Huskers add Omaha fullback to recruit list
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraskans love themselves a hard-nosed fullback; even better if he happens to be a native son who relishes a good pad-thumping collision along with his meat and potatoes.
Rathman, Schlesinger, the Makovickas. Hey, you got room for a Zimmerer?
Add Omaha Gross fullback C.J. Zimmerer’s name to Nebraska’s 2009 recruiting class commitment list, the fourth known commit.
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Steven M. Sipple and Brian Christopherson discuss the commitment of C.J. Zimmerer and other Husker football topics. (Anthony Roberts / JournalStar.com...
The Huskers offered the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Zimmerer Tuesday night. It wasn’t exactly a hard decision for the kid. As he said, “When you’re born and raised in Nebraska, it’s kind of hard to not be a Husker fan.”
He slept on it, but by Wednesday morning, he called NU offensive line coach Barney Cotton to tell him yes.
“It was kind of news to my ears that they even recruited fullbacks anymore,” Zimmerer said. “I don’t see it much more, but I’m definitely excited. It’s big shoes to fill with all that tradition and those guys like the Makovickas and Schlesinger.”
Zimmerer is also a standout linebacker, but NU wants him as a fullback. Wherever you put him, the recruit’s high school coach says you can’t go wrong.
“Best football player I’ve coached in 16 years,” said Tim Johnk, head coach at Gross, also a former Husker fullback, a letterwinner from 1989-91.
“They haven’t recruited a lot of fullbacks the last few years,” Johnk said. “It’s neat to see them get one of those big, tough Nebraska kids again.”
Dane Todd and Grant Miller, of the 2002 recruiting class, were the last fullbacks to sign scholarships as Nebraska recruits. (Alonzo Whaley, a recruit from the ’08 class, is often listed as a linebacker but could also potentially play fullback at Nebraska.)
Johnk said no one had offered Zimmerer until the Huskers, but Iowa and Iowa State were expressing interest.
Cotton was the primary recruiter, though Zimmerer said the coach only first called him on Monday night. The two talked for about a half-hour. The next night, another phone call came, this one with an offer.
Zimmerer loves playing linebacker, but Cotton mentioned how Nebraska’s offense has a “30 trap” play installed for the fullback and how it likes to utilize the position as a backfield receiver.
Sounded pretty good to Zimmerer, whose team runs the veer option.
Talking with his coach about it Wednesday morning, Zimmerer said Johnk told him: “I don’t want to be biased, but he said one of the greatest experiences of his life was playing at Nebraska, walking out of the tunnel and playing for Coach Osborne.”
Zimmerer is the first recruit in the 2009 class on the offensive side of the ball. He joins defensive tackles Thaddeus Randle (Galena Park, Texas) and Cole Pensick (Lincoln Northeast), and linebacker Shawn Bodtmann (Scranton, Pa.)
Among those players, Bodtmann (Syracuse and Army) is the only one who was entertaining any other scholarship invitations from Division I schools before Nebraska offered.
ESPN recruiting analyst Billy Tucker recently wrote that Husker head coach Bo Pelini “appears to have the Cornhusker faithful buying in, but has yet to make waves on the recruiting trail in ’09.”
Such opinions probably don’t mean much of anything to Pelini, especially coming this early in the recruiting season.
He has said he will not pay any worry to how outsiders might view or rank his recruits. “We’ll make our own stars,” he once said.
According to Johnk, Nebraska is not just getting a tough football player in Zimmerer, but also a great kid who knows how to work hard.
Zimmerer carried the ball 88 times for 701 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. On defense, he had 123 tackles, five sacks and one interception.
“I’ve been telling people he’s a Division I player all along,” Johnk said. “I finally got some people to take a look at him and take a look at his tape. He brings a lot to the table.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
