Breaking Good News: Nebraska Football Walk-Ons Choose the Huskers’ Opportunity Over Scholarship Offers and….

There can be no more than 85 full-ride scholarships awarded by any FBS program. The NCAA’s decision to grant players who missed the 2020 season due to the pandemic an additional year of eligibility is still having an impact on the Huskers. NU’s scholarship cap has been influenced by scholarship players in their fifth or sixth year, as well as by the school’s sizable recruiting classes in 2023 and 2024.

But Nebraska is one of many programs using clever roster management this season, as they managed to add two three-star recruits as walk-ons.

The Huskers’ walk-on additions were also a way to build for the future while remaining stable in the present. After signing nine walk-ons in December, Nebraska added five more on Wednesday’s signing day — and coach Matt Rhule sees plenty of potential in the group.

“Our approach to the walk-on class was very deliberate,” Rhule stated. We wanted to perform really well with those guys because, in my opinion, at least three or four of them will eventually start for us in this walk-on class. Maybe that’s a bold claim, but I genuinely think that.

Jordan Ochoa, a defensive end from Castle View, Colorado, and Kahmir Prescott, a safety from Philadelphia Neumann-Goretti, are the two three-star recruits who joined the program this week. They both had unofficial visits for Nebraska’s spring game in April of last year, made commitments elsewhere, and then decided to reopen their recruitment.

Ochoa, a previous Wyoming recruit who put on 25 pounds by the time Nebraska coaches paid him a visit in January, said he accepted NU’s walk-on offer primarily because of his family. Before relocating to Colorado, the highly skilled pass rusher Ochoa was raised in western Nebraska. Rhule stated on Wednesday that Ochoa “has a love for Nebraska.”

Conversely, coaches immediately recognized Prescott as one of NU’s primary targets. One of the first 2024 prospects to earn an offer from the new coaching staff was Prescott, who was recruited mostly by defensive backs coach Evan Cooper in December 2022.

For several months, the Huskers had a great chance to sign the athletic, rangy safety, but in April, Prescott committed to Wisconsin. Prescott still had a lot of options after reopening his recruitment in early December; the fact that he chose to accept a walk-on opportunity with the Huskers over scholarship offers from other schools is a credit to the NU coaches.

“We think he’ll be a ballhawk because he loves the game, is tough, physical, and agile,” Rhule remarked. “He was on the market because his plans to go another institution, for whatever reason, didn’t work out.

While Ochoa had scholarship opportunities with New Mexico State, Toledo, and Washington State, Prescott accepted Nebraska over offers from Colorado, Maryland, Michigan State, Penn State, and Texas A&M.

Their circumstances are similar to those of Las Vegas Gorman offensive lineman Xander Ruggeroli, who was originally recruited by Nebraska as a scholarship athlete but was added as a walk-on. Ruggeroli, who was given a four-star ranking by Rivals, decided to join with the Huskers in December even though he had scholarship offers from Washington State, Arizona State, and Boston College.

What benefit does it thus offer players to choose a walk-on position over a scholarship? NIL guarantees for premium walk-ons can assist in bringing the financial circumstances similar as long as the prospect of receiving a scholarship in 2025 is still present.

“I never say, ‘Hey, you should pass up a scholarship to come here,’ because I was a walk-on,” Rhule remarked. “I never advise someone to take that action. I just want to show you what to expect if you do come here. Furthermore, I think that everyone has the chance to demonstrate their abilities through the methods and practices we use.

Players who walk on at larger schools instead of getting scholarships run a certain amount of danger. But Ochoa and Prescott were very much focused on the advantages of attending a university such as Nebraska.

NU coaches have developed a number of walk-ons into starting scholarship players, and NU’s walk-on class of 2024 has the talent to follow suit.

“The University of Nebraska is renowned for having the best walk-ons,” Rhule remarked. “Although some of those guys had other options, the opportunity to play here, in this stadium, in front of our supporters, and to spend their college years with their families comes out as the better option when they check out other fantastic universities.”