Nebraska Football National Signing Day Press Conference

Opening Statement: “I had just a couple of people to thank, so if you’ll bear with me, I think it’s very important. Today, for me at least, is always a day of gratitude. It starts with all of the young men who have made the decision to sign with us, both the guys who have signed scholarships and the guys who are coming as walk-ons. Julie and I, as two parents, have a son finishing his senior year in Charlotte, who has decided to come to Nebraska and be a freshman next year. This signing class for us probably means more than it ever has. We understand that when you’re going through this process, knowing that they’re in a safe place with good people, it matters so much. Very grateful to the parents, guardians, highschool coaches, mentors, everyone who have led these young men to these decisions. And I’m grateful for all the players, that they’ve entrusted their future to us. I believe they’ve all come here for the right reasons, and I’m excited to be a part of their future. I’m grateful to our staff. Obviously, you guys see the 10 full-time coaches that go on the road, but we have an army of people who evaluate and help make this process run. Everything from making sure business expenses get done to getting flights on time to identifying the best players. When people come to see us, I think they walk away feeling like there’s a cohesive vision, that there’s sort of a family feel here, and that’s because we all do believe in the same things. So I’m very grateful to our coaches and our staff, and especially their families. This is hard, there’s a lot of time that’s put into this, and our coaches and staff, their families do a lot. Very grateful to Trev (Alberts) and our entire administration. You can’t recruit at this level without an investment and the belief that it’s going to pay off. Very grateful for the way they’ve laid this out for us, where we can be successful. A lot of people in Lincoln, lots of vendors, lots of hotels, they go out of their way to make sure that

we have an unbelievable process. I think one of the crown jewels, one of the key recruiters for us is the city of Lincoln. I think when people come here they’re blown away. We could put them at the Kindler Hotel, or show them the Scarlet Hotel, we can take them to eat at J.T.K, or Casa Bovina, or all of the other places we utilize. To me it makes coming to Nebraska that much more real, so I’m grateful. Our fans. As we all know, our fanbase is second to none. It’s something that I think our families feel. It’s hard to send your kid from Florida to Nebraska. It’s hard to send your kid from all across the country. One of the major questions I get is ‘Coach, how is my son going to be treated here?’ When people come on visits and when they get to the airport, or when they walk into a game, they feel so welcome. They feel so welcome for the right reasons. It makes it that much easier to send their kids here, and I’m unbelievably, unbelievably grateful. I want to thank a lot of former players. Too many to name, but just the way that they’ve reached out and sent name in. I’m just really proud of the fact that there’s six players who are legacies. Really proud of the fact that we have one player whose brother is on the team. One player in Eric Ingwerson whose uncle played here, and the fact that Nebraska means that much to them, and that they believe in what we’re doing, that they want to send their sons here. I want to thank Coach Osborne. One of our best recruiters. Put someone in a room with Coach Osborne and give me the credit, I’ll take that all day, but it’s really Coach (Osborne). I want to thank Governor (Jim) Pillen. It’s not very often that the Governor is willing to, not recruit, but build relationships, and tell people what life is really like here, so very grateful to him. Some specific former players that have really gone out of their way; Abdul Mohammad has really laid the groundwork for us as we want to recruit this state. Really proud of the fact that we have eight scholarship kids from Nebraska for the second year in a row. Want to thank Vershan Jackson and Steve Warren, Damon Benning, and others. Without them, I wouldn’t have some of the names that I’ve got, and I’m really grateful for that. I want to thank Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch. Being willing to come on campus and meet with players. Jay Foreman, Doak Ostergard, those guys have gone way out of their way. Many others have done a lot but I want to make sure I thank them. And then finally, I think having this type of signing class is indicative of what’s happening in our athletic department. When your women’s soccer team is Big Ten champs, you see what the basketball team is doing, it might not seem like a lot, but when you’re trying to find things to talk about with guys, you can say ‘Hey, did you see us beat Michigan State?’, or taking Dylan Raiola and going to watch Jaz (Shelley) score 25 on Sunday. Those things matter. On a personal note, I want to thank Coach Cook and our women’s volleyball team. What they did this year was awesome, and for Coach Cook to do that with such a young team, I know it’s brought my family and me closer. I had Baker Mayfield call me from Tampa, and he was like ‘Hey, I’m going to the game on Thursday, bro’. There’s people from all across the country talking about our women’s volleyball team, and to do it so young. I loved what Harper (Murray) said after the game. We took the staff yesterday to see Day By Day. I wasn’t there, Trev (Alberts) can maybe talk about it more than I can, but I don’t know that if ‘94 and ‘95 don’t happen if ‘92 and ‘93 doesn’t. I don’t know that ‘97 doesn’t happen if it’s not for ‘96.I just love being a part of this level of excellence in so many areas of our athletic department. I think it’s part of why you look across the country and people are getting so excited about Nebraska football. Finally, I have to thank 1890. They have backed these athletes, they have backed these players. For us to sit here, I know you’re going to ask me about the transfer portal. We have our own portal. We got Bryce Benhart out of that portal. We got Ben Scott out of that portal. Giff (Isaac Gifford) deciding to come back, even though he’s probably going to get drafted. Ty Robinson, passing on the chance to get drafted to come back. That’s unbelievable. John Bullock coming back. I’m just very grateful for the experience these guys are having, whether it’s Dennis (LeBlanc) or Keith Zimmer in life skills. Also, the way our student athletes have been supported by the Peed family (Tom and Shawn Peed), by Matt Davison, by all the people who have donated. Thank you so much, because this is the modern world of athletics. We are being supported by an organization that’s run the right way and doing things the right way. That comes across to us each and every time we talk to a student-athlete. And finally, our players. Our players are our best recruiters. When they tell recruits what it’s like here, recruits listen. The feedback has been excellent. I think you guys have seen that by the lack of guys going into the transfer portal. People are excited about being part of this program, and that’s why we’ve been able to sign so many guys. I know that was long, but I am extremely grateful for them. I know you guys have a lot of questions, so I’m happy to answer them.”