Tony Fair thought he was ready to choose his next college football destination in May, but then he hit the pause button.
Now, he’s sure. The big defensive tackle is going to play for Scott Frost and the Huskers.
Fair, who is preparing for his second season at Pima Community College in Arizona, announced his verbal commitment to Nebraska on Thursday morning via Twitter.
Committed To Nebraska! Thankyou to my mom and father and my coach for having my back. Thank you for the opportunity 🙌ðŸ¾ðŸ™ðŸ¾. Want all the Nebraska Fans to Follow me and my Family. Show some Love! GBR🔴💪ðŸ¾ðŸ”´
— Tony Lamar Fair (@TFair__)
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"I was going to rush into it, but I had to take my time and step back a little bit," Fair told the Journal Star on Thursday. "I asked myself if there was any other program out there that I would want to play for and there wasn't. I love everything about Nebraska."
Fair is listed at 6-foot-3 and 330 pounds. He recorded 98 tackles in nine games for the Tucson-based Aztecs.
His Division I interest took off this spring, including significant attention from NU defensive line coach Mike Dawson. Another productive year for Pima — especially considering 2017 was his first active football season in three years — could have led to an even more explosive recruitment, but the South Bend, Indiana, native made up his mind.
"(Dawson) and I have a great relationship," Fair said. "It's a family environment and he really cares about his players. They make sure I'm good every day, they've sent me letters. I like it."
Fair also considered Indiana, UAB and others. The relationships built with the Husker staff over a period of months eventually won out, but the first impression sure didn't hurt, either.
“I didn’t get to watch all of (UCF’s) games or anything, but after (Nebraska) offered me I went and looked up a lot of information and I loved every single thing they did,†he told the Journal Star in May.
He has two years of eligibility remaining and is expected to enroll in January. Fair is planning on using an official visit Sept. 8 when the Huskers host Colorado.
Fair spent all of the 2016 season as a team manager at Indiana State after joining the FCS school as a member of the 2015 class, redshirting and then dealing with injury issues. He decided to leave there and try to jump-start his career at Pima, and did just that with a highly productive campaign.
“Honestly it’s been very, very stressful,†Fair said of his long road to major-conference college football. “It’s been a big headache for me because when I got to Indiana State, I thought that was it. I thought that was as good as it was going to get for me.â€
Instead, he worked hard and got noticed.
Fair is the 12th verbal commitment in the 2019 class for the Huskers and the second of what is expected to be another sizable group of junior college transfers.
He fills a clear need for Nebraska on the defensive interior, too.
During the spring, NU’s main four defensive tackles — true interior guys who can hold the nose in the Huskers’ base — were Mick Stoltenberg, Damion Daniels, Peyton Newell and Ben Lingenfelter. Stoltenberg and Newell, of course, are seniors, while Lingenfelter is a walk-on.
Junior Carlos Davis showed the versatility to play inside and did some in the spring game while Stoltenberg missed time with a knee injury.
Others, like Khalil Davis or Deontre Thomas, who manned the defensive tackle spot as a true freshman in 2017 but played mostly end for the new coaching staff this spring, are capable of playing inside and Dawson has said repeatedly that versatility up front is a good thing. However, so is having a big anchor in the middle.
In April, Chinander said the man in the middle “has to be the heavyweight champion of the world for us.â€
Apparently, that sounded like music to Tony Fair’s ears. He'll spend this fall at Pima working to improve his conditioning and strength. Fair said the NU coaching staff wants him around 325 to 330 pounds when he arrives on campus.
"I'll be working on getting my weight down and getting faster," Fair said Thursday. "That's pretty much it. My speed, my weight and my strength.
"At that kind of weight I can still move and also handle smaller guys. Last year everything started to come back with my breathing, my movement, pretty much everything. Now this year I just want to be even better than that."
2019 Husker football recruits
Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown (School) | Stars |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matthew Anderson | OT | 6-7 | 250 | Leesville, La. | *** |
Brant Banks | DL | 6-8 | 285 | Houston (Westbury Christian) | *** |
Bryce Benhart | OT | 6-9 | 305 | Lakeville, Minn. (North) | **** |
Desmond Bland | OL | 6-4 | 300 | Flossmoor, Ill. (Arizona Western C.C.) | **** |
Darien Chase | WR | 6-1 | 175 | Vancouver, Wash. (Union) | **** |
Myles Farmer | DB | 6-3 | 180 | Atlanta (Westlake) | *** |
Jimmy Fritzsche | OL | 6-7 | 250 | Greenville, S.C. | *** |
Jamin Graham | OLB | 6-6 | 240 | Attalla, Ala. (Etowah) | *** |
Jackson Hannah | ILB | 6-3 | 220 | Nashville, Tenn. (Montgomery Bell) | **** |
Nick Henrich | ILB | 6-4 | 210 | Omaha (Burke) | **** |
Chris Hickman | TE | 6-5 | 220 | Omaha (Burke) | *** |
Rahmir Johnson | RB | 5-10 | 170 | Oradell, N.J. (Bergen Catholic) | **** |
Michael Lynn | OT | 6-7 | 300 | Englewood, Colo. (Cherry Creek) | *** |
Luke McCaffrey | QB | 6-3 | 185 | Littleton, Colo. (Valor Christian) | *** |
Dedrick Mills | RB | 5-10 | 227 | Waycross, Ga. (Garden City C.C.) | *** |
Jamie Nance | WR | 6-0 | 170 | Blanchard, Okla. | *** |
Garrett Nelson | OLB | 6-3 | 235 | Scottsbluff | *** |
Mosai Newsom | DE | 6-5 | 260 | Waverly, Iowa (Waverly-Shell Rock) | *** |
Quinton Newsome | DB | 6-2 | 180 | Suwanee, Ga. (North Gwinnett) | *** |
Ethan Piper | DL | 6-4 | 275 | Norfolk (Catholic) | *** |
Ty Robinson | DE | 6-6 | 285 | Gilbert, Ariz. (Higley) | **** |
Wandale Robinson | RB | 5-9 | 180 | Frankfort, Ky. (Western Hills) | **** |
Garrett Snodgrass | ATH | 6-3 | 225 | York | *** |
Ronald Thompkins | RB | 6-0 | 203 | Loganville, Ga. (Grayson) | *** |
Javin Wright | DB | 6-3 | 195 | Chandler, Ariz. (Hamilton) | *** |