Applewhite Comes With Strong Reputation for Player Development

Recruiting credentials of new Nebraska running backs coach are harder to gauge

Scott Frost finalized his Nebraska football staff by hiring Bryan Applewhite to be his running backs coach. Frost gauged the interest of at least three coaches in the NFL, but was rebuffed. He was also reportedly interested in former LSU running backs coach Kevin Faulk. There's some thought that Faulk wants to take time away from coaching this season, however. His 19-year-old daughter, Kevione, who was a student worker for the LSU football team, passed away suddenly in September.

Frost interviewed several candidates throughout the last week of December. During the two-month process, Husker staffer Ron Brown's name was floated as a possibility, but Frost liked Brown at the position he currently holds in the program. Brown is an offensive analyst and acts as a mentor and advisor to Frost.

Sixth in a series examining Scott Frost's new assistants. • Intro • Mickey Joseph • Donovan Raiola • Mark Whipple • Bill Busch

It's believed the final decision came down to Applewhite and former Florida running backs coach Greg Knox. In a Jan. 19 interview on Sports Nightly, Applewhite described to Greg Sharpe the hectic week that followed his addition to the Huskers.

Frost officially offered Applewhite the job on Wednesday, Jan. 12. While the team was announcing his hire Thursday, Applewhite was busy packing his bags. He was in Lincoln on Friday for an important visit weekend coming out of the recruiting dead period. Nebraska was hosting the No. 1 rated juco running back in the country, Anthony Grant, and current transfer portal running back commit, Deondre Jackson from Texas A&M. Applewhite helped gain the commitment of Grant, and as soon as the visit weekend concluded on Sunday, he was on a plane back to Texas to start recruiting for the Huskers. He's been extremely active in the Lone Star State, having extended over 15 offers there in the last two weeks.

Applewhite, who signed a two-year deal that will pay him $325,000 per season, has a strong reputation for development. During his time as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Colorado State (2015-19), he coached two guys (Izzy Matthews and Dalyn Dawkins) who finished their careers in the top 10 of the Rams' career rushing list. Prior to that, he had spent five seasons at Louisiana-Monroe (2010-14) as their running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, as well. In that time, Applewhite coached two all-conference tailbacks for the Warhawks. It's been a theme for Applewhite. While at Wyoming (2003-08), he coached two of the three all-time leading rushers in Cowboys program history (Devin Moore and Wynel Seldon).

I'll be interested to see how he does as a recruiter at Nebraska. Applewhite has over two decades of experience, but other than the last two years at TCU, he has spent his career at lower-tier schools. To his credit, he recruited pretty well for the caliber of school he was coaching at the time. It's difficult to draw too much of a conclusion from his time with the Horned Frogs. His first season in Fort Worth was spent navigating through the height of the pandemic. He joined Gary Patterson's staff in February of 2020 and the COVID-19 induced recruiting dead period started a month later in mid-March. It wasn't lifted until June 1 last year, 444 days later. So for the majority of his time there, players weren't allowed to meet with coaches face-to-face, visit campuses or attend school-run events.

TCU signed the No. 1 rated running back in the 2020 class, five-star Zach Evans, who recently transferred to Ole Miss. But while Applewhite was involved in his recruitment, it was Patterson who took the lead and did the majority of the heavy lifting himself.

During this current recruiting cycle, Applewhite did gain the commitment of four-star running back Ajay Allen out of Neville High School in Monroe, Louisiana. Allen is still verbally committed to TCU, but he took an official visit to Nebraska last weekend as Applewhite and the Huskers are trying to flip him to the Big Red. Applewhite accompanied Scott Frost and Mickey Joseph on an in-home visit with Allen last Tuesday, the 25th, as the Huskers make a final push to get his signature on National signing day this Wednesday. It's believed to be a three-team race between Nebraska, Mississippi State and TCU, with the Huskers and Bulldogs thought to be the frontrunners.

Applewhite has deep recruiting ties in the Sun Belt. He's particularly well-connected in Texas and Louisiana, but has also reached into Oklahoma, Mississippi and Georgia. Kansas is another state where he's done well.

Applewhite is from Colorado, having graduated from Brighton High School in 1993. He played fullback at Northern Colorado and coached for nine years in the Centennial State at Northern Colorado (1999-2002) and Colorado State (2015-19). I'll be interested to see if he can gain a foothold there for the Huskers. I've always felt Colorado was an important state for the Huskers to try and have a presence.