Recruiting trail cools as the coaching search gets hot

All is fair in love and recruiting. If Bob Devaney didn’t say that he should have. The Irish Orator of Stadium Street — that name hasn’t quite caught on like I had hoped — would’ve delivered it with a wink and a laugh, charming the pens right out of reporters’ hands. That’s not really Bo Pelini’s approach. On Feb. 2 Pelini signed his best recruiting class to date, a fact that should have been big news given Nebraska’s inert end to the 2010 season. Instead, the typically gruff Pelini press conference focused on the bigger news leaked from Indiana’s head coach Kevin Wilson. Wilson let slip that defensive backs coach Corey Raymond had left the Hoosiers to take the same position at Nebraska. Most Husker fans didn’t know that job was open and Pelini offered some non-denial denials but a day later the coach confirmed that Marvin Sanders was leaving for “personal reasons.” Interesting timing considering at least one high school star signed on specifically to play for Sanders. Is it fair to hold off on staff changes until after recruits have signed on to play? Seems kind of shady, but so does the entire recruiting process. Middle-aged men shouldn’t care this much about the decisions of high schoolers, right? Turns out we don’t care about that as much as we care about the rumored departure of embattled offensive coordinator Shawn Watson. No news on that yet but the rumors are flying. * Fun fact: The email address listed for running backs coach Tim Beck on the University of Nebraska website is triggins@huskers.com. Somebody’s a “Friday Night Lights” fan. * Football’s not over, it’s just moving indoors. The Omaha Beef are hosting their annual fan fest Thursday Feb. 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Fox and Hound on 120th and Dodge. Meet the players and coaches, eat some wings and talk about your losing Super Bowl bets or whatever you need to get ready for the team’s first exhibition game Feb. 20 at the Civic Auditorium. The Beef kick off their regular season Feb. 26 in Chicago. * Want to sing the national anthem at an Omaha Storm Chasers game this summer? The team is holding auditions on Saturday Feb. 12 at Oak View Mall starting at 10 a.m. For more information or to download a registration form visit OmahaStormChasers.com.