Revisiting Joseph’s comments about recruiting in flux as NU coaches disperse for bye week

There’s no better time to hit the recruiting trail than a bye week.

While Nebraska recovers from a 1-3 start to its season, the Husker coaching staff spread out across the country to check on key recruiting targets this week.

Interim head coach Mickey Joseph was in Monroe, Louisiana, on Friday night to watch wide receiver commit Omarion Miller, and Joseph will also be recruiting in New Orleans on Saturday. Defensive coordinator Bill Busch will be in the Kansas City area to check on wide receiver commit Jaidyn Doss. Assistants Bryan Applewhite, Barrett Ruud and Mike Dawson all hit the road as well.

Joseph was clear Tuesday: Nebraska’s staff will continue its aggressive recruiting approach despite the uncertainty of the future.

“We’ve got to recruit like we are going to be here; that’s the right thing to do,” Joseph said. “We’re going to do the job the right way and we’re not going to sabotage the place.”

Joseph knows there is no guarantee he and the rest of Nebraska’s coaching staff will still be in their current positions on the early signing date of Dec. 15. Nonetheless, they are recruiting with the assumption that they will remain at Nebraska.

That’s important because Joseph insists recruits “don’t sign with a coach, they sign with a university.”

Historical trends show the opposite. Coaching staffs that are let go or change jobs late in the season often bring their recruits to their next school, something that certainly happened when Scott Frost and his UCF staff brought several targets to Nebraska’s 2018 recruiting class.

But why the comments about sabotage? If a staff knew their coaching future lied elsewhere, they could recruit under the guise of sending prospects to their current school while knowing they’ll simply reextend a scholarship offer to the recruit at their new school.

Joseph is saying, categorically, that will not be what happens.

“If we don’t get the job and we have to leave here, they’re going to say we left this place better than we found it,” Joseph said. “We’re going to do things the right way.”

In terms of Nebraska’s 2023 recruiting class, the Huskers currently have 13 committed players after edge rusher Cameron Lenhardt decommitted Sunday. According to 247Sports, Nebraska currently has the nation’s No. 49 recruiting class, and the Huskers are No. 11 in the Big Ten only ahead of Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.

The Huskers’ 2023 efforts aren’t done yet, though. Arlington (Texas) running back Sergio Snider has been a key target for Applewhite in recent months, but NU extended an offer to another 2023 running back on Tuesday.

A New Orleans-area prospect, Arnold Banes has been committed to Tulane since Sept. 4, and he’s coming off a 365-yard, six-touchdown performance last week. Perhaps that caught the eye of Applewhite and the rest of NU’s coaching staff because Banes doesn’t hold any offers from other Power Five schools. Charlotte, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Navy and Tulsa were the other schools to offer him a scholarship so far.

Lastly, there’s still no more important prospect to NU’s 2023 efforts than top-100 national recruit Malachi Coleman. Joseph and Applewhite watched the Lincoln East standout play Lincoln Northeast at Seacrest Field last Thursday, and Coleman was also at the Nebraska-Oklahoma game on Saturday. Less than one month remains until Coleman will announce his commitment on Oct. 22.

Of course, the NU coaching staff is also making inroads with 2024 prospects. Nebraska offered a pair of four-star offensive linemen from California powerhouse Mater Dei on Monday, Brandon Banker and DeAndre Carter. Both are top-100 national recruits with interest from across the country.

Expect more offers and potential commitments in the coming weeks given that Joseph continues to plow full steam ahead with building NU’s recruiting profile.

“Just speaking to the recruits last weekend and talking to them the last two weeks on the phone, they’re all in because we sell them the University of Nebraska, no matter who sits in this chair,” Joseph said.