Dwight Bootle photo via Twitter
2023 Husker Signee Analysis: Defensive Backs
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The Husker secondary will be a very interesting position group to keep tabs on this spring. Nebraska returns all four starters from last season with corners Quinton Newsome and Malcolm Hartzog, along with safeties Myles Farmer and Marques Buford. The Huskers also return their top nickelback in Isaac Gifford.
Besides the frontline guys, they also return scholarship players Braxton Clark, Tamon Lynum, DeShon Singleton, Omar Brown and Javin Wright who have played significant snaps in their careers. Then there are the youngsters the previous staff was high on like Javier Morton, Jalil Martin, Koby Bretz, Kaine Williams and Gage Stenger. What about former highly rated recruits like Tyreke Johnson and Noa Pola-Gates? Do they click in Tony White's defense? Walk-on Phalen Sanford saw snaps over scholarship guys last season; where does he fit in?
This is the final installment in Jeremy Pernell's series on the recruiting class of 2023. |
The new Nebraska football staff grabbed Corey Collier out of the transfer portal from Florida. He's coming to take someone's job. I also anticipate Tommi Hill moving back to defense. That would make 19 scholarship defensive backs on the roster not counting the five high schoolers they took in this class. Competition is going to be intense this spring. Much like the receiver position, you're going to see significant attrition from this group in May.
With essentially the entire room coming back, the previous staff planned on taking only two or three defensive backs. Even so, they struggled gaining any headway with guys in the spring and summer. It was next to impossible after the writing was on the wall three games into the season.
The new staff came in and wanted to give the room a bit of a makeover knowing a coaching change inevitably results in attrition. Not knowing how the guys on the roster would fit in Tony White's system also necessitated grabbing a few guys who did.
Head coach Matt Rhule ended up inheriting the lone member of Travis Fisher's defensive back class. Dwight Bootle II publicly committed to the previous staff on January 31, 2022, four days after getting his offer. As most of you know, his older brother Dicaprio played for the Huskers between 2016-20. He started 32 consecutive games and is now a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Bootle was a frequent visitor while Dicaprio was on the team and grew up wanting to follow in his brother's footsteps by playing for the Huskers. Dwight started making a name for himself in South Florida following a solid sophomore season at Palmetto High School. He received offers from Syracuse, Marshall and Florida Atlantic, but his stock really started to take off in June 2021 after top performances at several camps.
Bootle was a standout in team camps at Florida State and Miami and at a Satellite Camp held at Florida International. There were coaches from several schools in attendance at the FIU camp, including a few from Nebraska. Bootle was arguably the camp's best-looking defensive back.
After making a name for himself at the FIU camp, Power Five offers soon arrived from Washington State, Ole Miss, Pitt, Michigan, Indiana, Boston College and Kansas. Even so, Travis Fisher chose to wait and see how his junior season played out. Bootle spent the rest of the summer taking unofficial visits to Michigan, Florida, Miami, Pitt, Ole Miss and Indiana.
Bootle enjoyed a great junior season after transferring to Miami Killian High School, playing both safety and cornerback for the Cougars. After finishing with 67 tackles, 22 pass breakups, and an interception, he was named to the Miami Herald All-Dade 5A-IND third team. Other notable offers from Louisville, South Florida, Northwestern and Coastal Carolina followed.
In January 2022, Bootle participated in the All-American Bowl National Combine, where he was one of the most impressive defensive backs in attendance. Schools like Wisconsin, Oklahoma, North Carolina and West Virginia started getting involved in his recruitment. Towards the end of the month, Travis Fisher went down to Miami to check in on him. After being impressed by the physical gains Bootle had made since his showing at the FIU camp, Fisher decided to extend him the offer he'd long been waiting for. Bootle accepted the next day.
Bootle continued to stand out on the camp circuit and during 7-v-7 events during the spring and summer. He was back in Lincoln for a Junior Day on March 5, and again for his official visit June 17-19, during the team's second Friday Night Lights camp. Bootle was hosted by Jalil Martin and also spent a lot of time around fellow Floridian Tamon Lynum. He continued to bond with Travis Fisher and spent a lot of the weekend just enjoying campus and the events going on.
He raised a few eyebrows when he participated in Billy Napier's first Friday Night Lights camp at Florida in late July despite being a Husker commit. Bootle said he did it for the competition since several of the best players in the region were going to take part. Once again, he stood out during one-on-ones.
