The fullback position at Nebraska has been defined by great blue-collar in-state athletes like Tom Rathman, Cory Schlesinger, Joel Makovicka, Jeff Makovicka and most recently Andy Janovich.
All of these former Huskers had a lot in common. They came to Lincoln from smaller communities/schools as undeveloped football players, but most importantly they were great athletes with unmatched work ethics.
When you look at this year’s Nebraska Shrine Bowl roster the next Rathman or Schlesinger might be under our nose, but we don’t even realize it yet.
Columbus Scotus fullback/kicker Jake Bos finished his high school career as arguably the most accomplished three-sport athlete in the state. He played a vital role as an all-state fullback/linebacker/kicker on the Shamrock’s Class C-1 state championship football team. He even drilled a 53 and 42-yard field goals wearing a cowboy collar in their state championship win over Norfolk Catholic in Memorial Stadium.
What’s even more impressive is as a wrestler in Class B, Bos finished second place in the 195-pound weight class with a 49-8 record. It was only his third year ever wrestling, and just the fourth-year Scotus even fielded a wrestling team.
However, maybe his most impressive feat came on the soccer field, where he was an all-state midfielder on the Shamrock’s three-consecutive Class B state championship teams.
With a list of accomplishments like this, one might think the 5-foot-11, 210 pound Bos had a laundry list of college options. Sure he heard from the likes of Nebraska-Kearney and even had walk-on offers from Wyoming and Iowa State to kick, but he put all of that aside to pursue a lifelong “dream” – to walk-on at Nebraska.
The only thing is, as of June 1 he’s not been guaranteed a roster spot, and instead will have to try his luck in the open walk-on try out this fall.
“Our head football coach got me some contacts at Nebraska, and they said they didn’t have a spot on the team for a walk-on yet, but they said if I came and tried out I could maybe get a spot,” Bos said.
It almost seems nuts an athlete like Bos is not even guaranteed a spot on the roster at this point as walk-on. Years ago, these were the type of walk-ons Tom Osborne made a living on. Kids that were great multi-sport athletes with upside, but needed to get into the strength program for two to three years to develop into Division I football players. That’s what was different about Nebraska and Osborne recognized that. Very few of the state’s top prospects were fully developed, and Osborne recognized it was his job to make that happen once they got to NU.
Look no further than Schlesinger. Coming out of Columbus High School in 1990, Gary Schlesinger, the father of Cory said his son wasn’t even 190 pounds. Like Bos, he played fullback and linebacker and was a state champion 189-pound wrestler.
Gary Schlesinger has worked with Bos and coached him in wrestling the last three years at Scotus. He told me on Tuesday that Bos is the closest type of athlete he’s seen to his son Cory, who started fullback for the Huskers on the 1994 national championship team and played 13 years in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins.
“I think he has what it takes to be a great fullback at the college level,” Gary Schlesinger said of Bos. “I watched the kid, he hits hard and he has a lot of desire. I think he can make it easy as a Division I fullback. That’s just my opinion. His worth ethic is phenomenal. He’s not afraid to work to get done what he wants to accomplish.”
When you look at a player like Bos you almost have to look beyond the film. His accomplishments speak for themselves, and his combination of balance, speed, agility and power are rare in today’s era of high school athletes.
Gary Schlesinger has actually had Bos talk with his son Cory multiple times over the last couple years to encourage him to follow his dream.
“I wanted Cory to talk to (Bos) to tell him to just believe in yourself,” Gary Schlesinger said. “Just believe. If you believe in yourself and you can accomplish whatever you want to accomplish by believing. There’s a lot of great athletes that don’t go a long way because they don’t believe in their selves. I always say ‘I’m just as good as anyone, not better.’ You have to have that kind of mentality. You can’t let anyone scare you away.”
And even though Nebraska hasn’t guaranteed Bos a thing at this point, the elder Schlesinger is very confident he’s a guy we could be talking about four or five years from now if he develops to his full potential.
“My whole philosophy was when I talked to Cory and I talked to Jake (Bos) is Nebraska, even going there to walk-on, they are giving you the opportunity,” Gary Schlesinger said. “Now how much of this opportunity do you want to take advantage of? If you are willing to die for them they will die for you. That’s the way Nebraska’s coaches are.
“Nebraska can easily put on 30 to 40 pounds on Jake. Look at Cory. He came in as the 189-pound state champion (wrestler) and left Nebraska at 240. They’ve got the program.”
You can watch Bos and the state’s other top football player take part in the Nebraska Shrine Bowl on Saturday at 2 pm in Kearney. The game will be televised on NET.
