Emmett Johnson, one of the top running backs in Minnesota, was a signing day addition for Scott Frost and his Huskers.
CARLOS GONZALEZ, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Quarterback Richard Torres (center) is congratulated by teammates as he gathers with family and friends to sign his letter of intent to play for Nebraska on Wednesday.
Some years, Nebraska's recruiting class is filled with National Signing Day drama. Some years, the majority of a class falls into place early.Â
Most of the time, at the very least, there are well more than a dozen players that the head coach talks about during his news conference late in the day.Â
"It used to be pretty simple: You had 85 scholarships and this many kids are graduating and this many kids are coming in," coach Scott Frost said Wednesday. "I think the days of signing 25 on signing day and then going to the next signing day and signing 25 are probably over."Â
The Huskers did pick up a couple of signing day wins in offensive lineman Justin Evans-Jenkins (Irvington, New Jersey) and running back Emmett Johnson (Minneapolis). In fact, those two were part of a late finishing kick that also included the class' highest-rated player in four-star defensive back Jaeden Gould (Oradell, New Jersey) and junior college safety DeShon Singleton pledging on Tuesday.Â
In all, by the end of a smooth Wednesday, the Huskers had 13 high school and junior college players in the 2022 class and could add another Friday morning when three-star Louisiana wide receiver DeColdest Crawford makes his decision.Â
This month did include some of the typical late-cycle rigmarole, with two NSD wins, two players who went elsewhere (defensive back Nathan Vail to Duke and defensive lineman Ben Roberts to Oregon) and a pair of verbal commits who did not sign with the Huskers in running back Ashton Hayes and wide receiver Grant Page.Â
Of the baker's dozen, three are from the state of Nebraska and six verbally committed in the past 10 days.Â
That, though, is hardly the sum total of the recruiting happening in Lincoln. In fact, the Huskers have already landed four scholarship transfers as well — kicker Timmy Bleekrode, offensive lineman Kevin Williams Jr., defensive back Tommi Hill and punter Brian Buschini — in the past week and will undoubtedly find several more in the days and weeks ahead.Â
Because of the way transfer rules and paperwork unfold, Frost could not talk about those players on Wednesday.Â
It's clear, though, that the transfer portal is changing the way everybody in the country operates.Â
"There's literally hundreds of kids in the transfer portal right now and we expect there will be more," Frost said. "We feel good about a few of them already that are potentially going to join our team. We feel good about some other ones that you guys might not have heard of that have a chance of joining the team.
"I don't want to live in that world, but if there are players that come up in the portal that we feel like can make us a better team and fit with our culture and our team, we're going to keep our eye on that and definitely save some spots in case those people show up and want to be at Nebraska."Â
There may also, Frost suspects, be more players available between now and the February signing date than normal because of the belt-tightening schools did in the lead-up to Wednesday.Â
It used to be that the only signing date on the calendar was in February. Then the early date was introduced for the first time in December 2017 and many schools filled about half their classes before and half after. By 2019, virtually everybody signed in December. Now, with the extra year of COVID-19 eligibility and the explosion of numbers in the transfer portal, the recruiting landscape is again chaotic.Â
"It's kind of a moving target all the time," Frost said. "Our goal is to be as nimble as we can through all of those changes and adjustments to college football and try to accumulate the best players we can and put the best team together we can."Â
By the time Nebraska hits August, the Huskers may have 15 or slightly more high school and junior college players and a transfer class that pushes the total number close to a full set of 25 initial qualifiers. The route to that number now — and even in a few years when the pinch caused by the extra year of eligibility eases — is going to be much less defined because of the portal.Â
Wednesday, then, was a waypoint more than a finish line.Â
"I would imagine we’re not done with the recruiting process, and I imagine that will continue through Christmas break and to the next signing period and maybe even beyond that," Frost said.Â
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Quarterback Richard Torres (center) is congratulated by teammates as he gathers with family and friends to sign his letter of intent to play for Nebraska on Wednesday.