As Iowa State makes run on Nebraska prospects, Matt Rhule won’t be ‘desperate’ with process

His dad, Kurt, played at Northern Colorado. His mom, Sarah, was a diehard Husker fan. And over the years, Keian liked Colorado a bit, too.

Now he has a new, clear favorite: Iowa State.

That’s the college destination of the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder who led Sidney to the Class C-1 playoff semifinals. Kaiser got a scholarship offer from the Cyclones, visited the campus in March and liked it all.

The facilities. The grass surface inside Jack Trice Stadium, which reminded him of his “small town” field. And of course coach Matt Campbell, now in his tenth year in Ames, where he’s made two Big 12 championship games.

“I love hearing him talk,” Kaiser said. “He’s a very motivational speaker and he talks very influentially. You want to listen to him for hours.”

In the 2026 recruiting cycle, Nebraska recruits and their families have been listening to Campbell and his assistants for months.

In a year when the Husker football program — its large roster set to be pinched by a 105-man limit through the House vs. NCAA settlement — has extended just three scholarship offers to 2026 in-state prospects, Iowa State has commits from five seniors-to-be and could land as many as nine.

Already, Kaiser, Millard South receiver Amarion Jackson, Omaha Central athlete Kaprice Keith, Elkhorn North linebacker Barry Fries and Lincoln North Star safety Tyrell Chatman have verbally committed to the Cyclones.

Among uncommitted players, the top-rated 2026 prospect, four-star Millard South quarterback Jett Thomalla, just took an unofficial visit April 11-12. Thomalla’s teammate, tight end Isaac Jensen, has the Cyclones in his top four. Norfolk Catholic offensive tackle Leighton Burbach has an offer, too. Ditto for Omaha North defensive back Darion Jones, whose older brother, Donovan, plays at Nebraska.

Iowa State’s recruiting staffers, Kaiser said, have a phrase to describe the 2026 cycle.

“They said that this is their ‘Nebraska year,’” Kaiser said.

That such a run would come as a 105-man roster limit looms and the transfer portal offers more experienced players with immediate eligibility (at a price) makes Iowa State’s efforts stand out even more. Why now?

“Iowa State is one of those out there where it's very clear they're building a ‘program,’” Elkhorn North coach Sam Stanley said. “It's very clear to me that they're putting a premium on high school kids.”

In his first three recruiting classes at NU, coach Matt Rhule signed more than 20 in-state prospects to scholarships, including six in 2025. Scott Frost, a native son, signed 16 in-state prospects to scholarships during his tenure.

Nevertheless, when directly asked about in-state recruiting on Thursday, Rhule said he won’t make scholarship offers without being sure that a prospect fits the Huskers. Rhule prefers potential recruits both attend practice — to see how NU’s staff really coaches — and compete at summer camp before he makes the offer.

“If I’m not quite sure yet, don’t I owe it to you to be sure before I offer you a scholarship? And now, before I offer you a (revenue) share deal?” Rhule said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong, at the University of Nebraska, that we carry ourselves like the top-20 teams in the country. The top-20 teams in the country, if they say ‘hey, we like you a lot, but we want you to come to camp,’ you’ll come to camp going into your senior year.

“There’s lots of kids I would love to recruit. If they’re committed to a Big 12 school or somewhere else like that — come to camp. If you want to play in the Big 12 over the Big Ten? I got it. But make no mistake: There’s a big difference.”

Rhule added, lightly, “the Big 12’s gonna go nuts now,” with fans upset on social media over the comments.

“It’s the reality,” Rhule said, using his right hand to indicate how the Big Ten and SEC, which combined for seven of the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff, were stronger than the rest of the conferences. “The Big Ten and SEC, especially moving forward, are going to be ‘here’ in terms of everybody else.

“I have to worry about ‘what’s Ohio State doing?’, ‘what’s Michigan doing?’,” Rhule said. “I love the state, I love the players — we’ve taken some as walk-ons, we’ve taken some as scholarship players — I just have to be sure that they’re good enough. And I don’t think asking guys to come to camp is — the whole thing of ‘hey, you should be the first offer at Nebraska,’ – desperate teams always set the market.”

He didn’t mention a specific Big 12 school. Only Iowa State is offering in-state players with this level of aggression.

