Tony White shares how early enrollees have adapted

Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White has seen a lot of progress out of the early enrollees since they arrived this spring. As the Cornhuskers start a new era under Matt Rhule, this class will ultimately play a huge role in setting the tone for the culture of the program.

Having not had a winning season since 2016, Nebraska hopes these incoming freshman can be part of the group that changes that. White and the rest of the staff, including strength coach Corey Campbell, have done their best to get them ready going forward.

“That was the whole point of getting them there early, to give them a chance to be ready for the fall,” White said. “Those guys utilized their time well starting with Corey Campbell and what he’s done with those guys in the weight room. Those guys gained 10, 15, 20 pounds. Working on their mentals as well. Their mental toughness. Again, just letting the process soak in. How to be a pro, how to take notes, how to go to class, how to be a great teammate, how to show up on time. Those standards that we need to make sure everyone has and abides by so we can be on top of the college football world again.”

EDGE Cameron Lenhardt, defensive back Dwight Bootle II, cornerback Syncere Safeeullah, and EDGE Maverick Noonan are among the early enrollees on defense. Lenhardt is the highest-ranked player of the early enrollees, coming in as a four-star prospect and the No. 358 overall recruit according to the On3 Industry Rating, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

The rest of the players are all three-star prospects, with Noonan, an Omaha native, coming in at No. 642 overall. All the early enrollees will hope their efforts will pay off as they attempt to turn around a Nebraska team that finished 100th in total defense in 2022.

Tony White says reaction to Nebraska brand on recruiting trail has been ‘amazing’

Nebraska brought in a total of 23 players in Rhule’s first recruiting class to rank No. 29 in the country according to the On3 Industry Team Ratings. The team will hope to build on that in the coming years as success of the field hopefully comes, but White is already seeing positive progress before the season even begins.

“It’s amazing,” White said via Sean Callahan of On3’s Husker Online. “The first they do is ‘Nebraska?’ That’s the one where they say ‘okay, excuse me, excuse me. Nebraska, come on in.’ That kind of deal. It’s been awesome. What surprises me is you go into pockets that you didn’t even really know and all of a sudden, it’s ‘so and so went to Nebraska. Hey, he played for Nebraska.’

“It’s just truly amazing. Not only that they went to Nebraska but then how much they want to be connected to Nebraska. So, it’s truly a different experience.”