Bootle transferred back to Palmetto for his senior year, and after Scott Frost was fired three weeks into the 2022 season, started hearing from several schools. Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Oregon and Pitt were among the schools that reached out, with the Yellow Jackets and Commodores in particular giving him something to think about. He considered taking visits to check a few schools out but never did.
Once it became clear there would be a new coach taking over, Bootle wondered where he would fit in the new staff's plans. Less than four hours after officially being hired, Matt Rhule phoned Bootle to assure him he was wanted at Nebraska. He let Bootle know that Evan Cooper would be his secondary coach and a few days later, the two were bonding over their shared backgrounds being from Dade County. More accurately, they were alumni to the same high school.
Despite not being retained by Rhule, Travis Fisher encouraged Bootle to stick to his pledge. The two had grown extremely tight over the years and Bootle respected that Fisher was still looking out for him.
After bonding with Cooper and researching Rhule, Bootle had no intentions of backing off his commitment. In fact, he immediately began peer recruiting for the Huskers. His former high school teammate, 2021 Rivals five-star safety Corey Collier, had entered the transfer portal on December 4. He helped Collier get in contact with the new Husker staff.
Then, he took his second Husker official visit during the same weekend Collier came to town, December 16-18. Bootle (and Collier) loved the energy and vibe the new coaching staff had and really bonded with Tony White and Evan Cooper. Bootle reaffirmed his commitment and Collier decided to join him at Nebraska during the visit. Both are already on campus together and participating in winter conditioning. They'll try and use spring ball to get a leg up on earning playing time this fall.
It might seem like a lazy comparison, but Dwight's game is very reminiscent of his older brother Dicaprio's. Despite being undersized, both are willing tacklers and don't shy away from contact. Dwight is uber-athletic, like Dicaprio, but is probably a step slower. Then again, Dicaprio got on Mike Riley's radar during a Satellite Camp in Miami after running a 4.34 40-yard dash, so there's no shame in that. Besides, Dwight is far from slow.
Dwight is more refined in his technique at this stage than Dicaprio was but will need to add some mass and increase his upper body strength like his brother. Bootle has played everywhere in the secondary as a prepster but is probably best suited in a nickelback role as an inside defensive back.
Nebraska's staff has several coaches and staff members with deep East Coast ties. That list includes Matt Rhule, Tony White, Marcus Satterfield, Ed Foley, E.J. Barthel, Evan Cooper, Terrance Knighton, Rob Dvoracek and recruiting staffers Omar Hales and Adam DiMichele. Needless to say, if there's a recruit in Pennsylvania or New Jersey that's worth knowing, these coaches are going to find out.
Thanks to those connections, this staff was able to identify and prioritize one of the best safeties in the region. Rahmir Stewart was originally offered by Scott Frost and his staff back on May 19, 2020, but the previous coaches were never seriously considered by the Philadelphia (Pa.) Imhotep Institute standout.
Matt Rhule zeroed in on the 6-foot, 195-pound Stewart almost immediately, offering him a scholarship on November 28, less than 48 hours after taking the Husker job. Evan Cooper took point in Stewart's recruitment and was assisted by Omar Hales, a Philadelphia native who was the defensive coordinator at Imhotep from 2010-13. Stewart had known Hales since he was eight years old and his familiarity with so many coaches on staff vaulted the Huskers to the top of his list.
Stewart had a fascinating recruitment. He exploded on the scene as a freshman starter for one of Pennsylvania's best teams. He earned Philadelphia All-Public League honors and was also named MaxPreps Freshman All-American. Matt Rhule offered him while he was still at Baylor in September 2019, as did West Virginia, Pitt and Maryland.
His recruitment took off in January 2020 when teams were able to go on the road during the month-long contact period. Stewart earned offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Boston College, Florida, Georgia, Iowa State, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and USC - all before the start of his sophomore campaign.
Stewart went into that season being named MaxPreps Preseason Sophomore All-American. He enjoyed another solid year and earned additional offers from Cincinnati, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, Syracuse and Virginia Tech. Over the years, Stewart took several visits to Penn State, as well as West Virginia. He also visited Texas A&M, Tennessee and Oregon.
When the initial 2023 recruiting rankings were released a few years ago, Stewart was ranked as the No. 1 safety and a top 15 player overall. As the ensuing months went by, however, Stewart's rating gradually declined. The recruiting services still ranked him among the top 100 prospects nationally heading into his junior season, but by the time he was a senior, he lost his four-star status altogether.
With dozens of major Power Five offers in hand, last spring Stewart narrowed his focus to 12 schools: Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Iowa State, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Texas A&M and USC. Over the last year there were several ebbs and flows in Stewart's recruitment, with Texas A&M and Penn State generally being considered the favorites to land his commitment.
