, and everybody wants to talk about this and that kid. Time will tell. This is the group we’re bringing in here, and now it’s our job to develop this group into the best football players they can be.”
Rivals.com national recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree said Pelini met a lot of his needs with his first full recruiting class.
Rivals.com had the class ranked 27th in the nation and fourth in the Big 12. Scout.com ranked Nebraska 33rd and fifth, respectively.
“They got their quarterback of the future, they added depth on the lines, they have defensive back help,” Crabtree said. “Overall, just a lot of things to be really happy about if you’re a Husker fan.”
Allen Wallace, publisher of SuperPrep magazine and national recruiting editor for Scout.com, said Pelini’s class was solid but not overly impressive.
“You have to look at them as being a slightly below average class for Nebraska standards,” he said.
But Wallace agrees that Green, Burkhead, Ankrah and Williams are potential difference-makers.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Green already is enrolled and will participate in spring practice. Green passed for 3,265 yards and 37 touchdowns and ran for 1,610 and 25 touchdowns as a senior. Green verbally committed to Nebraska last July, picking the Huskers over Texas A&M and Texas Tech, among others.
“He’s got some tremendous size—no doubt about that—but he also is one of the nation’s best scramblers,” Crabtree said. “He’s also deadly accurate. That’s one of the things that’s underappreciated about him.”
Burkhead averaged almost 7 yards a carry for Plano High while running for 1,762 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also caught 42 passes for 594 yards and four TDs. The 5-11, 200-pounder chose the Huskers over Texas A&M.
Ankrah made more than 50 tackles from his defensive end position each of the last two years and a total of 12 sacks for Quince Orchard High in Gaithersburg, Md. Nebraska beat out Michigan, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Clemson for the 6-4, 250-pounder.
Williams’ senior season at Abilene High was cut short by a knee injury, but he made 77 tackles, including eight sacks, in the 10 games he played. He also got offers from Oklahoma, LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Pelini said Nebraska’s success in Texas stems from relationships his assistants have established there. Running backs coach Tim Beck was a high school coach in the Dallas-Fort Worth area before moving to the college ranks.
The Huskers signed nine players from the Lone Star State last year, with seven of them verbally committing to the Huskers in the two months after Pelini replaced the fired Bill Callahan.
Pelini said assistants Ted Gilmore, Ron Brown, Marvin Sanders and Carl Pelini are giving the Huskers a solid presence in California, as well.
“We believe those are two states that are going to be important to us not only this year but in the future,” Bo Pelini said. “We thought we had to make some hay in those states, and we were able to get something done this year, and hopefully that’s a sign of things to come.”
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