LINCOLN Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said Wednesday that he's not sure yet what he has with his recruiting class or how the players will fit on his new team.
He didn't recruit players specifically because of their positions, concern himself with which other teams were courting the same players or wonder how recruiting analysts would rank his class, he said.
"Everybody wants to talk about what the number one recruiting class is ... and they want to talk about who had a good class and who didn't have a good class. It's hard to say," Pelini said. "Talk to me two, three years down the road and I'll tell you how good a class it was."
The class of 25 freshmen and two junior college transfers ranked No. 30 by Rivals.com remarkable considering how far back recruiting was set with the firing of coach Bill Callahan on Nov. 24.
Pelini said he was looking for good football players who play with passion and attitude.
"We were looking for the best guys not necessarily needs oriented that could come in and play," Pelini said. "You have to address it that way when you don't know what you have, you don't know specifically what your needs are."
Pelini was hired Dec. 3, giving him three months to assemble his staff and recruit players. He also took time to coach LSU's defense in its national championship game against Ohio State. Pelini won the title with LSU but endured the decommitment of 14 players originally pledged to Callahan's staff, with seven going to Big 12 North schools.
"They took a difficult situation with kids decommitting all over the place and turned it around pretty quickly," Rivals.com national recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree said. "All the credit in the world needs to go to coach Pelini and his staff. They've done a tremendous job of picking up the pieces, hitting the ground running and putting together a potential top-25 group."
The only five-star recruit is offensive lineman Baker Steinkuhler out of Lincoln Southwest. The 6-foot-6, 290-pound son of Nebraska's 1983 Outland Trophy winner, Dean Steinkuhler, is a Parade All-American.
Five other in-state players signed, led by Collins Okafor. The Omaha Westside running back made a verbal commitment to the Huskers last fall, but he flirted with Stanford, Iowa and Kansas after Callahan's firing.
With Marlon Lucky entering his senior season, Okafor is seen as a key component of the class after running for 1,525 yards and 17 touchdowns last season.
Another player who wavered after Callahan's dismissal was Will Compton of Bonne Terre, Mo., who took a second look at Illinois and Missouri before recommitting to Nebraska late last month.
Crabtree said Compton and Okafor's decision to stick with Nebraska probably helped the Huskers' image in the eyes of other top prospects.
"It sent a signal to kids that they believe enough in Nebraska after the transition that maybe they need to take a longer look at them, also," Crabtree said.
Nebraska signed a quarterback in Kory Spano of Stephensville, Texas. Spano completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,190 yards as a senior, with 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Spano was one of nine players recruited from Texas, trumping the number of in-state recruits. Pelini said recruiting from Texas would be a priority of the program, but behind landing Nebraska players.
Crabtree said the Huskers landed potential gems in receivers Steven and Courtney Osborne of Garland, Texas; cornerback David Whitmore of Port Arthur, Texas; 6-4, 220-pound defensive end Josh Williams of Denton, Texas; and linebacker Sean Fisher out of Millard North.
Pelini said his staff was working to bring two more scholarship players to the program, but did not say who they were. He said he was sure one would sign with Nebraska but was unsure about the other.
Pelini also added 18 walk-on players in a bid to start rebuilding a part of the program that had significantly weakened under Callahan's tenure.
AP Sports Writer Eric Olson in Omaha, Neb., contributed to this report.
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