Signee Analysis: Defensive Lineman Tyson Terry

Nebraska was already facing an overhaul along the defensive line with the graduations of multi-year stalwarts Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher. Unfortunately, a situation where the team was reloading became an offseason where they needed to rebuild the room.

Following the departures of defensive coordinator Tony White and defensive line coach Terrance Knighton to Florida State, the room was decimated when several key contributors decided to enter the transfer portal.

The month of December saw the departures of Jimari Butler (LSU), Princewill Umanmielen (Ole Miss), James Williams (Florida State), Kai Wallin (Oregon State) and Vincent Jackson (UConn), among others.

To try and fill the gaps, Husker coaches brought in an inexperienced redshirt freshman with unlimited potential (Williams Nwaneri), a proven contributor at the FCS level (Jaylen George) and a complete unknown wildcard (Gabe Moore) who hasn't played a snap of football after two years on a college campus.

Game-changing linemen on both sides of the ball are in such high demand in college football that you need to make sure you're bringing in a new crop of guys every recruiting class. With a concerted effort, you can give any room a decent facelift through the transfer portal, with the exceptions being the lines of scrimmage. Those players are extremely valuable and it's so competitive to try and get your hands on a difference-maker.

The best strategy remains bringing your own guys in from the high school ranks and developing them yourself in the hopes that you can retain them.

One of the earliest 2025 targets of the previous two Husker staffs was Tyson Terry, a dominant two-sport star at Omaha North High School. Terry received his first scholarship offer from Scott Frost's staff following his freshman season on Jan. 23, 2022, and quickly became one of the most sought-after linemen in the Midwest for his class.

Even though Terry grew up as a Husker fan and wanted to stay close to home, Matt Rhule and his staff had a lot of ground to make up in his recruitment when they arrived in November 2022.

Terry openly admits that the Huskers weren't in consideration for him at all when Rhule arrived thanks to the previous staff making him feel like an afterthought. Terry, who never spoke to Frost in the nine months between being offered and Frost's firing, said the communication between him and the previous staff was inconsistent and he didn't feel a connection with any of the coaches.

When Rhule got to Nebraska, his first order of business on the recruiting trail was setting up a recruiting event for in-state players across the 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes. It took place Dec. 4, 2022, barely a week after he was hired.

Not since Frank Solich was still roaming the sidelines has a Husker coach prioritized keeping all of the in-state players home. Sure, every coach who followed talked about it, but Rhule has truly proven it with his actions. Not only has he offered more in-state players than any staff since, but he prioritizes them throughout their recruitments.

Terry liked Nebraska's new head coach immediately after getting a chance to meet with him at the event, where Rhule officially re-offered and set about showing Terry just how much he wanted him.

When Husker coaches hit the road for recruiting visits in December and January after arriving at Nebraska, assembling the 2023 class was understandably the priority. So was looking ahead, which meant showing intent to build relationships with prospects from future classes. Terry was front and center in that group.

Assistant coach Ed Foley, Nebraska’s key in-state recruiter, visited Terry multiple times at Omaha North early in the process. Former assistants Tony White and Terrance Knighton, along with Marcus Satterfield, also stopped by during the spring evaluation period to see Terry, who made several visits to Lincoln to spend time with the coaching staff and to watch spring practice.

Terry made sure to do his due diligence, taking additional unofficial visits to Iowa, Kansas State, Iowa State and Colorado in April 2023 to see what those schools had to offer.

None of them gave him the same feeling he got while he was with the new Husker coaches in Lincoln. When Knighton stopped by Omaha North at the end of May for an in-school evaluation, Terry was tempted to commit during the visit. He didn't wait much longer to pull the trigger, however.

On June 7, 2023, Terry took a visit to Lincoln and committed to Matt Rhule. He went public with the news two days later, announcing it via Twitter on June 9. Other finalists included Iowa, Iowa State and Kansas State, while Terry also earned additional Power Four offers from Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota and Vanderbilt. Had he played out his recruiting process through this past summer like most of his peers, he would have surely collected dozens more offers.

Terry's commitment was a notable recruiting win for Rhule and his staff. The two-way lineman was headed elsewhere when Rhule took over the recruitment and in six months he was able to gain Terry's commitment — 18 months before his classes signing period and three months before Rhule coached his first game for the Huskers.

A regular visitor to Lincoln the last several years, Terry wasn't at the Red-White spring game in April. He was in Canton, Ohio, participating in the Under Armour Next Camp Series turning heads for his play on the field and for his athletic numbers. Not only was he praised for his performance in drills and 1-on-1s, he ran a 4.72-second short shuttle and had a 1.87-second 10-yard split.

Not only is Terry a four-year varsity starter, he's also a four-year team captain. He finished his career with 315 total tackles, including 48 tackles for loss, 17 sacks, five pass breakups and two blocked field goals.

The Rivals four-star recruit was named first-team Super-State by the Lincoln Journal Star and first-team All-Nebraska by the Omaha World-Herald as a junior and senior after earning second-team honors as a sophomore.

Along with his prowess on the gridiron, Terry has been one of the nation's top prep wrestlers since becoming the first freshman in state history to win the Class A heavyweight title. According to Stu Pospisil of the Omaha World-Herald, the only other freshmen besides Terry to even wrestle for a heavyweight title in the past few decades were Scott Stara of David City in 1989 and Mitch Manstedt of Clarks in 1997. Norm Freeman of Friend was a heavyweight champion in 1971 in Class D, according to local wrestling historians.

Terry's gone on to become one of the most prolific heavyweight wrestlers in state history. He chose not to enroll early so he could attempt to finish his high school career as a four-time undefeated state champion — something that's never been accomplished at heavyweight. He entered his senior year with a 136-0 career record.

Tyson's dad, Ryan Terry, was a dominant force on the mat himself, winning two state championships at Omaha North in the 1990s.

As dominant as Tyson is as a wrestler, football is his preferred sport and although the thought has crossed his mind the play both sports for the Huskers, for now, the plan is to stick solely to football.

The 6-foot-3, 305-pound Terry was recruited for both sides of the line — depending on the school — and was initially being looked at for the O-line by Matt Rhule. The previous Husker staff was looking at Terry for the D-line, his preferred position, and in the last year-plus, coaches pivoted toward him playing defense. I agree with that assessment.

Terry is an elite athlete for his size and is one of the most ferocious trench players in the Midwest. He's incredibly strong and does a great job of taking on double teams to clog the middle. He's also an underrated pass rusher who uses his power and quickness to bull rush opposing linemen to cause havoc in the backfield.

He has an endless motor and his wrestling background is evident when you see how advanced his hand-fighting is and his ability to gain leverage.

Players with high-level wrestling backgrounds like Terry typically translate well. Husker coaches are hoping Terry can grow into the same role Nash Hutmacher occupied so well the last two seasons as a 0 or 1-tech. Terry might not have the highest ceiling of Nebraska’s impressive crop of 2025 defensive linemen, but I believe he has the highest floor and will be — at minimum — a very solid player for Nebraska after a year or two of development.