The Nebraska football program has largely ignored one of the most talent-rich JUCO programs in the country despite the fact that it’s in the Huskers’ backyard.
Nebraska football under Scott Frost has not been shy about recruiting the JUCO ranks. That’s a distinct change from the previous regimes that Junior College coaches are starting to notice.
Among the coaches taking the most notice is Iowa Western’s head man, Scott Strohmeier. The Richlandsource reports that Strohmeier recently appeared on the Omaha Radio show, The Bottom Line.
During that appearance, he made it clear that he thinks Scott Frost and company want to get a pipeline going between the two schools. Strohmeier added he’s more than happy to do his part to get a working relationship going between his program and the Cornhuskers.
"“I know that they’re evaluating our players and they’ve been here numerous times,” Strohmeier said. “So they’re putting themselves in a great position. Everybody’s said from day one it makes sense.”"
It does indeed make sense. Iowa Western is located in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
That’s literally a 10-minute drive from Omaha Central High. There’s no reason a recruiting visit to Omaha to see some of the state’s top high school talent shouldn’t include a stop to Iowa Western to check out some of the country’s best JUCO talent.
Under Bo Pelini and Mike Riley, the idea seemed to be that the program had to be built almost exclusively with four-year players. That was especially odd for Riley, who faced a talent deficit that could have been fixed with plug and play players like Greg Bell.
The running back showed what he could do in the spring game and is likely going to be the starter in 2018. Should Scott Frost and his coaches have avoided recruiting him because he won’t be a true freshman this fall?
While Bell didn’t come from Iowa Western, there is plenty of talent there. There are several players the Nebraska football team is either going after or could be targeted in the near future.