Toward the end of his senior season, the primary players in Stewart's recruitment were Texas A&M, Kentucky, Syracuse, Maryland, Rutgers and Jackson State. In October, Stewart took an official visit to JSU to check out Deion Sanders' program, but by the time Matt Rhule and Nebraska got into the picture, Stewart was deciding between Kentucky, Syracuse and Rutgers.
Stewart visited Kentucky the weekend of December 10 and then was accompanied by Imhotep associate coach Cyril Woodland for his official visit to Lincoln the following weekend. The addition of Tony White as defensive coordinator put the Huskers over the top. The two had a strong relationship from White's time courting him to Syracuse.
Stewart grew fond of White's 3-3-5 scheme and how he could fit into it. With White now part of Rhule's staff at Nebraska, it was a perfect match. Stewart ended up committing during his official visit and announcing it on Twitter Saturday night before leaving town. Along with fellow signee Vincent Carroll-Jackson, Stewart is the first Pennsylvania native to sign with the Huskers out of high school since 1999.
It's a mystery why Stewart's recruiting profile took such a drastic hit as an upperclassmen. His play on the field never dipped and he finished his career at Imhotep being named 5A Public League MVP as a senior. My best guess is that his frame is the culprit. He's basically the same size he was as a sophomore and some schools may have felt he'd reached his ceiling and had limited upside.
Matt Rhule and Tony White would seem to disagree. Stewart has an extremely high football IQ. He played primarily free safety at Imhotep, but I feel he best profiles as an in-the-box strong safety who could make plays near the line of scrimmage. His film shows an aggressive, physical player who seeks contact. He seems like a really good fit in the Big Ten.
Husker EDGE signee Kai Wallin is a good example of how going the juco route can help hit the refresh button on your recruitment. Another strategy being utilized is reclassifying and playing a season somewhere as a post-graduate. That's the option defensive back Syncere Safeeullah decided to take.
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Safeeullah was initially part of the 2022 class after playing at Nashville (Tenn.) Hillsboro High School. He was regarded as the No. 1 defensive back in the state by Prep Redzone, but after graduating, opted to enroll at IMG Academy to play for their post-grad team.
Safeeullah was mostly a soccer player while growing up. He'd first played football in middle school but didn't initially play the sport when he entered high school. As luck would have it, towards the end of Safeeullah's freshman year, Hillsboro's defensive coordinator, Anthony Brown, saw Syncere's father picking him up from school. Turns out, Brown and Ahmed had played football together at Tennessee State in the early 2000s. Brown urged his former teammate to encourage Syncere to come out for football. Safeeullah was on the team the next season.
Getting such a late start to the sport, Syncere and his father spent the next few summers traveling up and down the East Coast attending camps in the hopes of getting noticed. They were mainstays in North Carolina and Virginia, while also making stops in Connecticut. In June 2021, Safeeullah participated in the Michigan Football Showcase. It was a huge mega-camp that included well over 100 prospects who held offers at the time, with over 50 attendees already holding Power Five offers. Seventy different college staffs were represented, including 20 head coaches. Despite those efforts, Safeeullah’s recruitment didn't gain the steam they'd wanted. That's when Safeeullah decided to take a postgraduate year at IMG Academy.
Thanks to COVID shortening the 2020 season, Safeeullah essentially arrived at IMG with only 2½ years of playing experience. Regardless, he showed off his long-term potential. In 11 games last fall, he finished with 43 tackles, seven interceptions (two returned for touchdowns), 11 pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a blocked punt. He only allowed three touchdowns all season in coverage.
Safeeullah helped IMG Academy win the 2022 National Post Grad Athletic Association National Championship. In the division championship game, Safeeullah was targeted seven times but didn't allow a completion, while breaking up four passes and grabbing two interceptions. His gamble paid off. His play earned him offers from Alabama-Birmingham, Boston College, Kentucky, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.
Secondary coach Evan Cooper identified Safeeullah not long after arriving at Nebraska and jumped into his recruitment with an offer on December 7. The two formed an immediate bond and after numerous conversations, Safeeullah decided to secure his spot in the class. He announced his commitment publicly on Twitter December 12, and was in Lincoln for an official visit that upcoming weekend, December 16-18, where he hit it off with fellow DB commit Dwight Bootle.
