Interesting that the boundaries for his Nebraska do not include Lincoln.
Trae Taylor to Nebraska… for high school
- Thread starter KingMJ
- Start date
I think Stars and rankings are a good starting point in evaluation, but ultimately, the tape tells all. Malachi Toney is a perfect example of this.
Looks like a calculated move by the adults around him. Even his account tweets read like a PR person, no one talks like that. Hope he is doing alright and doesn't feel immense pressure in his life to appease those around him.
If you don’t know the advantages you clearly don’t want to see them.
From a Nebraska Article.....
"The only other comparable situation is when defensive lineman Christian LaCouture moved to Lincoln Southwest from Odessa Permian in 2012. The irony in that story was LaCouture’s family bought a home in Lincoln, and he ultimately switched his commitment to LSU. LaCouture went on to play 50 games and make 36 starts over four seasons in Baton Rouge."
"The only other comparable situation is when defensive lineman Christian LaCouture moved to Lincoln Southwest from Odessa Permian in 2012. The irony in that story was LaCouture’s family bought a home in Lincoln, and he ultimately switched his commitment to LSU. LaCouture went on to play 50 games and make 36 starts over four seasons in Baton Rouge."
During the season, Nebraska's QB coach is working 80+ hours a week trying to beat Ohio St. You think he's going to set aside more time to teach a recruit the playbook? A recruit that may end up not even attending your program?
It's not fair to the other recruits who the coach doesn't meet with.
Why not just do it via zoom? Why is this a reason to move to Lincoln?
There's no reason for it. The whole point of enrolling early is being able to take part in position meetings starting in January in which the playbook will be installed ahead of Spring Ball.
Lastly, the kid said he'll be able to learn the playbook on game day. As if he's going to be able to ask the coaches questions during the game??
Increased presence in the Lincoln/Nebraska community which will ultimately be very beneficial for future NIL deals. More contact and familiarity with your future college town and coaching staff. He can literally be on Nebraska's campus every day working out, talking to coaches, training with current Nebraska players, etc.
I have no idea why you posted a quote from Saban regarding a players rankings. Are you trying to say Taylor isn't that good?
No, he can't be on their campus every day working out and training with current players. He isn't a student there and not covered on their student accident insurance policy.
He's not going door to door seeking NIL deal. He has an agency he is represented by that does that.
You mentioned he's a 4star recruit. The quote was referenced to note that stars are irrelevant.
Who says it has to be the QB coach? A power 4 conference school has almost as many coaches as it has players. I'm sure they would have no problem assigning a grad assistant to work with him.
Who the heII cares about fair? D1 colleges football is cut throat and kids need to do all they can to get a leg up.
If you can't see the benefits of in person coaching versus zoom then I can't help you.
No, but he can be on the sidelines observing and taking notes to ask coaches after the game or the next day.
I'm not sure how you don't get that a 4 star QB recruit will get preferential treatment wherever he goes so it's not like he's going to be inconveniencing anyone on staff, they will more than cater to him.
Ultimately this is about NIL, so to your other posts, no he won't be going door to door introduction himself but just being a presence in the area and on campus will help to draw more money from boosters than remaining in Illinois will.
Yeah, poor kid has the potential to be a multi millionaire before he leaves college.
Your responses are much more emotional than actually looking at the situation as an unaffected person. First, once he signs he can be on campus. Even if Nebraska had the strictest of policies, nothing is stopping him from working out on his own with the current Nebraska players. He can also meet with coaches and staff during quiet period living in Lincoln. Something he cant do if he was in Chicago.
Again, it sound like you are responding to this situation like you have no idea how NIL works. Im sure he has an agency. And that agency is going to be able to generate more/better local NIL opportunities for a Nebraska committ playing in Omaha vs a Nebraska committ playing in Chicago. Thats not really a hard concept to grasp.
Mentioning him being a 4 star recruit has nothing to do with how good he is or going to be. Its about the hype around him and what that means for NIL opportunities. So, him being a highly thought of 4* star recruit is very relevant in that regard.
Buddy relax, breathe!!!
I was more so looking at it as this kid is getting MASSIVE hate based on this decision.
A decision which may have not even been his, but made for him. But he has to be the face of his own brand so he is has to take the heat from keyboard warriors. Not a lot of 17-18 year old kids love going on social media just to see grown men calling him names.
I get that people love to say stars don’t matter, and maybe they don’t when you’re talking about building a complete team. But the whole point of the star and ranking system is to identify individual talent. When you look at NFL Draft numbers, 5-star and 4-star kids get picked at a much higher rate than everybody else. The rating system isn’t perfect, and neither is NFL Draft scouting, but stars are still a pretty solid indicator of talent. NIL and the transfer portal might change some of that over time, but right now, a 5-star is still a 5-star.
2025 NFL Draft by Stars - last 5 years
You keep saying emotional as if you have any idea who I am or my background.
Encourage you as well as 4AFan to read the below book.
"5-STAR QB: It's Not About the Stars, It's About the Journey - takes you inside the minds, the lives, and the moment-by-moment experiences of more than 50 5-STAR quarterbacks, in their own words. In addition, each chapter has advice from notable Ambassadors of the Game that is layered with a wisdom that will enrich the lives of any recruit, parent, or fan of football."
Numerous QB's advice for the younger generation and things they would have done differently if they had the opportunity to do it again...
