NU lands O-Line commit
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
When Nebraska first showed interested in Jess Coffey, the big lineman admits he initially felt like it was just another school.
“Like it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
But the offensive tackle started doing his research, and while Nebraska wasn’t exactly a shining example of football excellence in recent years, he found this was a program with a tradition hard to resist.
“When I went up there and visited, it was a great experience, definitely by far the best experience of all the colleges I visited,” said the native of Denton, Texas. “Not only were the facilities amazing, but the people were just good people.”
So, heck, why not go live there for a while and play some football?
The 6-foot-7, 290-pound Coffey plans on doing just that after orally committing to the Huskers this week.
Arkansas, Utah and Washington State were among the schools that offered him, but ultimately it came down to NU and Kansas.
“They were about even with everything, but Nebraska just has more tradition, and maybe gave me a better chance for the next level,” Coffey said.
Husker head coach Bo Pelini has never tried to keep it a secret that he feels Nebraska has to recruit like mad in Texas.
Of the seven commits Nebraska is known to have right now, four are from the Lone Star State. Quarterback Cody Green, running back Dontrayevous Robinson and defensive tackle Thaddeus Randle are the others. Coffey is the first offensive lineman in the 2009 class.
The guy who scored a 1360 on his SAT and 28 on his ACT is just glad to have a decision out of the way before his senior season.
“I’m tired of the recruiting process,” he said. “I’ve been going through it since my first offer came my sophomore year.”
Running backs coach Tim Beck was the main recruiter for NU, but Coffey said his meeting with Bo Pelini also left him feeling like Nebraska was the way to go.
“He has a lot the same attitude as the coach I play for now: laid back, but also going to give it to you how it is,” Coffey said. “He’s not going to lie to you in any way, or try to convince you of something that’s not true, and I like that.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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