Gage Stenger Update
- Thread starter Newbomb_Turk1
- Start date
Have heard his name come up on recruiting updates. Most analysts mentioned him as a defensive player (LB or OLB). Will be interesting to see where they project him playing.
We were looking for DBs if he could hang at Safety.
Vince Genatone is also having a good year and could be a DB for us.
I’m not excited about not being able to land bug fish out there… BUT I will say I fully appreciate snagging some local talent that will be invested in staying with the program instead of the 50% flake rate for some national recruits.
This is true. I remember when Jared Crick wasn't on anyone's radar and was actually looking hard at Kansas, Texas and many other schools, but then went down to Fla to an under armor game / camp and kicked *** and then got a pretty big bump, but even then he was only a 3*.
Good get. We are not going to have a highly rated class. But we also have not gotten commitments from any desperation "clunkers" that we went after in a panic. We have solid "3's" across the board and a young team overall. If we finish strong this year we may yet pick up a couple of four star guys as well.
I admit knowing only what I read about the kid. He is rated 2* and we are averaging a salty 3 for this class. I hope this kid makes his mark not only on this program but on the league and national stage.
Can others answer these questions and keep in mind, I am not tracking any of the kids we have, the coaches made the comment they tell kids their job is to recruit someone better than them.
1. With a seemingly small class, it would seem logical the staff would have been more selective for higher rated kids. Any coach is going to want to say, hey we didn't get a lot of numbers but boy are they highly ranked at their positions.
2. The last two years have seen several highly ranked, even with covid and no camps, kids get highly ranked and apparently none sniffed the Big Red. This has to be disconcerting and any attempt to blow it off is ridiculous. It flies in the face of both get highly ranked and local kids. Is this a temporary or continual problem. Either way, it is a problem.
3. Are we filling positions of need? DBs, D linemen are areas that come to mind that come up often.
4. Do you, as the average fan, believe in your heart this is sustainable to win championships?
I have been around long enough to hear all the 'Nebraksa kid heart tales" and while there is some truth to them, we are in a much more dynamic time for college football. In 72 I ran at the state track meet against a kid who wasn't any bigger than me, but wow did he work hard and made it at Nebraska. I also knew Brook and another kid from Goodland who walked on. Honest questions, and just winning seems to be the pat answer.
Can others answer these questions and keep in mind, I am not tracking any of the kids we have, the coaches made the comment they tell kids their job is to recruit someone better than them.
1. With a seemingly small class, it would seem logical the staff would have been more selective for higher rated kids. Any coach is going to want to say, hey we didn't get a lot of numbers but boy are they highly ranked at their positions.
2. The last two years have seen several highly ranked, even with covid and no camps, kids get highly ranked and apparently none sniffed the Big Red. This has to be disconcerting and any attempt to blow it off is ridiculous. It flies in the face of both get highly ranked and local kids. Is this a temporary or continual problem. Either way, it is a problem.
3. Are we filling positions of need? DBs, D linemen are areas that come to mind that come up often.
4. Do you, as the average fan, believe in your heart this is sustainable to win championships?
I have been around long enough to hear all the 'Nebraksa kid heart tales" and while there is some truth to them, we are in a much more dynamic time for college football. In 72 I ran at the state track meet against a kid who wasn't any bigger than me, but wow did he work hard and made it at Nebraska. I also knew Brook and another kid from Goodland who walked on. Honest questions, and just winning seems to be the pat answer.
The product on the field, up until the last 5 weeks, has not been good. It shouldn’t be a surprise that 4 and 5 star recruits aren’t lining up to play for the huskers. They are in wait and see mode. Assuming we finish this season on a high note, recruiting can turn around. But it may not for this class.
With some momentum on the field, things will look up for future classes, as long as we maintain winning.
The converse of this is that the coaches are mailing it in. If that is the case, things will continue to look bad. I don’t believe this is the case, but who knows?
Finally, how we utilize NIL will be huge in regards to recruiting moving forward.
The product on the field, at least the final score, and the constant "hot seat" talk has had an effect. We simply aren't in a situation to get the top rated players right now. Hopefully we start winning and it all turns around.
Watched his film. Looks a lot like AM with better passing. He'd be pretty good running the option.
Iowa is ranked #2 currently, and I believe they've had worse ranked recruiting classes than us every single year. I don't really care what they're ranked as long as they have a good mental and physical base as a football player and good intangibles, they can be coached up to be good football players.
he was the best player on the field when they played that West team. He will be a starter at Nebraska.
I understand some of that but how did they do the two years before? We weren't winning then.
Well, "your formula" doesn't fit with anything that resemble championships. What you are saying, literally, is that of the pieces are present then coaching (good or bad) takes care of the rest. Show me a championship team who uses that formula?
Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State use that formula. They're consistently the best coached teams of the last decade.
I think there is a window that can stay open for a time… for Frost it looks like it was 3 years. After last year, the window has closed some. Finish strong, and the window opens more. IMHO.
When you say "that formula" you are saying the recruit the highest rated players. That is fact. The truth (I know it often escapes) is that you need both. I was thinking after writing previously, I have a friend who I hired as a HC many years ago. He has two great sons who both were outstanding HS football players. Both worked their butts off, won all league, all state and other honors, great leaders, just fun to watch and be around. They had all those intangibles you noted but barely sniffed by D1 schools. Why? The coach has a friend at Georgia, and the best of the two lacks a split second of lateral mobility. That is the difference, there is a pure physical ability you completely ignore. But then, you chose to ignore a lot of factual information.
You chose to ignore the factual information in my post that a player likely needed to have a good mental and physical base along with intangibles to be coached up into a good college football player. I did not ignore physical ability at all. The elite teams I mentioned, in addition to recruiting great players, are the best coached teams in the country.
Nice fall back - "good mental and physical base" whatever that is. Now we just want good and not the best. I would like to see your rating scale on how you come up with those on all 180+ players we have on the roster.
Gage is the best player in Nebraska high school football this year. Better than those 4-stars.