Huskers focus on defense, depth
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BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraska football coach Bill Callahan, widely regarded as a West Coast offense guru, often had defense on his mind as the Huskers pieced together their 2007 recruiting class — particularly the secondary and defensive line positions.
Nebraska’s success recruiting those two areas highlighted a group of 28 scholarship signees that had Callahan beaming Wednesday, the first day of the national letter-of-intent signing period.
“Three years ago when we came here as a staff, it was our goal and our intent to build a big, fast, strong, tough, disciplined football team that consistently competes for championships,” Callahan told reporters at Memorial Stadium. “The class that we signed is reflective of those traits and that philosophy.”
Nebraska’s class of 2007 is ranked No. 12 nationally by Rivals.com and No. 19 by Scout.com. The class features 16 players slotted for defense, 11 for offense, and one place-kicker.
Recruiting defenders “was the No. 1 area of concern for all of us as we looked at the board and looked at our depth, and really studied that situation,” Callahan said.
Among the 16 defenders, six will play along the line and seven in the secondary, including at least two cornerbacks.
The way Callahan figures, Nebraska lost five starting defensive linemen from its 2006 team to graduation — Adam Carriker, Barry Cryer, Ola Dagunduro and Jay Moore, plus strongside linebacker Stewart Bradley, because he often played at or near the line of scrimmage.
Husker coaches placed especially strong emphasis on recruiting interior defensive linemen, and landed five of them.
“I felt it was crucial that we get a couple big guys for run-stoppers inside that can help us continue our success against the run,” Callahan said. “That’s where Kevin Dixon and Shukree Barfield come into play.”
Barfield and Dixon are transfers from Garden City (Kan.) Community College. Barfield, who likely will play nose tackle, enrolled in classes at Nebraska in January and will be on hand for spring drills.
Meanwhile, safety Larry Asante, also a junior college transfer, leads the list of signees in the secondary. Like Barfield, Asante enrolled in classes in January, as did juco transfer cornerback Armando Murillo.
“That’s a fine group of athletes,” Callahan said of the secondary recruits. “It’ll give us the depth and size to help us.”
Nebraska’s secondary haul took a hit Wednesday morning when David Ross, a 6-foot, 175-pound cornerback from Compton, Calif., reneged on his pledge to NU at the last minute.
Keith Donerson, Ross’ coach at Dominguez High, said Ross actually signed a letter of intent with Nebraska on Tuesday, then reconsidered and signed Wednesday morning with Oregon State.
“He talked to some of our other players and was telling them Nebraska recruited a lot of defensive backs, junior college players and stuff,” Donerson said.
The loss of Ross “wasn’t unexpected in a lot of senses,” said Callahan said, referring to Ross’ waffling throughout the recruiting process. “We kind of knew that was going to be a tough get to begin with.”
Ross’s decommitment occurred on the heels of San Antonio linebacker Travis Lewis spurning Nebraska earlier this week and signing with Oklahoma.
Callahan said Nebraska failed in a late attempt to pick up players in the wake of the losses.
“For the very few that do elect to go another direction, that’s OK,” the coach said. “It doesn’t really bother us. I think overall, I’m more pleased with the guys who do make that commitment to come here and want to be part of this.”
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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