Stop me if you've heard this already, but Safeeullah also participated in track while at Hillsboro. He ran the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters, with personal best of 11.56 (100m), 23.82 (200m) and 55.38 (400m). Cooper envisions Safeeullah as a boundary corner who could eventually grow into a safety. Like Bootle, Safeeullah is already on campus and will participate in spring practices.
Travis Fisher preferred bigger defensive backs and prioritized height and length on the recruiting trail. Exceptions were occasionally made if the staff evaluated a kid who possessed the right amount of talent, athleticism and savvy to warrant looking past less-than-desirable measurables. Marques Buford and Malcolm Hartzog are notable examples.
We also know how much Matt Rhule and Evan Cooper value big-framed athletes who can run with quick-twitch explosion. So you can expect this staff to continue to look for players who fit requisite physical attributes. At the same time, you can also expect them to make exceptions for kids if they are talented enough in other key areas. Much like Buford and Hartzog, Ethan Nation falls squarely into that category.
Travis Fisher and the previous staff had offered the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Nation back on February 21, 2021, during the COVID dead period, but their interest wasn't reciprocated.
Nation was named MaxPreps Sophomore All-American after grabbing eight interceptions for Roswell High School, one of the better 6A teams in Georgia. His recruitment exploded that year. In November 2020, Tennessee, Florida State and Penn State all offered within a week of each other to become Nation's first Power Five offers. That was just the tip of the iceberg.
Now a national commodity, in the spring and summer of 2021, Nation embarked on a whirlwind tour of college campuses. He took several visits to Auburn and Tennessee, while also making stops at Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Florida, Miami, Ohio State and Notre Dame.
By the time he was set to start his junior season, he'd received nearly 40 more offers from every Power Five conference. Yes, forty. Among them were Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC, among dozens of others.
Nation's recruitment is very reminiscent of Rahmir Stewart's. Both were absolute phenoms early in their high school careers, but both sort of topped out physically and haven't grown much since their sophomore seasons. Some schools may have feared they already peaked. But like Stewart, Nation never stopped producing on the field and was always a standout.
A two-way player for Roswell, Nation followed up his breakout sophomore campaign with 37 tackles as a junior. Teams avoided throwing to his side of the field, so he only finished with one interception and three pass breakups. However, on offense, he caught 45 passes for 565 yards and 10 touchdowns.
As a senior, Nation totaled 36 tackles on defense with three interceptions and 11 pass break-ups. He also caught 27 passes for 427 yards and three scores, while finishing with 629 all-purpose yards. He was named Region 7 Co-Athlete of the Year for his efforts. Nation was also selected to play in the prestigious Under Armour All-American Game, where he was singled out for having a strong week of practices facing some of the best wide receivers in the 2023 class.
ESPN ranked Nation as a four-star prospect and the No. 168 player in the country. Despite national recognition for being one of the better cornerbacks in the Southeast, no school had separated itself as a leader in his recruitment as the early signing period drew near. That opened the door for Nebraska and one of the most interesting courtships of this signing class.
Nation trains with Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn, who Evan Cooper coached the past two seasons as Carolina's cornerbacks coach. That's how Nation initially got on the Huskers' radar. Cooper loved his film and went into overdrive to try and get involved in his recruitment.
On Friday, December 16, the final weekend before the December 21 early signing period, Cooper tried to get in contact with Nation. Not recognizing the number, Nation ignored the first couple phone calls. In the middle of getting a tattoo, Nation finally answered after another attempt.
During their conversation, Cooper offered Nation a scholarship and asked if he would be available to come to Lincoln for an official visit. Nation said yes. Three hours later, and with the tattoo finished, Nation was on his way to Nebraska.
While on campus, he clicked instantly with Evan Cooper and Matt Rhule. Husker coaches did a great job of showing him how he could be used at several different secondary spots in the new defense. Nation left Lincoln with a good feeling about the program and its trajectory under the new staff.
Prior to Nebraska getting involved, Nation was still considering several schools. Among them were Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, UCLA and Colorado. Coming out of his trip to Lincoln, however, he had narrowed his focus on a final group consisting of Nebraska, Ohio State, Auburn and Houston.
Nation spoke with Jaycee Horn and JT Ibe about their experiences working with Matt Rhule, Evan Cooper and Corey Campbell with the Carolina Panthers. Both players had glowing remarks for each of those coaches.
With Nebraska being his only official visit, Nation initially intended on bypassing the early signing period to take more visits and sign in February. His time on campus coupled with the feedback he'd gotten changed his mind. He ended up signing with Nebraska on December 21, but didn't announce it publicly until January 3, during the pregame of the Under Armour All-America Game on ESPN2.
