Nebraska Football Recruiting: Meet the Cornhuskers' 2015 Class

National signing day has officially come and gone. For head coach Mike Riley, it was his first recruiting class for the University of Nebraska, and he believes it's a "good class."

“This is a good class that started with the guys that were committed to Nebraska when we got here,” Riley said during his national signing day press conference.

By the end of the day, Nebraska landed at No. 35 on 247Sports' 2015 recruiting team rankings. In the Big Ten, Nebraska finished fifth, behind Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State and Wisconsin, respectively.

So, who exactly did Nebraska sign to its 2015 recruiting class? Let's meet the new Huskers.

Player	Position	Star Rating	Overall Rank
Eric Lee	CB	4-star	No. 127
Avery Anderson	ATH	4-star	No. 321
Aaron Williams	S	3-star	No. 621
Dedrick Young	ATH	3-star	No. 625
Jalin Barnett	OG	4-star	No. 180
Carlos Davis	SDE	3-star	No. 353
Christian Gaylord	OT	3-star	No. 357
Lavan Alston	WR	3-star	No. 385
Stanley Morgan	WR	3-star	No. 430
Khalil Davis	DT	3-star	No. 463
Daishon Neal	SDE	3-star	No. 672
Devine Ozigbo	RB	3-star	No. 741
Matt Snyder	TE	3-star	No. 822
Adrienne Talan	S	3-star	NA
Mohamed Barry	OLB	3-star	NA
Tyrin Ferguson	OLB	3-star	NA
Alex Davis	WDE	3-star	NA
Antonio Reed	S	3-star	NA
Jordan Ober	LS	2-star	NA

Much Needed Attention at Key Positions

Riley knew there were certain positions that needed more attention that others. With this in mind, it helped the new head coach focus his time, as he told ESPNU (via Sean Callahan of Huskers Online):

"

Well linebacker for sure. There had been injuries there, there had been some attrition and we had to start getting some guys that could play and also be good in the way of depth in numbers at that position. We knew we had to do that and then we kind of earmarked we would like three offensive linemen in this class, we looked at that the quarterback thing hard because it's kind of fun to look at the quarterback - that one guy you are going to recruit.

We opted not to because we didn't want to make a late decision without a lot of background. We feel good about the guys here. We'll focus on that for next year. I'd say though the No. 1 spot we had to look at that we noticed was linebacker.

"

The focus allowed Riley to snag players like Mohamed Barry, Tyrin Ferguson, Adrienne Talan and Dedrick Young. Had Nebraska not been focused, the depth at positions like linebacker and defensive end likely would not have been fully addressed. As a result, the Huskers would have been back at square one.

"

Great feeling to get our top four DB targets to carry on #BLACKSHIRT legacy for next four years! Buckle Up! pic.twitter.com/g9b8qRLVmS

— Charlton Warren (@CoachCwarren) February 4, 2015"

A true testament to Riley's focus is that all four linebackers that signed, committed to Nebraska after Riley was hired.

"As we looked at the linebacker situation, it was pretty glaring that we needed some numbers there," Riley said. "So we went right after that."

Riley's ability to focus and snag much needed players was not ignored by Bleacher Report's own Michael Felder and Adam Kramer, either:

Making a Statement in the Big Ten

During his national signing day press conference, Riley talked about competing for recruits with his good friends. Who would those coaches be? None other than Michigan's Jim Harbaugh and Wisconsin's Paul Chryst.

However, Riley ultimately viewed it all as just a little friendly competition.

"I've been in all kinds of situations in my life, including coaching against people that I know," Riley said during his national signing day press conference. "I coached against my dad up in the Canadian Football League. What I really try to do is enjoy it, but we always want to win."

Against Harbaugh, Riley did win.

Both tight end Matt Snyder and defensive end Daishon Neal were offered by Harbaugh and Michigan. Both could have easily made the choice to flip commitments. Instead, Riley made a strong enough case, and both Snyder and Neal stayed committed to the Huskers.

Going forward, Riley isn't concerned about the other Big Ten programs. 

"I take a step back and just remember what we’re doing here," he said. "We’re talking about our school, our program, our state and what we’ve got, and we’ll take it up against anyone."

The Big Ten better watch out, too. Riley believes in what he's building at Nebraska and will put it up against anybody who wants to compete for recruits, even if they're friends.

"We’re going to focus on who we are and what we do," Riley said.

Fans have to like that strategy.

A Promising First Class

As Hail Varsity's Brandon Vogel noted, the 2015 recruiting class had a strong start. Under Bo Pelini, the "class was ranked in the top-10 nationally according to Rivals with six verbal commits."

Riley was quick to give credit to Pelini for that. 

“I was impressed with the work that Bo [Pelini]’s staff did with these kids and really impressed with the film we saw," he said.

It was all on Riley after that, though. He could have easily lost quite a few of those original commits, but instead, he stepped in and re-secured the commitments. That included Colorado cornerbacks Eric Lee and Avery Anderson, as well as twin defensive tackles Carlos and Khalil Davis of Blue Springs, Missouri.

Additionally, Riley started to build the recruiting identity he wants to have going forward with the 2015 class. He wants to focus on the 500-mile radius surrounding Lincoln, Nebraska, but he understands the players the Huskers might need could be outside of that area.

“I really think if you’re good at home, and we’re good in this area, then we know now where we need to go to supplement that,” Riley said. “But we can get a really good foundation from Nebraska and all those surrounding states that send their kids to our camp. It may not fill up our recruiting class but it’ll be a nice foundation for any class if we can maintain a number in this area.”

For the 2015 class, Riley signed players from 13 different states; however, Riley's staff made sure the attention to local recruits was established.

“You look stupid when you're playing against kids that you could have gotten,” said director of player personnel Ryan Gunderson said before national signing day, per Jon Nyatawa of the Omaha World-Herald. "So we need to do our homework. At least recruit them, at least give them a shot. … Because I don't want to play against good players that we could have got."

Looking at Nebraska's 2015 class, Husker fans can get a good idea of what to expect in the future. Riley's strategy will clearly be finding solid local talent and then moving outside of the 500-mile radius to make it all come together.

For Riley, the 2015 class was a promising start to his career at the helm of Nebraska football. Only time will tell what he will accomplish going forward, but for now, it's a pretty solid way to kick things off for the Huskers.

All recruiting rankings and information via 247Sports.

Quotes obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted.