Advertisement
Published Jun 10, 2024
Monday Post-Grad Camp Observations
circle avatar
Steve Marik  •  InsideNebraska
Staff Writer
Twitter
@Steve_Marik

Nebraska hosted its post-grad camp on Monday inside the Hawks Championship Center. It was the four straight day of camps in Lincoln.

This was the same camp Nebraska found current defensive end James Williams and quarterback Luke Longval at last June. It was a group of about 50 athletes today.

Here are a handful of observations from the afternoon:

>> One of the campers on Monday was Ja'Kobe Clinton, the little brother of former Alabama and NFL safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who was at the camp to watch and show support.

Clinton, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound hybrid linebacker, was a member of the 2019 class and went to Seminole High School in Florida. He played at Alabama A&M his true freshman year but left during Covid.

After a year away from football, Clinton played at an NAIA program in Florida, Southeastern University, in 2022. After racking up 25 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack in four games while redshirting in 2022, Clinton played in 10 games in 2023 and recorded 50 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss, one sack, one interception and four passes defensed.

Clinton then transferred to Division II program Valdosta State in Georgia and competed there this past spring before entering the transfer portal. Now he's looking for a new home.

Clinton said his recruitment in the portal has been "hasty" with a handful of power conference programs showing interest, but not offering. A couple of those programs were Colorado and South Florida. Division II programs that have been talking to Clinton include Lenoir–Rhyne and West Florida.

"I think I did well. I still have stuff to work on as everybody does. Still more stuff to sharpen up," Clinton told Inside Nebraska of his camp performance on Monday afternoon.

Clinton, who was often coached by Nebraska linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek and assistant Josh Bringuel at the camp, said he knows Husker recruiting assistant Taylor Richards.

"He (Dvoracek) told me he was going to keep in contact with me and let me know," Clinton said. "And then the special teams coordinator (Ed Foley), he came up to me after the camp and told me he liked the way I looked, loved the way I ran and moved around. I had about three or four coaches say they wanted to keep in contact with me."

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

>> Another camper that caught my eye on Monday was Hayes Miller, a 6-foot,180-pound receiver who spent last season at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. As a freshman last fall, he caught three passes for 30 yards.

Miller, a Shawnee (Kan.) Mill Valley product, looked to be a well-built and fast wideout who flashed impressive speed and change-of-direction skills. He reports a 4.58-second 40-yard dash and a 36-inch vertical jump on his X account.

Miller has a busy summer of camps in front of him. Here are a handful of clips of his performance at the Lindenwood Mega Camp earlier this month:

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings
info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

>> There was a Dylan Raiola sighting on the field. The true freshman quarterback looked to be having fun walking around to different groups and chatting with campers and the Husker coaches.

During a water break, Raiola grabbed a football and started tossing it around the field. At one point while killing the time, he attempted to hit the field goal post from 40 yards out. He connected on the first attempt.

>> That wasn't the only quarterback sighting on Monday. It was confirmed that Northwestern (Iowa) quarterback Jalyn Gramstad was in attendance and was part of the group being coached by Husker quarterback coach Glenn Thomas.

Gramstad, a Lester, Iowa, native, was the NAIA Player of the Year in 2023 after passing for 3,681 yards and 35 touchdowns against nine interceptions while completing 68% of his attempts. The 6-foot, 190-pounder also rushed for 772 yards and eight scores.

As a sophomore in 2022, Gramstad, who came to Northwestern as a defensive back, completed 69% of his passes for 2,511 yards and 25 touchdowns with four interceptions. That year he also rushed for 1,024 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Nebraska currently has three scholarship quarterbacks in its program — Raiola, Heinrich Haarberg and Danny Kaelin — and two walk-ons in Luke Longval and Bode Soukup.

Gramstad has one season left of eligibility, as well as a redshirt year.

ENJOYING INSIDE NEBRASKA?

>> CONSIDER AN ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION for less than $2/week to unlock all of our premium articles and sound off on the hot topics on our INSIDER'S BOARD

>> Follow us on Twitter (@NebraskaRivals) and Instagram (@nebraskarivals)

>> Subscribe for free to the Inside Nebraska YouTube channel

Advertisement
Advertisement