When the smoke clears on the 2026 recruiting class, the biggest question surrounding Nebraska football will be, “was their in-state approach a success or a massive failure?”
That in-state approach, as head coach Matt Rhule has made clear, had to change because of the upcoming 105-man roster limits. It’s meant that the Huskers could not go out and offer several players who are among the best in the state. And because of that, they’ve seen those players go to other programs. Chief among them has been Iowa State.
The latest in-state kid who won’t be playing for the Nebraska football team is Millard South quarterback Jett Thomalla. He announced he’d committed to the Cyclones on Friday afternoon and marks the fifth player from the start to join ISU’s 2026 commit list.
Is Nebraska football’s in-state recruiting strategy backfiring in 2026?
That would have simply been unheard of even a year ago. The Huskers simply would not have allowed that much talent to leave the state. Especially to a school that might have had a better record the last few years but still isn’t considered on NU’s level when it comes to resources. And certainly not in comparison to program history.
Thomalla is well aware that the Matt Campbell’s latest class is full of guys from all over his home state. “It’s cool that we’re all committed,” Thomalla told the Omaha World Herald. “I guess we’re a bunch of Nebraska ‘Clones.”
It’s worth pointing out that most of the “clones” count Iowa State as their only power conference offer. However, it’s different for Thomalla. The Millard South product is a four-star quarterback target who threw for a Class A record 3,664 yards and 47 touchdowns last season.
He had offers from Iowa, Duke, Virginia Tech, Arizona and Missouri, among others. He is someone who likely gets an NU offer if Dayton Raiola wasn’t on board early. Instead, it was clear for a while now he wasn’t going to be a Cornhusker.
There’s a narrative forming, mostly from the Iowa State side. But if the Cyclones keep having the kind of success they had last year, the Nebraska football team is going to have to keep pace or better, or risk that narrative becoming louder.