We hit on the ups and downs of the new portal world we live in and more in today's Husker Weekly Rundown column.
Sure bets
You have to feel pretty good about these things right now:
Portal unknowns each day: When I first got into recruiting coverage over 20 years ago, January was always a crazy time, but the transfer portal has added a whole new level to that craziness.
Every single day the portal delivers surprises. This is not going away either. It's going to only pick up each and every year.
Back in June, Scott Frost knew the Huskers were going to be portal-heavy with their total numbers, but I think he's taken things up even another notch. When your job is on the line, we are seeing Frost and his staff do whatever it takes right now to improve this roster heading into 2022 with immediate impact-type players.
Major Memorial Stadium upgrades: The Nebraska Athletic Department sent out over 200,000 surveys to ticket holders about ideas to upgrade Memorial Stadium for the future.
The survey covered everything from stadium experience to gauging interest on new potential fan amenities in the stadium.
One of the survey questions gauged interest on a stadium club that would have a one-time initiation fee with monthly dues for members to enjoy. You get the sense Athletic Director Trev Alberts is ready to blow everything up to try and change the overall game-day experience at Memorial Stadium for the future.
I think you may even see a stadium re-seat that eliminates people grandfathered into seats with little to no donations into a more uniform system. This would actually lower donation prices across the board. You don't see very many schools at all have a system like Nebraska where ticket holders are essentially locked into low-level donation prices for life.
RB Anthony Grant: The running back room has been a complete rollercoaster at Nebraska this year, but I really like the addition of New Mexico Military's Anthony Grant. He was the top player in JUCO football in 2021 and should be in the conversation for serious carries in 2022. He arrives on campus Tuesday.
Mickey Joseph and Bill Busch on the road: If anyone wonders what type of recruiters Nebraska added in Mickey Joseph and Bill Busch, Friday sure gave us a sneak peek.
Busch went down to Wichita and made two offers to key 500-mile radius prospects in the class of 2023, while Joseph checked in on three key in-state targets.
Busch and Joseph aren't messing around, and they've added some serious recruiting muscle to Frost's staff. Anybody questioning that, just go look at their past recruiting track records.
