Trev Alberts: There's 'tangible momentum' around Nebraska recruiting ahead of National Signing Day

Nebraska is looking to be one of the biggest winners on National Signing Day this year. The Cornhuskers are rolling entering Wednesday’s big day, headlined by a big addition at quarterback.

Those efforts have caught athletic director Trev Alberts’ attention.

Matt Rhule and the Nebraska staff are putting together an impressive group in just their second full cycle. The crown jewel is five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, who was committed to Georgia until earlier this week when he flipped his commitment to Nebraska.

Even though Nebraska missed out on a bowl game in Rhule’s first season as head coach, Alberts sees the program trending upward in a big way.

“I’m excited for our football program,” Alberts said Tuesday on Sports Nightly. “And I think there’s just, you can sort of feel a little bit of energy and tangible momentum. Obviously, you’ve got to be a little bit careful. I mean, we don’t need to put a bunch of pressure on young people that have never had a chance to be at this level. But, boy, I’ll tell you what, acquisition and retention of talent are really, really important in athletics — and especially in college football.”

Raiola is Nebraska’s biggest commitment in years, and Nebraska had two other top-100 recruits already committed before he announced his flip. He checks in as the No. 16 overall prospect and No. 3-ranked quarterback from the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

It’s the latest surge as the Cornhuskers built momentum on the trail under Rhule. NU was red-hot over the summer, and that momentum has carried over beyond the season. Now, Nebraska’s class checks in at No. 22 in the nation ahead of National Signing Day, according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking.

To Alberts, the recruiting success goes back to the conversations when Rhule came in. Now, the program is seeing the plan play out.

“I just can’t say enough about what Coach Rhule and his staff have done,” Alberts said. “… We talked about this when we hired Coach Rhule, right? We were really looking for a leader who had the understanding and the ability to create the apparatus around football. Obviously, the full-time assistant coaches are really, really important. But just like our staff, there’s all kinds of people associated with football — names that probably many Husker fans have no idea who they are. But just their organizational structure, their work.

“These things don’t just happen, right? Like, you don’t get some of the players that are coming to Nebraska, that just show up. It just doesn’t happen, especially when you look at what’s happened last seven years and how long it’s been we’ve been to a bowl game. To have the kind of success they’ve had, I think it just starts with No. 1, just good old fashioned hard work. They have worked extraordinarily hard. And then to have a strategic vision around how they were going to approach it, I thought was really, really good. So I’m really excited for them.”