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00:00 [Music]
00:07 Welcome to the Carriker Chronicles, the people show.
00:10 Checking the pulse of Husker Nation.
00:11 Ladies and gentlemen, this is my gut reaction to the February National Signing Day.
00:16 Does anybody care about this day anymore?
00:18 Does it... I literally had people...
00:20 When I put out on social media that I was going to do a gut reaction to National Signing Day today,
00:26 I had people be like, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
00:28 But here's the deal. There was a decommitment.
00:30 There was commitment. There was exciting things that happened today.
00:34 Alright, and that's what I'm going to talk about right here, right now.
00:37 Yeah, the hat's on backwards, which means it's a gut reaction.
00:39 I'm in studio, but it's still a gut reaction.
00:42 It's just weird to be in here for a gut reaction.
00:44 But ladies and gentlemen, I got a text from a buddy of mine today.
00:48 And here's what it said. And it's all it said. I'm going to quote.
00:50 "Pressure is a privilege. It means things are expected of you." End quote.
00:56 And that's the message I want to send to everybody who's joining the Husker Brotherhood today.
01:02 Yeah, pressure is a privilege. It's because we have high expectations.
01:06 We believe in you. And I want to welcome each and every one of you to the Husker Brotherhood.
01:12 Now, it's time to bust your button, light this candle.
01:15 And if you find folks at home agree with me, smash that like button.
01:20 So, the first thing I want to talk about...
01:22 Okay, we got a commitment. Also, I'm going to talk about my dark horses.
01:26 My dark horses. The diamonds in the rough.
01:29 And I have a personal connection to these guys.
01:31 Not personally these guys, but the concept of a dark horse or diamond in the rough in general.
01:38 Particularly that dark horse phrase.
01:39 Alright, but I'll get to that in a minute.
01:41 Alright, they got, the Huskers got a commitment today from exciting edge rusher out of Arizona.
01:48 Alright, Keona Willhite, 6'5", 240 pounds.
01:53 Now this was a guy that was originally committed to Washington.
01:56 Kalen DeBoer, the team that just played in the National Championship.
02:00 Nick Saban retires. Kalen DeBoer goes to Alabama.
02:03 Then Willhite decommits. It's kind of the journey.
02:07 Thank you Nick Saban for how we got him, I guess.
02:09 Anyways, I digress.
02:11 But he decommits, and then he looks like he's going to UCLA.
02:14 Then Chip Kelly. There's rumors that he may not be there.
02:17 So it kind of came down to UCLA, Michigan State, Nebraska.
02:20 Folks had him trending towards the big red recently.
02:23 And he committed today.
02:26 Now, I obviously like to get after quarterbacks.
02:30 And I've talked about it before.
02:32 The more you can get after a quarterback without having to blitz.
02:35 I love blitzing. I'm an aggressive guy.
02:38 But the less you have to do it, the less risk there is in the back end.
02:41 The more versatile players that you have in a 3-3-5 defense,
02:44 the more versatile type things you can do, the more you can blitz,
02:47 the more you can disguise coverage if you can get after the quarterback
02:49 without having to blitz a ton.
02:51 That's why a guy like this is exciting.
02:54 So my connection, I want to talk now about the dark horses
02:58 that I believe that are in this class.
02:59 Because I've talked about diamonds in the rough,
03:01 but I've never given specific names until today.
03:04 And here's why dark horses stick out to me.
03:07 I was a true freshman in the weight room.
03:09 And you've got to keep in mind, I wasn't uber highly recruited.
03:13 At one point, Nebraska, the D-line coach that was there told me I flat out
03:16 wasn't good enough to play at Nebraska.
03:18 I got it off her last minute.
03:20 Maybe I'll share the full story another day, and I won't bore you today.
03:22 Today is not about me.
03:23 It's about the kids that are now joining the Husker football program.
03:27 But I'm in the weight room as a true freshman. I'm red-shirting.
03:30 Boyd Epley, it was the last year he was the full-time actual strength coach.
03:35 And he walked up to me and he goes, "You're our dark horse."
03:39 And I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what a dark horse meant.
03:41 He was insulting me. I was like, "What does that mean?"
03:43 He goes, "You're the guy that this strength staff thinks is going to surprise a lot of people."
03:50 He goes, "Not a lot of people talking about you, but we think you're going to surprise people."
03:54 So ever since that day, dark horses, diamonds in the rough,
03:58 whatever you want to call these guys that I'm about to talk about,
04:01 I've always had a connection to the term dark horse specifically.
04:04 I'm dubbing these guys diamonds in the rough because I like that term for them.
04:08 So here are my three diamonds in the rough. Dark horses.
04:11 Number one, cornerback Larry Tarver Jr.
04:14 This is a guy who had 11 interceptions his last two years of high school.
04:17 Now he was part of a loaded defensive backfield in high school as well.
04:20 Three other college football players in that defensive backfield, alright, on his high school team.
04:27 Now this is a guy that is the prototypical guy that Matt Ruhl looks for.
04:32 He wants big guys. He wants fast guys. He wants guys who are overlooked.
04:35 Guys who maybe don't get mentioned as much.
04:37 Now he was committed to Maryland for well over a year.
04:40 But this is a track star who plays football.
04:44 Not everybody who plays track can play football.
04:46 You've got to be able to do football movements.
04:49 COD, change of direction, stop, plant, cut, want to hit, want to be hit, want to be tough.
