LINCOLN, Neb. — The game film that showed up last year in Matt Rhule’s inbox came like a memo from Ken Clark himself.
Indirectly, it did come from Clark.
The eighth all-time leading rusher at Nebraska, he died in 2013. Clark’s younger brother, Reggie, decided a decade ago to keep an eye on his nephew, Quinn, who was always by Ken’s side, according to Reggie, until a heart attack took him at age 46 “out of the blue.”
Entering his senior year of high school in Bozeman, Mont., Quinn had accumulated strong credentials, with 15 touchdown catches and more than 900 yards receiving as a junior in 2022. He was athletic like his dad and stood 6-foot-5. But detached from a football recruiting hotbed, Quinn drew little notice.
So Reggie, who knew football from spending time around Ken and other Huskers more than 30 years ago, sent Quinn’s film on to Damon Benning, a former Nebraska running back who grew up in Omaha like the Clarks and idolized Ken, seven years his elder.
Family ties matter at Nebraska. A strong desire exists inside and outside the program to maintain a link to Huskers of the past.
Rhule, even in his first months on the job, gained an unambiguous understanding of this.
“That speaks louder than anything else you can do in recruiting,” Rhule said, “how people who have been through the program feel.”
Benning mulled over the film before forwarding it to Lincoln. He didn’t know Rhule well yet and preferred to play it cool with the new coach, who had plenty on his plate — and was also recruiting Benning’s son, Caleb, as a rising senior at Omaha Westside.
Rhule liked what he saw in Quinn’s size and production. “He’ll have to come to camp, though,” Rhule recalled saying last week, “because I don’t really know what football is like in Bozeman.”
So in June, the son of Ken Clark attended camp at Nebraska. Quinn ran well and performed in drills, and the Huskers decided to take a swing at him.
Rhule asked Quinn if his mother was with him. They all walked to the field at Memorial Stadium, where Ken earned All-Big Eight honors in 1988 and 1989 and gained many of the 3,037 rushing yards that placed him, at the time of his departure, behind only Mike Rozier in Nebraska history.
There, Rhule made the scholarship offer, seeking “a way to incorporate his father into it.”
The level of care taken by Rhule made a difference with Quinn Clark and with five other sons of former Nebraska football players who signed with Huskers last week among 39 newcomers set to join the program in 2024.
The others:
• Caleb Benning, the all-state safety whose dad, Damon, was a two-time national champion at Nebraska and four-year letter-winning I-back; MVP of the 1996 Orange Bowl; a free-agent signee of the Carolina Panthers in 1997 and Huskers Radio Network broadcaster.
• Punter Kamdyn Koch of Westminster, Md., the son of Sam Koch, a two-year starting punter for the Huskers and 2005 special teams MVP for his single-season school-record average of 46.5 yards; a sixth-round NFL Draft pick of the Ravens; 16-year starting punter in Baltimore and 2015 second-team All-Pro selection.
• Five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, the late flip from Georgia whose dad, Dominic, was a three-year starting center, the 2000 Rimington Award winner and first-team All-American; a second-round pick of the Lions in 2001 and franchise record-holder in Detroit with 203 starts over 14 years.
• Receiver Keelan Smith of Liberty, Mo., the 6A offensive player of the year in his home state and the son of Neil Smith, an All-American defensive tackle in 1987 and second overall pick of Kansas City in the 1988 draft; a six-time Pro Bowl selection; NFL all-decade team for the 1990s and member of the Chiefs Hall of Honor.
• Running back Trent Uhlir of Battle Creek, Neb., a walk-on whose father, Todd, played I-back on national championship teams in 1994 and ’95 at Nebraska.
Clark, Koch, Raiola and Smith are enshrined in the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.
None of the fathers got “overly involved,” Rhule said, in recruiting.
“Guys who did a ton of stuff here,” Rhule said, “they’re not overbearing. It’s about their kids.”
Nine sons of former Nebraska football players and two brothers of ex-Huskers played on the 2023 team.
The 2024 signees also include defensive back Mario Buford, whose brother Marques starts in the secondary, and tight end Ian Flynt, whose parents and sister connect him to the Nebraska track and field program.
