Thought I'd drop Pernell's take in here, its mainly about Graham, but pertains to several other recruits on the hook.
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Got some intel I wanted to share with you guys. Yesterday morning I talked with a couple guys who have ties to the Pac-12 and unfortunately for you guys they also see Graham choosing Oregon. Between the two of them, the consensus was that location and early pt were the biggest factors. One guy even said he thought Graham would have chose Arizona had Donte Williams still been there.
Now, I understand people are going to be disappointed but I just want to remind everyone that prior to hiring Donte Williams, there was a zero percent chance that Nebraska would sign Thomas Graham, Greg Johnson, Deommodore Lenoir or Elijah Blades. Zero. The fact Williams has gotten Nebraska in the position they are in with Graham says a lot. The fact Greg Johnson is now 50-50 between Nebraska and USC is huge. The fact Lenoir and Blades have OV's scheduled to Nebraska in January is big. You have to look at ALL of them as long shots and be thrilled if any of them sign with the Huskers. Donte Williams is the only reason Nebraska is being considered at all.
Don't forget, every good salesman (recruiter) knows what his client wants or what they are looking for. The things a recruit (and his family/HS coaches) considers when choosing a school can be broken up into a pie chart with various importance to each category. Almost exclusively location and playing time are the top two. Others include relationship to a coach(es), playing for a winner, academics, offensive/defensive system, and a few others. In the case of someone like Graham, Donte Williams has probably spent the last year selling him on exactly the things that are going to make him choose Oregon. He probably talked to him about staying closer to home in the Pac-12, competing for pt right away, etc. Now that Williams is at Nebraska, the thing he is trying to sell to these kids the most is his relationship to them and the coaching he will give them. He can't really try and flip his approach because Graham will see right through it. Nebraska is returning two CB's who IMPO will be drafted in 2018. They have Lamar Jackson as the No.3 CB and nickel guy. These kids know they have to beat out a former four-star recruit like Eric Lee, Marquel Dismuke, or a guy who could have played this year DiCaprio Bootle for the No.4 CB spot to maybe get reps in the dime. That is, if they want to play in 2017.
I expect Donte to have a DB class next year that is as good as Keith Williams' WR class is shaping up to be this year. Give him a year to recruit to Nebraska and the Big Ten, not Arizona and the Pac-12. He'll sell these kids on a different message. These California kids were recruited with playing close to home in the Pac-12 being a selling point, trust me.
Again, NONE of these guys were signing with Nebraska anyways. If ANY of them do, look at it as a bonus. It's not the same situation as Joseph Lewis or Jamire Calvin. If you lose one of those guys, sure it will "hurt". You've been recruiting those guys for all of this recruiting cycle and have been considered the favorite for both of them. These DB's are cherries. They wont, but Nebraska could miss on taking any DB this class and it wouldn't be devastating. Don't forget, the team graduates Nathan Gerry at safety but lose no other scholarship players in the secondary. They are young and deep. I like that they are swinging for the fences for as little as two spots. If they miss, heck, I trust Donte Williams to more than make up for it in 2018."
