Florida State steals away Nebraska football analyst, plus more Cornhuskers news

Florida State stole away a key recruiting staffer from Nebraska football, plus it’s opening day for Nebraska baseball.

You might have noticed that Nebraska football did a stellar job recruiting the state of Florida in the 2024 class. One reason for that was the addition of Philip Simpson, a former high school head coach from Miami.

Simpson was a huge catalyst for Nebraska football in South Florida and his presence on the staff paid off with commitments from guys like Amare Sanders, Larry Tarver Jr., and Vincent Shavers, along with Willis McGahee IV who also signed with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Simpson was a defensive quality control assistant for Nebraska football but he recently scrubbed his social media of Huskers stuff and Sean Callahan of Husker Online is now reporting that’s because Simpson has been hired as an analyst by Florida State.

You can read between the lines that Simpson likely got a big raise to take the job with Florida State. It’s a bummer because he gave the Huskers a nice in with South Florida talent, but I don’t expect Matt Rhule to give up on the state and there will be more hires in the recruiting department for the Huskers in the coming weeks.

These support staff roles are getting more and more important. It’s not just about the 10 on-field assistants anymore.

Opening Day for Nebraska Cornhuskers

Baseball season is finally back for the Nebraska Cornhuskers as the team will open its season with three games in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown this weekend.

Nebraska baseball will open the season today against Baylor (11 AM CST). The Huskers will also square off against No. 21 Texas Tech (3:00 PM CST) on Saturday and Oklahoma (10:30 AM CST) on Sunday. All three games will be at the Texas Rangers ballpark in Arlington, Texas.

The opening-day starter for Nebraska baseball is Brett Sears, who had a 5.29 ERA out of the bullpen last season for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Will Walsh will start on day two. He was 5-3 last season and had a 4.24 ERA.

Walsh made eight starts a season ago and rounding out the rotation this weekend is Caleb Clark. He was 1-1 a season ago and made five starts.

Nebraska baseball hired Rob Childress to get the most out of a pitching staff that let down the Huskers a season ago. Nebraska won’t have Max Anderson and Brice Matthews — two elite bats from last season’s team — but Gabe Swansen will pace the offense after a breakout season in 2023 that saw him hit .291 with 18 home runs and 57 RBI on his way to earning Second-Team All-Big Ten honors.

All three Nebraska baseball games can be listened to for free on Huskers.com.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.