“The fact that they had such a good experience here and this place means so much to them and that they want their sons to be here,” Rhule said, “I think is important — and (shows that) they see some good things in us as a coaching staff, that we’re doing it the right way.”
The former players, undoubtedly, see details in the operational aspects at Nebraska that other parents might miss.
“For these guys,” Damon Benning said of the ex-Huskers, “there’s a couple of common denominators. It’s, ‘Who do I trust?’ and, ‘Who do I want my kids to be around?’ It didn’t have anything to do with wins and losses. It’s just, ‘What is the culture like?’ and, ‘Is this a place where I can send somebody that I care about?’”
Benning talked often with Dominic Raiola in the days that led to Dylan Raiola’s change of heart after 2 1/2 years in the grind of recruiting.
“The funny thing about Dylan, it was never all about him,” Benning said. “As much as people on the outside wanted to make it all about him, that was never who he was. He just wanted to be a part of something bigger that he could trust.”
Benning has maintained relationships with the Clark and Smith families. He said he sees similar characteristics in Quinn Clark and Keelan Smith.
“And that’s certainly Caleb,” Damon said.
Rhule’s attention to detail won over the elder Benning. Caleb held an offer extended by the coaching staff in Lincoln that preceded Rhule. A collarbone injury suffered early in the fall of 2022 limited Caleb’s opportunity to win over coaches with film from his junior season.
So Caleb prolonged his recruiting and banked on his ability to prove himself as a senior. As spots started to fill in the Huskers’ 2024 class, Damon laid it out for Rhule: If Nebraska didn’t want Caleb, that was fine, Damon said, but he wanted to know where they stood.
“You’ve got to trust me,” Damon told the coach. “In two months, he’s going to look like a different person.”
Early this fall, Westside began its march toward a second consecutive Class A championship with Caleb as a major contributor. After a Westside victory against Bellevue West that featured numerous top prospects, Damon said he traded texts with Rhule and Nebraska secondary coach Evan Cooper.
Rhule mentioned that Caleb looked great.
“He said, ‘You weren’t kidding,’ Damon said. “It’s just weird how, four months later, when he’s in the thick of what he’s doing, he remembered our conversation. And I’m telling you, right there, that was the game-changer.”
Many of the Nebraska legacy recruits know exactly what they’re walking into at Nebraska.
“There’s always been some pressure, being Sam Koch’s son,” Kamdyn Koch said. “So I definitely have to want to go there with that. It’s pressure that I’ve been through. But I know what I have to do when I get there — and I’m ready to do it and hopefully beat some of his records.”
For Koch, like Clark, Nebraska’s interest picked up after his camp performance last summer. Sam Koch had served as an instructor at the camp, and they planned to visit Kansas State after the stopover in Lincoln.
No need after the offer arrived from the Huskers.
“It means a lot to carry on his legacy,” Kamdyn said. “I’ve always wanted to be a Cornhusker because of him.”
Dylan Raiola has embraced his heritagetoo, talking of how Nebraska has long lived in his blood. His brother, Dayton, a 2026 QB with an offer from the Huskers, has also spent his life as a Nebraska fan.
Understandably, for Quinn Clark, the journey was different. His first Halloween memory involves wearing a Nebraska football costume, Clark said.
“It feels great that my dad planted that seed in me,” he said. “He lit the fire that I have for football.”
Clark said he gained his work ethic from his father. On days when he hits the weight room for a second round of lifting, he thinks of his dad.
He’s not been immersed in Nebraska football for the past 10 years. The memories aren’t as clear as for the other Nebraska legacies in this recruiting class. He’s been asked while walking through an airport in Nebraska at the end of a visit if he’s the son of Ken Clark.
But coming from Montana, Quinn is not ready, said his uncle Reggie, for the outpouring of support set to come his way when he moves to Nebraska in the summer before the 2024 season.
It’ll be like a family reunion — with new and old members. Quinn Clark and Keelan Smith visited Nebraska on the same weekend in June. Kamdyn Koch said he was eager to welcome Dylan Raiola when the quarterback joined the Nebraska recruits’ group text chat on the evening of Dec. 18 after his commitment went public.
“It gives us all a connection,” Koch said. “I can’t wait for it to grow when we all get there.”
(Photo courtesy of Quinn Clark)
2023-12-27 16:17:44
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