Cody Simon is in the midst of a busy stretch.
The four-star linebacker prospect from New Jersey visited Nebraska officially over the weekend and was back at St. Peter’s Prep for a full day of summer workouts on Monday.
This coming weekend, he’s off to an unofficial visit to Penn State, followed by an official visit to Ohio State on June 20.
Simon isn’t trying to rush to a decision, but there’s only so much time in the offseason to get out around the country to the schools still in his recruitment.
“It’s really a blessing. I don’t think I would have imagined this back when I was younger,” Simon told the Journal Star on Monday afternoon. “I’m just really thankful for the schools that are reaching out to me and showing their support for me.
“I just want to keep an open mind when I’m looking at schools and not make a rash decision while I’m there and just enjoy it.”
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He certainly enjoyed his time in Lincoln.
“It was great. I really enjoyed the entire trip,” Simon said. “Probably my favorite part was seeing the facilities and being around the people. It’s a great environment around there. Another one of my favorite parts is just the support system that they have around the football team. They’re really strong, they have passionate fans and it’s just really good to be around.”
Simon is listed at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds and can play anywhere on defense, his head coach, Rich Hansen, told the Journal Star last week.
“He’s so fluid inside,” Hansen said. "Reads fits and does so many things well from the inside, but he’s so athletic that we can bring him off the edge, play him in space, match him on backs or tight ends or slots. Does a lot of really good things on the edge for us.”
The Huskers and lead recruiter Barrett Ruud envision Simon playing inside in Erik Chinander’s 3-4 defense.
“They think that I can play the 'Mike' in that defense, and what they told me is they want a player that can run across the field, make plays all over the field and really just be a playmaker,” he said. “I think they see a lot in me, and they see that I can really make a difference for their team.”
Simon visited unofficially back in early February with his dad and said it was good to have a more wide-ranging tour and see more aspects of life at NU this time around.
“On my unofficial, I didn’t really get to see much of the academic side of the school or the entire campus,” he said. “I got to see the majority of the campus and pretty much the daily lives of the players. I didn’t get to see that the first time. I really enjoyed all that stuff. The business school, I took a tour through there and it’s pretty amazing in there. They really have a lot of support from the academic side of the football team.”
Simon said he’s down to “about four or five” schools still remaining in contention for his services. Three are getting visits this month. Simon’s older brother, Shane, is a sophomore linebacker at Notre Dame. He also has offers from Virginia, Virginia Tech, Kentucky and several others.
But after the trip to Columbus, Ohio, he’s got no other visits slated currently. Plans can always change, but Simon thinks he’ll make his college choice before summer’s out.
“As of right now, that’s our plan is to make it before the season, but I don’t know when,” he said. “It could be after my visits. I don’t really know right now.”