Nebraska football is ‘starting to rise back up’ says 5-star, latest on flip targets

For a long time, Nebraska football recruiting has felt like the overall theme was “just wait until we start winning again.”

After beating Colorado on national TV last Saturday night and surging back into both top-25 polls for the first time in five years, we are starting to see what that looks like.

Nebraska football had a slew of elite visitors in the 2025 class and a bunch of key targets in 2026 on campus for the Colorado game. Among those visiting was five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell. 

The No. 2 prospect in the 2026 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings, is 6-foot-7, 300 pounds, and strong as an ox. He set the Missouri state shot put record as a freshman and might have a future in the Olympics since his parents were Olympians. His dad won a silver medal in the shot put.

This was the fourth visit for the five-star tackle to Nebraska. It was his second game and he came away impressed telling Chad Simmons of On3.com, “They’re starting to rise back up again in the college football world.”

Cantwell said he won’t visit Nebraska football this fall, as he will be taking other gameday visits. Then, he told Simmons he’ll use spring visits to decide where to take his official visits in the summer.

But as it stands, you have to think Nebraska is in a good spot for one of those official visits. The Huskers feel near the top of this recruitment and after whiffing on five-star tackles in 2024 and 2025, Nebraska football could have a real shot to land Cantwell.

Nebraska football has momentum in the 2025 class after Christian Jones

Hopefully, the commitment of Christian Jones was just the start for Nebraska. Five-star Michael Terry was also on campus for the Colorado game, along with top-100 targets Cortez Mills and Dawson Merritt.

Mills is committed to Oklahoma, while Merritt is committed to Alabama. Those players, along with Terry, took official visits to Nebraska this summer. Texas is the team to watch for Terry, but the Huskers are giving him something to think about and according to Sean Callahan, Nebraska has the “attention” of Merritt, who seemed to really enjoy himself during the Colorado game.

And like we have been saying, who wouldn’t want to play for that defense, in that atmosphere? It was enough for Christian Jones to say yes and if the success continues, maybe it will be enough to sway Terry or Mills too.

Regardless, Nebraska football recruiting is trending up, and if the winning continues, so will that upward trend.

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