Greg Smith • InsideNebraska
Senior Recruiting Analyst
@GregSmithRivals
Welcome to the Recruiting Rundown!
No matter what time of year it is, there are always things to talk about with Nebraska football recruiting. Each week, we’ll take a look at the most noteworthy things that happened with the Huskers: Notable new offers, top school lists, visits and more inside info from the recruiting trail.
The Raiola Resurgence
Through coach
Matt Rhule’s short tenure at
Nebraska, there has not been a move more openly criticized as the decision to retain offensive line coach
Donovan Raiola. The criticism was 100% fair. Nebraska’s offensive line struggled last season, and the running game was bad. The Huskers were No. 10 in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game. Add in the common thought that Raiola was seen by some as not personable enough to be a good recruiter. You can understand why fans were upset.
Now we’ve gone through spring ball, and Nebraska has had a huge summer on the recruiting trail. Raiola has done a lot to inspire confidence that it was not just coach speak about how well he, Rhule and offensive coordinator
Marcus Satterfield fit together.
We don’t know yet if he’s coached up the offensive line on the team to turn them into a serviceable unit. The early signs are encouraging, though, as Raiola and Rhule aim to inspire confidence in the group.
“I’m just really excited going into my second year with these guys,” Raiola said in a
recent interview. “Their comfort level is totally different.”
The recruiting trail is where Raiola has done great work this cycle. The recent addition of four-star
Preston Taumua
was a huge win for him. Nabbing the No. 1 player from Hawaii could be the start of something big to solidify the future of the line. He’s a terrific prospect that the line can be built around. We also might look back and realize that Texas native
Gibson Pyle was a steal. He was recently invited to the All-American Bowl, and his stock will continue to improve.
There is still one big fish out there to round out the offensive line class this cycle:
Grant Brix is the No. 1 player in Cockeye, and the Huskers are in the mix for his commitment. The summer of Raiola needs to turn into the fall of Raiola, but this is a great start.
Who is left on the board?
Nebraska has done a great job building the 2024 recruiting class. Sitting at 24 commits as we head into fall camp can be a big benefit to the program. There won’t be a late cycle scramble for players to fill the class. The team is actually ahead of schedule and can now work harder on 2025 prospects.
But before we get to 2025 players, there are still guys to watch in the 2024 class.
We talked a little about Brix above, but he has not announced a commitment date. He has kept his recruitment pretty low-key. It wouldn’t surprise me if he just quietly tweeted his commitment out of the blue. He deciding between Nebraska, Kansas State and Oklahoma. The Huskers are in a good spot.
Devoux Tuataga is set to take a visit to Nebraska at the end of the month. He would be another great pickup for the Huskers. They are battling BYU, Oregon State and Oregon for his pledge.
Jayshawn Ross is a wildcard to me. His teammate
Keelan Smith is committed to the Huskers, so that’s helpful. I’ve had him as an Oklahoma lock for a long time, but that might be shifting. If it does, I like the Huskers to stay in the mix.
There are fall official visits set with Utah teammates
Nuku Mafi and
Semisi Tonga. Each have already visited Nebraska once before. You can never have too many offensive linemen, so I’d keep them as “takes” even if Nebraska lands Brix.
Amare Sanders is another name to watch for the Huskers as the team continues to reshape the defensive back room.
Grant Brix - 4 Star Offensive tackle for Nebraska on InsideNebraska
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Devoux Tuataga - 4 Star Weakside defensive end for Brigham Young on CougarNation
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Jayshawn Ross - 4 Star Weakside defensive end for Alabama on TideIllustrated
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Nuku Mafi - 3 Star Offensive tackle for Oklahoma State on OStateIllustrated
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Semisi Tonga - 3 Star Offensive guard for Arizona State on ASUDevils
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Amare Sanders - 3 Star Safety for Nebraska on InsideNebraska
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