Tony White shares his primary recruiting regions for Nebraska

Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White is no stranger to the west coast. After playing college football at UCLA and coaching at a number of stops in California, it’s his main recruiting stomping ground with the Cornhuskers.

And beyond that, White will go wherever Nebraska is sending him to recruit. Much of the work of identifying those prospects falls to fellow defensive assistant Evan Cooper. 

“All of California and all of the defensive guys that coach Coop thinks can help us be a better football team. And then I’ll go anywhere they tell me to go,” White said at a recent satellite camp.

One of the novelties of popping around the recruiting trail for White has been the reception he gets as a Nebraska coach.

Even though the Cornhuskers haven’t been operating to their potential of late, they’re still well thought-of among high school coaches and the like. And he’s been surprised by how far and wide the reach of Nebraska football is.

“Oh it’s amazing. The first thing they do is, ‘Nebraska?’ That’s the one where they say ‘OK, everybody, excuse me, excuse me, Nebraska come on in.’ That kind of deal,” White said. “But it’s been awesome. Especially, what’s surprising me is you go into pockets that you didn’t really know and it’s like, ‘Hey so-and-so went to Nebraska. So-and-so went to Nebraska. Hey, he played at Nebraska.’ And it’s just truly amazing. Not only that they went to Nebraska but then how much they want to be connected to Nebraska.”

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said June is the time for his staff to ‘sprint’ on the recruiting trail

 Rhule explained how June is the time to rev up recruiting and go full bore on the trail.

That’s just what Nebraska is hoping to do with a spate of camps scheduled throughout June. So far, the Cornhuskers have seven commits for the 2024 class, including four-star safety Roger Gradney, a Top 300 prospect.

“Yeah, I mean this is the time to go, this is the time to sprint,” Rhule said. “When the season comes, the season comes. July is some time away. So right now, in June, we’re going to maximize what we do.”

At the most recent camp, held over the weekend at Mary Hardin-Baylor University, Rhule previewed the full-throttle schedule for him and the Nebraska staff in coming weeks.

“Getting down here, getting around these kids — not everyone’s going to be a Husker. But Mary Hardin-Baylor, you see the facilities they have here. Just supporting football is important. There’s no wasted days, man,” Rhule said. “Then we get back, we gotta get back to coaching our guys and get ready for two camps this weekend.”