Take two: Can Nebraska hold on to Radley-Hiles

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

MORE TAKE TWO: Justin Fields | Gus Malzahn | Ohio State recruits on QB situation

Brendan Radley-Hiles has been a longtime commitment to Nebraska, and there are no significant signs that the Huskers will lose out on the ultra-talented four-star cornerback. But there seem to be some cracks as his senior season moves forward.

The Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy standout who’s originally from Southern California recently visited Clemson. And Radley-Hiles – a big-time winner and competitive kid – has said really positive things about the Tigers.

After a recent game in California, Radley-Hiles said he would also like to visit Florida, Texas, Notre Dame and maybe Oregon, and he will absolutely return to Nebraska as well.

With the Huskers losing to Northern Illinois this weekend and a bevy of top-level programs with excellent defensive back tradition chasing Radley-Hiles, does Nebraska have anything to worry about when it comes to his commitment?

Or have coach Mike Riley and a bunch of assistant coaches including Donte Williams done enough through the recruiting process to convince Radley-Hiles that Lincoln is the right place for him?

“It’s never an ideal situation when a team has a commitment taking visits to others schools, and that’s the situation Nebraska finds itself in with Brendan Radley-Hiles.

"The level of concern is high since Radley-Hiles is the top-ranked commitment for the Huskers and has played a large role as being a peer recruiter, but I get the sense the fans are far more concerned about the development than NU’s staff is. Bookie has a terrific relationship with head coach Mike Riley, cornerbacks coach Donte Williams, receivers coach Keith Williams and pretty much every other coach for the Big Red. I know he’s been very transparent with NU about wanting to take visits, which I suppose is a good thing.

"However, the bottom line for Nebraska is that they’re in a battle with some big-time programs to keep this big-time prospect on its commitment list, and that won’t change until he signs in December as an early enrollee.”

“Yes, there is concern. Mike Riley is going to be under heavy scrutiny if they don’t turn this thing around. They don’t look anything close to a team that could even compete for the Big Ten West, much less a national championship.

"Clemson is the one to worry about. The way that defense is playing, it looks like it is just reloading. It looks like it could beat Alabama. The Nebraska fan base is really sort of melting down after that ugly loss, and they’re the type that really pumps up recruits and the kids really like the attention. One game doesn’t mean anything, but he’s already thought about looking around before, and this could continue his interest in other programs.”