Matt Rhule's Nebraska football program went into Miami's backyard and got a fantastic recruit in three-star wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. for their 2024 class.
Not all recruits are viewed the same manner, but Matt Rhule's Nebraska Cornhuskers getting Jacory Barney Jr. out of Miami's backyard is certainly big news to us for so many reasons.
It may seem a little strange to folks now, but Nebraska used to be a huge deal in South Florida. When the Huskers were dominating in the old Big Eight and the earliest years of the Big 12, getting to the Orange Bowl was everything for them. They were prolific at it, and it helped them recruit on a national level. Fate would have it, landing Barney could be a sign of something great.
When Rhule fired out one of his patented emoji-laden Tweets on Saturday night, we knew that something interesting was about to happen over in Lincoln. We got a fireworks show, alright…
Once On3's Hayes Fawcett fired out the graphic, we knew that Barney was committed to UNL.
This is significant for several reasons, as the three-star wide receiver from Miami was predicted to go to Miami by 247Sports' lead recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong. What a get for the Huskers, and what a disappointing turn of events for the Canes. Rhule beat out Mario Cristobal for Barney here.
Truth be told, there is only enough space for one of these two traditional powers to be back soon…
Matt Rhule gets 3-star wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. as latest Nebraska commit
Although notable programs like Florida State, Tennessee, USC, and arguably Texas, are on the upswing, others like Nebraska, Miami and Florida have gotten more wrong than right in recent years. The thought in hiring Rhule, Cristobal and Billy Napier was to use recruitment to help bring these national powers back to life. Well, Rhule seems to have come out of the gate guns a-blazing.
What makes Nebraska so interesting right now, beyond NIL, is we haven't seen the Huskers truly dominate in their new league. Whatever Nebraska was in the glory days is never coming back. However, they can certainly be a playoff team every so often during Rhule's reign. It is all about stacking nine-and-10-win seasons on top of each other consecutively. You have to win six first…
My favorite thing about Rhule at Nebraska is he didn't previously have the recruiting resources he has now. Temple and Baylor aren't Nebraska. We've seen the Owls and the Bears win a ton of games before, but it is different in Lincoln. It is like winning big at Arkansas. The Huskers are the biggest ticket in the entire state, so everybody within its borders is pulling in the same direction.
For me, I think Rhule landing players from talent-rich regions of the country like South Florida only hastens his program's rebuilding efforts. Then again, didn't his predecessor Scott Frost have a recruiting pipeline into South Florida from his days at UCF? Regardless, they are bringing in a player other Power Five teams of note wanted in Barney. The Cornhuskers just need to keep at it.
As long as Nebraska can achieve bowl eligibility by 2024, all of Rhule's hard work should pay off.