04:53 This is a track star who plays football. A little bit under the radar.
04:57 Think of Jalen Lloyd. Fast guy. Not a lot of people talked about him.
05:00 Made a pretty big impact last year as a true freshman at wide receiver.
05:04 Alright, so this is a guy who won the 100 meter dash in high school. State champ.
05:11 Almost won it in the 200, got second, okay.
05:14 But he won two more state championships as part of a 4x100 and 4x400 state championship relay team.
05:22 Alright, now he's a little undersized. 165 pounds.
05:25 Okay, hit that weight or make it your best friend, my friend.
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05:54 Alright ladies and gentlemen, my second diamond in the rough, Willis McGahee the 15th.
06:00 I think it's the 4th. Now, this is a guy from Miami, Florida.
06:04 Alright, edge rusher. I'm going to shock you with that one.
06:08 But whether I like to get after quarterbacks or not, this guy would be on my list.
06:11 6'1", 225 pounds. Okay, and this is a guy who doesn't have to put on a ton of weight,
06:15 but just a smidge to be a little bit bigger backer type guy.
06:19 Okay, why was he not talked about more?
06:22 I watched, this is based on the film I've watched.
06:25 Now first of all, he's got the name that should just attract people,
06:27 but beyond that, I just watched his film.
06:30 Here's what I wrote. Now he chose Nebraska over Auburn, Michigan, Tennessee,
06:34 and a plethora of other schools. But here's what I wrote.
06:36 Based off his film, he could easily be a D1 running back.
06:41 But he's almost too aggressive. When I watch him on defense,
06:44 he looks like a more aggressive running back playing defense.
06:48 Keep your eye on him.
06:50 Alright, my third diamond in the rough, wide receiver Quinn Clark.
06:53 6'5", 190 pounds out of Bozeman, Montana.
06:56 I purely think he's overlooked because he's from Montana.
06:59 My mom grew up in Lewistown, Montana.
07:02 My grandpa built a log cabin about six miles outside of town
07:07 in the middle of beautiful nowhere.
07:09 And that's where my mom was born and raised.
07:11 My grandpa lived there for 60 years.
07:13 Literally passed away in the living room of the log house that he built.
07:17 My point is, I love Montana. It's beautiful.
07:21 Not known for sports. And I think that's the very reason why he might be
07:24 just a smidge overlooked. I know Montana very well.
07:26 Spent a lot of time there.
07:28 Vershawn Jackson actually is the guy that connected the coaching staff to Quinn.
07:32 Vershawn could see it. I can see his potential.
07:35 Potential. He's got things he's got to work on. He's a big target.
07:38 In a year or two after Jamal Banks and Isaiah Nayer are gone,
07:42 think about the potential of a 6'4", 6'5" Malachi Coleman with his speed.
07:46 Think about the speedy Jalen Lloyd, who I've already mentioned.
07:48 Think about a Quinn Clark who's got a couple of years to develop, grow, improve.
07:52 Get better.
07:54 Okay. This guy was kind of overlooked a little bit.
07:57 Had it not been for Vershawn Jackson, he may not be on the team.
08:00 Shout out to V-Jack.
08:02 Alright. Kind of a guy that's barely even found out of Montana.
08:06 By the way, Bozeman's beautiful.
08:07 You ever get a chance to go? Don't go in the winter, but go in the summer.
08:11 It's beautiful.
08:12 Now he's got to work on his COD. COD, change of direction.
08:15 He's a tall, lengthy guy. 6'5", 190.
08:19 Just got to get in and out of his cut a little bit quicker.
08:23 Okay. If he can do that, hit that weight room just a little bit, if not a lot of bit.
08:29 Keep your eyes on him in a couple, three years.
08:30 Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Here's my question for you fine folks at home.
08:33 I got three of them. As always, hit me up in the comments below.
08:35 Facebook, Twitter, and the Tube of You, YouTube.
08:38 Alright. Number one.
08:41 Of these three guys that I mentioned,
08:43 which dark horse and/or diamond in the rough do you think has the best opportunity
08:49 to surprise people and become an impact player here at the University of Nebraska?
08:52 Number two. Did I miss somebody?
08:54 I mean, we got like 30+ guys in this class.
08:57 This is an enormous class.
08:59 There has to be somebody I missed just by the sheer numbers.
09:02 Alright. Number three.
09:04 What's the biggest key to these guys developing and truly making an impact on the field?
09:10 My answer?
09:13 Corey Campbell. The strength and conditioning coach.
09:16 You look at Michigan.
09:18 Jim Harbaugh, San Diego Chargers head coach, took some of the coaches from Michigan.
09:23 The first guy he took with him.
09:24 The first guy was their strength and conditioning coach,
09:26 who he called the backbone of that program.
09:29 You want to know why they were so physical?
09:31 It starts in the weight room.
09:33 He was paid a million dollars a year at Michigan.
09:36 Okay. That's not the topic when it comes to Corey Campbell.
09:38 My point is when it comes to physicality and mentality and mental toughness,
09:42 being physical on the field, it starts in the weight room.
09:45 And it starts with my friend Corey Campbell.
09:47 Alright. Winter conditioning is going on right now, ladies and gentlemen.
09:50 Until next time, Husker Nation, be sure to check out CarrikerChronicles.com.
09:54 It's where all your football hopes and dreams will come true.
09:56 Go Big Red. And always remember to throw the punch.