I suppose it's possible, and definitely an interesting bit of information. However, it's worth noting Coen was hired in early January of this year. Maybe it took a little bit for him to leverage that relationship with Saunders's father, but there was plenty of heat with Saunders and Nebraska long after that.
Moreover, it's not like Manske got an offer and then we kept hearing about Saunders being the presumptive favorite for the class. It felt very much like Manske had an excellent performance and switch flipped.