Nebraska official visit preview: LB Tyler Martin

This weekend will be the second time that Tyler Martin will take a visit to Nebraska. However, this will be the first time he gets a chance to talk to the staff while he is on campus.

There is a personal relationship behind the recruiting relationship for the Cambridge (Mass.) Buckingham Brown & Nichols four-star linebacker with Nebraska which has Martin thankful for a second chance with the process.

“When I went out there to Nebraska with my mom the biggest thing was to just get a feel for it walking around campus,” Martin said. “I was sort of going through the process a lot earlier and my relationship with coach Brown at Michigan took ahold and took on a life of its own with Michigan.

“I honestly couldn’t be more grateful that this process is opened back up for me, getting to see a bunch of other schools and specifically Nebraska. If I had to do it all over again Nebraska would have gotten more of a look than the first time around."

The last visit to Nebraska had value. Its value was to show a little bit of what it's like to be a student at Nebraska. Martin needs to understand what it's like to be a student-athlete at Nebraska.

“This time around I am just looking forward to meeting the coaches in person. I talk almost every day with coach (Erik) Chinander, coach (Mike) Dawson and even head coach (Scott) Frost. They have been awesome throughout this process. This trip is really about meeting them, being face to face and also seeing the football facilities.

“I think that I kind of got a feel for what the student goes through daily by walking around campus and seeing all of the buildings and things. I want to see what the everyday life is like of a college football player at Nebraska. That is something that I am really looking forward to.”

The Huskers see Martin as a player that could play a couple of positions on defense potentially. The outside linebackers coach has been recruiting Martin for years now and has a professional relationship back to Martin's family being from the area.

“I have talked with coach (Barrett) Ruud and I have talked to coach Dawson as well," Martin said. "I think that Nebraska sees me as a versatile player that can play a little bit of both. Coach Dawson is the recruiting coach for this area and before he recruited me he was a high school athletic director here in Massachusetts which is what my mom does. They actually knew each other. I think that plays a role with coach Dawson taking a lead and being a go-to for my communication.

“I spoke with him on and off going back to my freshman year. Luckily for me, I have been able to get a second chance to go through this process again and he’s been awesome. Coach Ruud has also been awesome. The coaches at Nebraska could not have been better. I can’t wait just to meet them and shake their hand. It’s been a year and a half for everyone in this class to have to take all of this time off. I am just excited about all of it.”

Besides Nebraska, there will be other trips. Those other trips may not get to host Martin for the time that they are allotted based on an official visit mainly because Martin is getting started with recruiting in June a little later than others since his last day of school was Wednesday (June 9th).

“I am looking to get out to some other schools later in the month of June,” Martin said. “My official visits will typically go Friday through Sunday but I have been trying to do shorter, official visits for maybe just a couple of days. The weekend after Nebraska I will be at Arizona. I am also trying to get visits scheduled for Virginia and Virginia Tech. I am also trying to take visits to go and see Cal and Stanford. Those are just a few of the schools I am trying to take all of these visits.”

There are still a number of people that feel like Martin could end up a Wolverine at the end of it all. That is an ending that Martin just can't see right now.

“I was very, very close with not only coach Brown but the majority of that defensive staff," Martine said of his previous commitment to the Wolverines. "I had been communicating with most of them going back to eighth grade. It was a school that a lot of kids at that age that the first school that really shows interest in you brings you very close to the entire staff. I think at this point in the process I don’t see myself going to Michigan. A lot of that staff and coach Brown are no longer at Michigan.

“A lot of people tell you to pick a school that you would go to if football wasn’t in the picture. But as a football recruit that is really hard to accept. It’s hard to imagine a life without football when that is their dream and goal. I think feeling like I am really part of the football team and the family athletically as well as academically with the school is a very important thing for me. I think at the end of the day I just don’t think I can get back to that point with Michigan.”