- stay completely off social media
- stay present in the moment and don't rush to leave HS - (many said they regretted graduating early)
- spend more time on things outside of football (time with friends, family, doing high school kid things)
- play another sport in HS - there's a false idea that you need to focus solely on football/qb
- know who's really in your corner vs who's trying to make a dollar off you
The quotes on the back cover are from Mark Sanchez, Trent Dilfer, and Ryan Perrilloux and the book was published in 2022, before NIL, it's already obsolete.
The quote from Dilfer "use the 5 star label more than the 5 star label uses you". Seems like Turner is doing just that by doing all he can to increase his NIL value.
To the last point in the synopsis of the book, yes people will do what they can to make a dollar off of him, but the difference between whatever advise is in the book and now is that the kid can now make the bulk of the money.
don't just read the back cover - read the book. NIL is discussed numerous times. Caleb Williams, JJ McCarthy, etc are in the book as well and experienced NIL.
JJ's NIL earnings were around $1.4 million, that's what a solid TE can pull in these days.
Any book written about NIL is going to be obsolete as soon as it's written these days with everything changing so much year to year.
Since you read the book how many of the players who earned millions said they would give it back to go back and have one more season of HS ball with their buddies?
Were you this outraged when JJ went to IMG? Before you blame COVID, it's widely regarded that he was already transferring there regardless what what was happening in Illinois in 2020.
Also Caleb and JJ would have been Freshmen when the book was written so while I'm sure their experiences offered some valuable knowledge, they were hardly seasoned vets in terms of college and NIL. HeII, Caleb was still at OU then.
Interesting the current Nebraska QB moved to Oregon and then the Oregon QB decided to stay at Oregon and not enter the NFL draft yet.
I always find it interesting when people who are fans from afar pretend to know all the details about a particular recruitment and what factors each athlete/parent prioritizes. All recruitment aren't the same. Just because something is important to you doesn't mean some kid or their family cares about that sort of thing. You're right, I dont know who you are. But I do know you are just like me and 99.9% of us here who aren't in Taylor's inner circle. So I dont pretend to know what is best for him. But from a development standpoint, and an NIL standpoint, the transfer to the lincoln area has obvious advantages that you are ignoring.
It’s 2026 not 2015….understand the landscape in HS/College.
An interesting point to make given your position on the player and his family in this thread
If kiddo was moving from Burger King to McDonalds to make an extra $.50 an hour no one would say a word. But because its football we all have an opinion.
As the great philosopher Shyne once said, "hundred dollar bills wipe the tears from my eyes"
Edit: no diddy
As the great philosopher Shyne once said, "hundred dollar bills wipe the tears from my eyes"
Edit: no diddy
Last edited:
I know I'm a Detective by trade but it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to see this kid pretty much said this was happening in a tweet last month when he said "If I was going to transfer anywhere, it would be to a school in Nebraska"...I don't know but there's gotta be a clue in there! Shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. Cool Runnings kid, peace be your journey!
I've learned to never say 100% or 0% chance, especially on this board, so I'll say 2% he finishes there. They had a 5 Star QB whose Father was Nebraska Cornhusker Royalty that I'm sure any wish (besides wins) was his command while he was there and he left to be a backup at Oregon. School has been a shell of their former glory for nearly 2 decades. Unless they have a IU type turnaround quickly I don't think he stays.....and that's if he even pans out. Stay tuned.
Interesting development...
Tay Ellis, a 4-Star Nebraska WR commit from Texas who is in the same class as Trae Taylor, announced yesterday that he is also transferring to Millard South in Omaha for his senior season.
Tay Ellis, a 4-Star Nebraska WR commit from Texas who is in the same class as Trae Taylor, announced yesterday that he is also transferring to Millard South in Omaha for his senior season.
How many zip codes at Millard South? Could somebody please post a map with a huge circle so I can visualize their recruiting area.
RE: IU 360, they have Ricketts money, and one is even the governor. Maybe the ConAgra and Cattle folks yearn for the Golden Ages of the Big 8 and put together a program that can pay talent to replace talent. Need a QB? Go get one. Simple with no NFL contracts.
College - and now high school - is the last time kids will control their destiny. Everyone is trying to position themselves the best they can to get to the league (see restrictive NFL contracts noted above). Most will fall short, some will fail disastrously, to our amusement.
Det. MC, I think we agree a kid should maximize any money they can get. Hopefully, that money is spent/saved well, but that is a different thread.
The star system is stupid half those guys don't get their stars until after they are offered by a bunch of schools. Wow On3 found a diamond in the rough that had 40 offers.
Nebraska is a team that has an entire State behind...no professional teams of any kind, it's what they have to root for....it also has with them any amd all multi millionaire that is tied to it along with that persons business sense. They aren't going to get these recruits in the door based on their past success so I can see them doing a turnaround sooner then later. Is this kid the answer? I don't know, he was a 4 star QB that went 12-11 as a starter and no farther then the second round in the playoffs at CCHS. I'm well aware he didn't have the supporting cast centered around him that other schools have but his leash, like all freshmen QBs, will be short because if he doesn't win, to the portal they go. If he leaves so does any money they were giving him. Such a different age we are in.
Last edited:
Maybe Nebraska is starting a new trend. Turning a local high school into their very own prep school. I am not even joking and would not be surprised if this becomes the norm until some type of actual rules are in place that can be enforced by the NCAA.
I'm sure this would be well received by all the high school coaches across the state of Nebraska and would help improve their relationship with the Nebraska staff.