“They’re doing it right, and they’re building good relationships,” said Fries, a 6-3, 224-pounder who had 122 tackles last season for Elkhorn North.

Iowa State typically starts its recruiting process in Nebraska with area recruiter Jon Heacock, the Cyclones’ longtime defensive coordinator. ISU coaches came through this spring, Stanley said, and immediately liked what they saw in Fries, whose dad, Gabe, played five seasons at Nebraska as a walk-on.

“They were back within a week,” Stanley said.

Fries said he appreciated that Campbell and Co. watch an entire game of a prospect’s film before making an offer.

“I thought that was really cool, that they’ll sit down, and really evaluate, what's a kid's attitude?” Fries said. “More than just the highlight reel. Because everybody has a great highlight reel.”

Most of Nebraska’s interest, Fries said, has been an invitation to summer camp. Under Rhule, NU has a track record of making scholarship offers after camp evaluations — Fries’ Elkhorn North teammate, Jase Reynolds, earned an offer last June after a Friday Night Lights event. Reynolds is one of the three 2026 in-state prospects with an offer. Fries has not received one.

“Which I’m completely fine with,” Fries said. “I love Iowa State. There’s no question in my mind.”

Stanley stressed Nebraska and Rhule has a “really strong presence” at Elkhorn North, visiting the school at least twice a year, with Rhule showing up annually. Stanley said he’s been “incredibly impressed” with NU’s recruitment of Reynolds, a rising prospect who just received an offer from Northwestern, as well.

Nebraska coaches are transparent, Stanley said, about where prospects stand in the recruiting pecking order. The 105-man limit, not yet approved by a federal judge, would restrict how many walk-ons NU can take or scholarships it can extend, and Rhule doesn’t make a habit of dangling uncommittable offers.

“Previous staffs would really string kids along,” Stanley said.

For most of the 2026 cycle, NU had extended just two in-state offers — to Reynolds and Jensen, who did not schedule one of his four summer official visits to Nebraska. Darion Jones got his offer once his track times in the 200 meters sufficiently proved to Husker coaches he had the requisite speed to play at Nebraska.

NU’s offensive staff did not offer Thomalla, who threw for 3,664 yards and 47 touchdowns last season, for it already had its 2026 quarterback commit in Dayton Raiola, younger brother of current Husker starter Dylan Raiola. And Millard South’s Jackson, with 138 career receptions and 24 career touchdowns, had offers from Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas State and others before picking Iowa State, but no NU.

The Huskers did sign 16 in-state prospects across their 2023 and 2024 classes, including four receivers. Those four, Jaylen Lloyd, Malachi Coleman, Dae’vonn Hall and Isaiah McMorris, have all left the program, as did Bellevue West quarterback Daniel Kaelin, who signed in the same class as Dylan Raiola.

In 2025, NU signed six in-state players. In 2026, barring new offers, the total will be two at most. The Huskers added 16 transfers in January and has a roster roughly 25 players above the looming limit.

“Nebraska is a little bit all over the place at the moment,” said Chatman, who plays quarterback and defensive back for North Star. “I’m cheering for them still, though. They’re on the rise. I’ve been a fan my whole life.”

The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder knows Nebraska had some interest. His high school coach told him so. But Chatman committed to Northern Illinois one month after the end of his junior season, when he had four interceptions.

Iowa State’s coaches picked up interest in 2025, offered by February and sealed Chatman’s commit in early April. He’ll join current ISU athlete Beni Ngoyi — a Lincoln High graduate —as Cyclones from the capital city.

“They’re on a great path,” Chatman said of Iowa State.

Kaiser sees the same trajectory for the Cyclones. As for the two schools he grew up watching, Colorado coach Deion Sanders never came calling, and that’s no surprise; Sanders has signed only one scholarship player from Colorado, much less Western Nebraska, in the last two cycles.

And while he’s not “super freakishly athletic like Carter Nelson” — who signed in the 2024 class out of Ainsworth — Kaiser thought Nebraska might show more interest.

Now, he’s all-in on Iowa State.

“I’ll find my path,” Kaiser said. “My path will take me where I go. Everyone’s different. Not everybody's gonna be able to go to Nebraska like every little kid dreams of, you know?”