Xander Ruggeroli via X
2024 Husker Signee Analysis: Offensive Lineman Xander Ruggeroli
Matt Rhule has had a bit of a learning curve with his first full recruiting cycle as head football coach at Nebraska. He's had to maneuver around class numbers and get accustomed to the transfer portal and navigating around NIL - two recruiting pillars that weren't around when he was at Temple and Baylor.
I think he's also had to get used to the weight that the "N" still carries on the recruiting trail. With the team struggling under the previous two staffs and not making a bowl game since 2016, I think Rhule may have underestimated the caliber of recruit he could bring to Nebraska during his rebuild phase.
I think he may have jumped the gun a bit on a few early offers and got into a numbers crunch in the fall when there were a few big targets still lingering. I think he'll probably tweak a few things and adjust moving forward.
Luckily a program like Nebraska has the resources available through the 1890 Initiative - their primary NIL collective - to entice scholarship-caliber players to join the program as "walk-ons." I put quotations around walk-on because those players will not count against the 85 scholarship limit, but they'll have everything paid for through NIL. It's a brilliant way to sidestep the 85 limit and supplement your roster with Power Five-caliber players.
With a 2024 graduating class in the mid-teens and the staff wanting to bring in another large crop of high school players to build a foundation around, there needed to be some creative measures taken to get some of these kids on campus.
One position group the staff wanted to bring an influx of talent was the O-line, and particularly the tackle spot. Even with Grant Brix on board, there was a need for another developmental tackle prospect.
Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman offensive lineman Xander Ruggeroli was someone O-line coach Donovan Raiola had on his radar for quite a while. He was one of the first 2024 players Raiola offered, doing so back on March 18, 2022, while he was still getting settled on the previous staff. It was Ruggeroli's first offer.
Ruggeroli is relatively new to football, having been primarily a basketball player growing up. He picked up the sport in high school and split time between the two until his junior season at powerhouse Bishop Gorman, when he focused solely on the gridiron. His natural talent was evident immediately.
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Less than two weeks after receiving his Husker offer, Ruggeroli participated in the annual Polynesian Bowl combine held in his home city of Las Vegas. More than 500 prospects representing more than 30 different states participated in the camp that was held on Bishop Gorman's campus, and he was singled out as one of the top overall performers. A few months later in late May, he stood out again at The ESPN 300 Elite Underclassmen Camp, also held at Bishop Gorman.
Those camp performances earned him additional offers from Colorado State and Fresno State.
Even so, he wasn't an immediate contributor on varsity. Bishop Gorman is one of the best programs in the country. Since 2007, they've been state champions every year except 2008 and 2019. They've also been crowned national champions by USA Today and MaxPreps four times during that stretch: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2023.
He played a handful of games as a junior while he worked on his game. Because of this, he flew under the radar for the next year.
Bishop Gorman is a school every Pac-12 and other regional (and several national) programs stop by during the evaluation period. Last spring, coaches took note of his projectable length and physical traits, and mid-tier Power Five programs Washington State and Boston College, along with in-state programs UNLV and Nevada, offered based on his potential. But with no real film to evaluate, most schools told him they'd keep tabs on his senior season.
Ruggeroli started at left tackle as a senior and turned heads immediately. In the third game of the season, nationally ranked No. 2 Bishop Gorman played No. 6 Miami Central. Ruggeroli faced off one-on-one against five-star Miami signee Armondo Blount and stonewalled him all game.
A number of teams took notice and eventually became enamored with his senior film, with Arizona State coming through with an offer in September and making him a top target. Thanks to the sped-up recruiting calendar, a lot of top teams are close to full in the fall with the early signing period being so critical in December. So that meant several teams didn't have space for him despite liking his ceiling as a prospect.
With Nebraska still in the midst of recruiting Grant Brix, the staff reshuffled their board and turned toward Ruggeroli. That's due in large part to Raiola, who has been a longtime proponent of Ruggeroli's and had spent several months behind the scenes recruiting him, along with recruiting staffers Keith Williams and Ryan Callaghan. In fact, Raiola had been more involved in Ruggeroli's recruitment than anyone outside of Grant Brix and Preston Taumua.
There were some strong ties between Ruggeroli and Nebraska's O-line coach, namely Raiola's relationship with Bishop Gorman O-line coach Kea Toledo, who is also from Honolulu. That connection is how Ruggeroli initially got on Raiola's radar.
Xander's mother also grew up a fan of Nebraska football and he likes to tell the story of how his parents attended a game in Lincoln while they were pregnant with him.
Alongside several of his teammates from Bishop Gorman, Ruggeroli took an unofficial visit to Nebraska for the Huskers' Oct. 28 game against Purdue. The visit made a tremendous impression on the 6-foot-6, 285-pound Ruggeroli. His connection with Raiola and impression of Matt Rhule put the Huskers in pole position. The prevailing thought coming out of the visit was that he was just waiting for word that his offer was committable and he would join the class.
Grant Brix's commitment shortly after the visit meant Nebraska had filled its allocated tackle spot in the class, seemingly closing the door between the Huskers and Ruggeroli. But, even with five offensive lineman already committed, Raiola went to bat to make room for him.
Ruggeroli originally was scheduled to return for an official visit Dec. 8-10, but it was postponed while the staff crunched their numbers and tried to determine roster flexibility. Ruggeroli pivoted and visited Washington State that weekend instead.
With the transfer portal opening Dec. 4, coming out of exit meetings with players, the staff had an idea they'd be losing Jake Appleget, Tamon Lynum and Jeff Sims, along with Javier Morton, who left the team in October. What they were mostly waiting on were decisions from several key juniors with eligibility remaining. For instance, if Bryce Benhart decided to turn pro, they were prepared to give Ruggeroli a scholarship. When Benhart decided to come back, there wasn’t a spot.
Nebraska stayed in consistent contact as the early signing period approached. With Arizona State and Washington State pushing hard, the Huskers proposed another option to get Ruggeroli in the class. A week before the early signing period, Nebraska laid out a plan to have him come to Lincoln with NIL essentially footing the bill initially, and then putting him on scholarship once a tackle spot opens up.
The school is allowed to do this because Ruggeroli never took an official visit, which would dictate he had to join the program as a scholarship player.
On Dec. 13, Ruggeroli committed to Nebraska. He's the first high schooler from the state of Nevada to sign with Nebraska since 2017, when Mike Riley landed Bishop Gorman receiver Tyjon Lindsey. Before that, you'd have to go back to the 2014 cycle when Bo Pelini signed offensive lineman Nick Gates, also from Bishop Gorman.
Ruggeroli is rated a four-star prospect by ESPN. He's still extremely raw but is a great piece of clay for Raiola to mold behind the scenes. He could come out of the shadows in two to three years and be a frontrunner to take over the left tackle spot. Really nice late pickup by the staff.
