Late addition
Mason Wald was the final addition to Nebraska's signing class and brings his reputation as a hard-hitting safety to the Nebraska defense.
The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Wald is a fearless hitter who helped Vestavia Hills High School in Birmingham, Ala., to back-to-back appearances in the Alabama 6A state semifinals. He joins prep teammate Justin Rogers in Nebraska's 2008 class, giving the Huskers their first signees from Alabama since 2003.
Wald's play in 2007 helped Vestavia Hills and coach Buddy Anderson to an 11-3 record, including a victory over rival and national powerhouse Hoover High in the state quarterfinals, when Wald had six tackles and two interceptions. On the season, Wald finished with seven interceptions and more than 100 tackles.
For his outstanding play in 2007, Wald was a first-team Class 6A all-state pick by the Alabama Sports Writers Association and the Birmingham News named him a a member of its Super All-Metro team. Wald also played a key role during his junior season, also helping his team reach the state semifinals.
Messing with Texas
A distinct Texas flavor was apparent in Nebraska's 2008 recruiting class as a total of nine players from the Lone Star state signed with Nebraska.
Cornhuskers' coach Bo Pelini said the large haul of Texas talent was mostly due to the recruiting ties of assistant coaches Tim Beck a former Texas high school coach Ted Gilmore and Shawn Watson.
"We have to be able to recruit Texas to be able to have success in recruiting and it's going to be an emphasis for us," Pelini said. "Obviously, our primary area is now and always will be the state of Nebraska. That's where it has to start, begin and end.
"But then Texas is going to be a primary area outside of the state of Nebraska. Our success there hopefully is just a sign of things to come."
Impressive rally
With relatively little time to rebuild a Nebraska recruiting class that was dwindling in numbers after former coach Bill Callahan was fired and replaced by Pelini, the first-year Huskers' coach and his new staff managed to put together a class that was ranked among the top 30 in the nation by most recruiting services.
Pelini said he wasn't concerned with the defections that came after the coaching transition and that he and his staff simply continued to recruit as aggressively as they could.
"You have not gained or lost anybody until that fax comes across on singing day," Pelini said. "That's just the nature of recruiting today. We had a plan, we stuck with our plan and just keep working our butts off and things turned out well for us.
"How well? Well find out in the future."
What's next?
Now that Nebraska's 2008 recruiting class has signed, Pelini and his staff will quickly turn to preparations for spring football. The Red-White spring game is April 19.
"There's a lot to be concerned with as our staff moves forward," Pelini said. "We have time to be with our players the current guys on campus and become more familiar with them and getting involved in their offseason strength programs and getting them in good shape and heading in the right direction."
The next few weeks will also serve as time for the assistant coaches on Pelini's staff to become more familiar with each other and the schemes and techniques they'll be teaching.
"We've got to get going together," Pelini said. "We want to walk out on that field for the first spring practice and walk into the meeting room with our players so we're all on the same page and we're ready to take a big step forward."
Staff and wire reports
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