During his visit, Husker coaches told Nation he could play every spot in the secondary. He's certainly going to need time in the weight room to build his body, but initially, he could see time early as a slot corner. Nation is an ultra-competitive and confident player. I love those traits in a cornerback. He plays with good technique and has tremendous ball skills. Depending on how he fills out, he will either stay and thrive as a nickel corner or be able to expand his role as an outside corner, likely playing the field side.
If you want to try and glean a glass half-full outlook on Matt Rhule's late arrival, you could point to his need to leave no stone unturned in his search for players. We've heard him comment several times about how much the recruiting process has sped-up over the years. That inevitably leads to countless late bloomers getting overlooked. Rhule has commented how while he was at Carolina, he'd end up identifying NFL talent at FCS schools, which lead him to wondering how bigger schools let those guys get away.
He's mentioned wanting to find those guys and getting them to Lincoln, instead of watching them end up at North Dakota State, South Dakota State, or some other lower-level program. The way recruiting has evolved over the past several cycles, most teams are filling their classes by the time the season kicks off in September. Schools are 90% full and are spending the last few months of the cycle chasing four- and five-star players who extend their recruitments.
Guys who don't hit their stride physically or developmentally until their senior years are ending up at Group of Five or FCS schools. Moving forward, I'll be interested in seeing how Rhule navigates his recruiting classes and how much space he leaves for these sorts of players that he uncovers in November and December. Schools that bring in top 15 classes every year aren't losing sleep over missing on guys like Eric Fields, Vincent Carroll-Jackson and Ismael Smith Flores. I think Rhule will have Nebraska recruiting at that level soon, but I also know how much stock he puts into finding those kinds of guys as well. He built his roster at Baylor with guys like Brice Turner, Kwinten Ives, Jason Maciejczak, Jaylen Lloyd and Jeremiah Charles. It's going to be a fascinating dynamic moving forward.
Another example of a late find by this staff is Colorado athlete D’Andre Barnes. It harkens back to my previous point about this staff constantly looking for talent. It's just a great example of the staff not being complacent and simply turning the page on the 2023 class, even in late January.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield was in the Denver area scouting and recruiting for the 2024 class. His travels took him through Aurora and he thought of Regis Jesuit High School. They weren't on his itinerary, but knowing they're one of the best programs in the state, he decided to call their head coach, Dan Filleman, and ask if he could stop by unannounced.
The new staff had already recruited two Regis Jesuit players when they got to Nebraska. Matt Rhule tried to keep former Frost linebacker commit Hayden Moore in the class but lost him to Michigan. He also offered tight end Andrew Metzger, who ended up signing with Kansas State after visiting Lincoln.
When Satterfield sat down to talk with Filleman, the coach mentioned Barnes and said he was flying under the radar. Until receiving an offer from BYU in mid-January, Barnes had been mulling over options from Air Force, Bowling Green, Nevada and Wyoming. Nebraska's offensive coordinator was given his track numbers and watched his film. He relayed the information to Husker staffers and the team moved quickly to get Barnes on campus for a visit during the last weekend in January.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Barnes played wide receiver and strong safety for Regis Jesuit, and Nebraska - led by Satterfield - was initially interested in him on offense. After reconvening with Rhule and the rest of the Husker staff, the team pivoted. The plan now is to give Barnes a look on defense, likely at cornerback.
The Huskers hosted Barnes January 27-29 and he really hit it off with Tony White and Evan Cooper. The staff ended up offering him a scholarship at the conclusion of his visit. When Nebraska got involved, he was deciding between BYU and Wyoming, whom he had visited in the fall. Barnes talked to teammates Hayden Moore and Andrew Metzger about their interactions with Rhule and their opinions of Nebraska. Even though both players ended up elsewhere, they had nothing but good things to say about both.
Barnes signed with Nebraska on February 1, during the traditional signing period.
Barnes earned honorable-mention 5A all-state honors as a senior. He finished with 55 tackles, one tackle for loss, six interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), eight pass break-ups, and two forced fumbles. He also led the team with 247 kick return yards and 93 punt return yards and returned one kickoff for a touchdown. Barnes collected a combined 74 receptions for 1,430 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior and senior, and totaled 2,579 all-purpose yards in his final three seasons at Regis Jesuit.
And yes, Barnes is also a track standout. He's the reigning 200-meter state champion in Colorado with a personal best of 21.49 seconds and has also been timed in the 100 meters at 10.69. He also runs on the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams.
Related: HuskerMax 2023 recruiting central
