Missouris gain or Nebraska loss? Don’t Blame Matt Rhule For Daniel Kaelin’s Disappearance

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When three-star quarterback Daniel Kaelin of Bellevue (Neb.) West committed to Missouri in mid-March, there may have been the dreaded feeling of here we go again from some Nebraska devotees.

Kaelin, the No. 514 player and No. 32 quarterback in the 2024 Class in the 247Sports Composite, is one of the top two pure quarterback prospects to come out of the state of Nebraska in decades. The other was Gretna High’s three-star Zane Flores, who signed with Oklahoma State in last year’s recruiting class after former Nebraska staff botched his recruiting.

Flores and Kaelin have been training together since middle school. It looks like neither will go to Nebraska.

I’ll tell you this: Zane was a big miss from (from Nebraskas), Kaelin told The Athletic last week. Literally, statistically. He won the state. He is the best QB to come out of state. It’s definitely a big miss for them.

There may be a time in the next few years when Flores throws him all over the field for Oklahoma State and it stings Nebraska that he’s not a Cornhusker. He could have been, but the previous staff chose his scholarship offer poorly and failed to recruit him wisely. Uppercase Oklahoma State. Matt Rhule tried to get into the mix after being hired from Nebraska in November, but it was too late. Flores was loyal to Mike Gundy and signed with the Cowboys.

It’s unclear how Kaelins’ recruiting will end or if Hell will ever be a Heisman Trophy finalist for Mizzou. But his recruitment is not the same as that of Flores even if it is about similar prospects. Kaelin is not a Nebraska loser. It is a high level recruitment by Mizzou. Both can be true at the same time.

Rhule was hired to transform the Nebraska program, and there was a unique opportunity for him from the start. Phoenix Pinnacle five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 player in the 2024 class, had opted out of Ohio State and was there for the taking. Raiola has a deep family history with Nebraska. His father Dominic played for the Cornhuskers and his uncle Donovan is an assistant coach on the Rhules staff.

Rhule had no choice but to swing for the fences. If Raiola hadn’t existed, Kaelin would have been a priority for Nebraska. Heck, Kaelin could very well be in the Nebraskas 2024 class by now. But Raiola was in the market and interested in Cornhuskers.

Imagine a world where Rhule landed Raiola in his first recruiting class in Nebraska. You could argue that this would be the most important verbal commitment in the modern era of college football. That scenario, while looking pretty grim as Georgia became the undisputed favorite to land the five-star quarterback, is still possible.

Nebraska did the only thing it could have done. Rhule offered Kaelin a scholarship, but he had to be upfront that Raiola is the priority and the Cornhuskers couldn’t accept Kaelins’ commitment.

Everyone knows the story with them, that they were chasing Raiola, obviously, Kaelin said. When Coach Rhule arrived I was the first rookie he followed on Twitter and they were on to me early on. But when the Raiola stuff picked up, the tide changed. No hard feelings though. They go after whoever they want. I asked them when I went there in December. I told them about it. They were open and said they were recruiting him. They didn’t necessarily stop recruiting me, but I continued to pursue schools that had me as a top priority.

This is where Mizzou comes in.

Eliah Drinkwitz spotted this 6-foot-2, 200-pound pro-style quarterback with a big arm in a neighboring state. The Tigers pursued Kaelin as their top prospect, maintained regular contact, brought him to campus a few times, and landed his commitment. Recruitment is a complex game, where geographical elements play a big role. But so are concerns. Nebraska was (is?) all about Raiola, so Missouri coaches found the opportunity to treat a quarterback with the love and respect they thought he deserved, and that was enough. to land it.

Missouri has done a solid job with quarterback recruiting under Drinkwitz. In the class of 2021, Drinkwitz found a late riser in Tyler Macon of East St. Louis (Ill.) High and secured his commitment. In the 2022 cycle, Missouri signed four-star Sam Horn from Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill, the No. 139 player in the nation. In January, Mizzou landed Jake Garcia in Miami’s transfer portal. Now Drinkwitz has Kaelin in the Class of 2024 fold.

Macon didn’t realize he’s now at Alcorn State, but that doesn’t mean Drinkwitz didn’t have the right idea. He found an underrated prospect in his recruiting footprint and took a shot at him. And landing Horn, who had offers from Florida, Florida State, Michigan State, Tennessee and others, was a coup. Garcia and Horn are the top two quarterbacks on Mizzou’s depth chart.

Mizzou still hopes to hit hard with one of these quarterbacks. Drinkwitz sold Kaelin on the idea that it could be him.

Mizzou was all-in on Daniel from the start, said John Teigland, a former Division II quarterback who trained Flores, Kaelin and many Omaha-area players through Warren Academy. He definitely wanted, in the end, to go somewhere they really wanted to. Mizzou made this very evident, whether it was Coach Drink or all the staff he heard from every week or two. They were the most consistent, the most passionate and had him #1 on their board. They really went after him.

You can’t blame Rhule for how this all turned out. Timing is everything.

Could you imagine a scenario where Rhule would go all-in on Kaelin instead of swinging for the fences with Raiola? What kind of message would that send from a freshman coach taking charge of a legendary program with a passionate fanbase? Rhule had no choice but to go for the five-star even if he finds himself without his ideal quarterback pick in this class.

Nebraska could still revisit Kaelin like they did with Flores. Recruiting is weird, and the seven-plus months between now and December might as well be an eternity in the world of college football. The Cornhuskers are also recruiting four-star quarterback and South Carolina signing Dante Reno from Fiskdale (Mass.) Cheshire Academy.

For now, Missouri found an opening and took it. And he got a jewel.

Missouri was just, overall, the toughest after me, Kaelin said. Just from the moment they first offered me to the moment I signed up, the love they showed was amazing. There wasn’t a coach I connected with nearly as much as Coach Drink and how personable he was. He did a very good job recruiting me. And (newly hired offensive coordinator Kirby Moore), I’ve developed a good relationship with him, and I’m really confident in the system he brought back from Fresno State and what he did for Jake Haener.

Love means a lot. Just when Coach Moore and Coach Drink saw me pitching, I was their top priority from start to finish. It means something.

Years from now, Nebraska fans might be cursing the former Cornhuskers staff for missing out on Flores’ commitment.

But if Kaelin does the same and becomes a star in Mizzou, it’s not on Rhule.

It’s just bad timing.

(Photo courtesy of Daniel Kaelin)

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