It’s been clear since Scott Frost was hired on Dec. 2 as Nebraska’s head football coach that the program was likely to recruit Florida more heavily than it has in recent years.
When Frost brought his entire staff from Central Florida, the certainty only grew.
Then, the first verbal commitment of Frost’s tenure here was, you guessed it, a Florida native in three-star safety C.J. Smith from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach.
Still, the new staff’s work in the Sunshine State over less than two months has impressed many in the industry and is perhaps surprising even given the extensive roots already planted the state.
Nebraska has added five high school players from Florida and a pair of junior college transfers who are originally from the state since Dec. 10 for a total of seven Floridians.
The 2017 Husker roster featured just eight total.
Nebraska hadn’t added more than four Florida players in any of the past 10 recruiting cycles, according to 247Sports.com data. The high water mark came in 2014 when Bo Pelini landed Zack Darlington, Chris Jones and Sedrick King out of the high school ranks while also securing a commitment from junior college wide receiver Robert Lockhart, though Lockhart never made it to NU.
All told, NU had 18 commitments from Florida in the 2008-17 recruiting cycles.
In the past six weeks alone, Nebraska has added Smith, juco transfers Deontai Williams (Jacksonville) and Mike Williams (Lake City), Justin McGriff (Tampa), Dominick Watt (Hollywood), Miles Jones (Plantation) and Braxton Clark (Orlando).
All seven play either in the defensive backfield or at an offensive skill position. All had interest from major colleges, but most of the Power Five interest