Huskers should consider Colman or Garrison for Rucker-like position

By Marc Hudgens  |   Sunday, March 30, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Nebraska Cornhuskers
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When I first read about Ken Rucker's new job as the Texas football program's new Director of High School Relations and Player Development back in January, I immediately thought, "this sounds like a veiled renaming of the old 'recruiting coordinator' position", which was essentially outlawed as a separate position by the NCAA several years ago. But since it's apparently working, maybe Nebraska should consider doing the same thing with either Doug Colman or John Garrison, recently-hired ex-Husker players who have yet to be assigned duties.

According to the Longhorns' official website, the former running back coach's new job description is described as:

"In his new role, Rucker will work extensively with the High School Coaches Clinic and summer camps while assisting with the development of the Longhorn football players. He will also work closely in managing prospects visits on campus and coordinate campus and facility tours for unofficial visits. In working with the current team, Rucker will help to manage and oversee many of their off-the-field responsibilities while assisting in their community service efforts."

Glamming up job titles is nothing new though; in the job market your run-of-the-mill customer service rep positions are now being coined as "account managers" and "solutions specialists" while sales reps are now called "account executives", "relationship specialists" and "consultants." The god is in the details, as they say, and Rucker's job description strongly appears to lend itself to recruiting coordinator activities regardless of the wordy title.

Ted Gilmore currently wears three hats at Nebraska; assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Schools can have recruiting coordinators but they, in essence, also have to be a coach. But we all know recruiting is the lifeblood of your traditionally elite football powers, so it stands to reason you'd need one person wholly dedicated to it. Maybe even Gilmore would welcome someone like a Garrison or a Colman coming along and taking the enormous coordinator responsibilities off his shoulders so he could concentrate on coaching.

This would be a great new position for the program, given Nebraska's nationwide recruiting base and especially given that head coach Bo Pelini and company want to invade the state of Texas like never before during the offseason. A traditional power like Nebraska would need a Director of High School Relations and Player Development or whatever you want to call it.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He ...
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