11/25/2017 football Edit

Five recruiting misses that helped doom Mike Riley at Nebraska

Woody Wommack • Rivals.com

Social Media Director

With Mike Riley officially out as head coach at Nebraska it’s time to take a look back at some of the things that went wrong on the recruiting trail for him and his staff during his time in Lincoln. Today we take a look back at five players who got away that might have been able to help Riley have more success with the Huskers and perhaps even helped extend his time at Nebraska.

What happened: One of the top players in the state of Nebraska in the class of 2016, Fant was on the radar as a recruit even prior to Riley taking over as head coach in late 2014. It didn’t take long for Riley and his staff to evaluate Fant and the Huskers became his first Power Five in March 2015. But they were quickly joined by Iowa and the Hawkeyes emerged as a legit contender for Fant right from the beginning. After taking numerous visits and pushing his decision several times during the 2015 offseason, Fant committed to the Hawykeyes in late Aug. 2015. Riley and Nebraska didn’t give up on Fant, even hosting him for some late visits, but he elected to stick with Iowa.

What he’s done: Losing Fant was one of the first major recruiting defeats that Riley suffered and it’s one that looks like it will have ramifications for the next Huskers coach as well. After playing in 10 games as a true freshman, Fant has taken his game up a notch in 2017. He caught at least one pass in each of the Hawkeyes first nine games this season and had one of the best outings of his career in Iowa’s blowout victory over Ohio State, catching four passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns. To make matters worse, Fant had one of the best games of his career against Nebraska on Friday, catching three passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. If Fant’s breakout season for the Hawkeye’s is any indication, he should be one of the nation’s top players at the position in 2018 and will likely have a shot at the NFL when his college career is over.

What happened: Hall was a late-emerging prospect in the class of 2015 and had to cram a few years’ worth of recruitment into the final month of the 2015 cycle. In Jan. 2015 he took official visits to Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin and Nebraska, with the Huskers getting the last shot before Signing Day. Despite his friend and high school teammate Aaron Williams already on the Huskers' roster, Hall committed to Missouri over Nebraska on Signing Day.

What he’s done: Hall took a long time to grab the attention of college coaches but he wasted no time making an impact once he arrived in college football. After playing special teams and serving as reserve in 2015-16, Hall has blossomed into quite the player in 2017. He finished the 2017 regular season with 76 total tackles, which would have ranked third on Nebraska’s defense this season. He also finished second on the Tigers in tackles for loss with 11.5, a mark that would have be No. 1 for Nebraska. It’s hard to fault the staff for not nabbing the Atlanta-based prospect as he had no real ties to the program, but it’s also easy to see that he would have had a major impact in Lincoln.

What happened: The three-star Michigan product had an interesting recruitment first making an early commitment to Michigan then fielding interest from schools from all over the country. When it became apartment that Reese wasn’t likely to end up in Ann Arbor, Riley and Nebraska had the first serious shot at him hosting his first official visit in Nov. 2015. After the trip Reese raved about the trip and continued to entertain Nebraska despite taking late official visits to Texas, TCU and Florida. But his trip to Gainesville and the chance to play in the SEC turned out to be too much for Nebraska to overcome and he committed to the Gators a week before Christmas in 2015.

What he’s done: The Gators had a season to forget in 2017 that also led to a coaching change, but Reese can’t be blamed for any of the school’s struggles. Reese immediately jumped into the playing rotation in Gainesville and racked up 49 tackles as a true freshman in 2016. Things only got better in 2017 as he emerged as one of the team’s leaders on defense, both in spirit and on the stat sheet. Reese had 88 total tackles heading into Saturday's game against Florida State and had he landed with the Huskers he would have helped a defense that struggled mightily down the stretch in 2017.

What happened: Nebraska identified Anchrum early as a target in the 2016 class and even hosted the Atlanta-area prospect for an unofficial visit in the summer of 2015 before he returned for an official visit in September of that same year. Nebraska was named one of Anchrum’s “co-leaders” early in the process and it seemed like the Huskers were in great position to land his commitment. But a late charge for Clemson turned Anchrum’s recruitment upside down and after visiting Death Valley in November, he quickly made his pledge to the Tigers.

What he’s done: The loss of Anchrum stung at the time, especially considering the early evaluation the Huskers did to identify him as a top prospect. Upon arriving at Clemson Anchrum quickly found himself rotating into the lineup as a true freshman and he even started one game for the eventual national champions. Anchrum has also been a valuable part of the Tigers' offense in 2017 and is well on his to having a standout career for the Tigers. While it’s hard to project how he would have panned out at Nebraska, it’s clear that having a player who contributed to a national championship season would have had an impact on Nebraska’s offensive line depth over the past two years.

What happened: One of the biggest targets in the “Cali-braska” movement meant to lure top talent from Southern California to Lincoln, Graham was very high on the Huskers during his recruitment. He granted Nebraska the first official visit in Sept. 2016 and raved about the school before and after that trip. But as the fall moved along Graham’s recruitment became a crowded race, with schools like Notre Dame, Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon all also hosting Graham for official visits. The Ducks got the last shot at Graham and despite a coaching change following his official visit, he committed to the school in mid-December.

What he’s done: It didn’t take long for Graham to make an impact with the Ducks and to make matters even worse for Nebraska, it came at the Huskers' expense. The two teams met in September and Graham had a breakout performance, recording seven tackles and interception two passes. That performance cemented Graham’s role in the lineup for the Ducks and he looks well on his way to having a standout career in Eugene. A young star like Graham would have been hard to keep off the field in Lincoln and would surely have helped the Blackshirts in 2017 and beyond.