Pelini, Els, Osborne Prefer Simpler Times

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By Randy York

Come on, admit it. You're one of countless Nebraska football fans who turned on your TV or computer Wednesday and watched high school seniors announce who was in and who was out ... which team gets that heroic signature and which ones do not. The Huskers found themselves on both sides of that equation during the 2012 recruiting season, and it's difficult to determine how many cheered one decision and then jeered another a few hours later.

That's the way it is for BCS schools across the country, but that does not mean Nebraska coaches and administrators support the style apparently favored by television networks and NCAA officials. We offer up three shared points of view - one from Nebraska's head football coach; a second from the school's newly named recruiting coordinator; and a third from an athletic director who recruited his share of superstars as a Hall-of-Fame coach. This much is clear: When it comes to recruiting announcements, all three prefer simplicity over showmanship.

"I know one thing. In my house, there was going to be no grabbing a hat," head coach Bo Pelini said Wednesday. "I signed (his letter of intent), and my parents grabbed me and said: 'Get your butt to school!' That's the way it happened there, and it's the way it should be."

Ross Els, Nebraska's linebacker coach, special teams coach and recruiting coordinator, also prefers humility and honor over pomp and circumstance, even though he would never let his style interfere with recruits and parents who feel otherwise. "Some kids like having a press conference," he said. "They like the notoriety. Across the country, that's the way it is with a lot of kids. That's the way the NCAA works, and until they give us an early signing date, that's the way it's going to be."

If ESPN has a chance to elevate its audience with a highly publicized recruit, that will continue to be the name of the game. "Kids want to be on TV, and parents want to see their kids on TV," Els said. "I'll never be blessed to have that good of an athlete, but if I did, I guarantee you, my kid would not be on TV (for his national letter of intent signing)."

Having said that, each family "can do what they want to do," Els said. "They're not breaking any rules, and they're not going any longer than the signing date."

We may live in a TV-driven world, yet even when television was not the major force bringing extra attention to an important decision, Tom Osborne remembers being a bit player in a prominent recruit's self-choreographed moment of media drama.

Go back to a Signing Day morning when Osborne and Charlie McBride were invited to the home of a certain highly recruited offensive lineman from a well-known Kansas City high school. Nebraska's head coach and defensive coordinator arrived at the designated time and were quickly shuttled to a room which seemed to be off the beaten path. Shortly thereafter, they both realized why.

In another room, at the same time, was the head football coach from the University of Texas. Like Osborne and McBride, he, too, apparently, had no idea that others were invited to be part of this "memorable" morning.

Awkward does not even begin to describe that situation. I still remember talking to Coach Osborne on the phone that day when a self-centered player and his family cost a head coach the opportunity to connect with even more prominent recruits who had been committed for months. Fortunately, those recruits kept their word and had no desire to seek special attention. Like Bo, they were more interested in getting their rear ends to school, so they could dive into all the hard work that's required to play.

This week, I asked Osborne if he remembered that weird episode in Kansas City, and sure enough, he could recount specifics with his usual photographic memory.

Once I heard his response, I didn't even ask Coach Osborne what I intended to ask him in the first place - if he preferred old-fashioned, non-ceremonial signings to all the theatrics built into what so many young men are staging today?

You know the answer to that one, and by the sheer tone of Osborne's voice, you knew exactly where he was coming from as well.

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