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Here are the All-Nebraska football teams since 2015.
Danny Kaelin stood on the sideline Friday at Council Bluffs Lewis Central in Iowa, having just finished leading Bellevue West to a win. That's something the junior quarterback is hoping to do a lot of this fall.
After splitting time at the position the last two years, Kaelin heads into this fall with nobody standing between him and the Thunderbirds’ starting job.
Draped over his shoulder is a backpack with a slew of lanyards hanging from the bottom. One for every school he’s visited or received an offer from.
Just as his role for the Thunderbirds ramps up, his recruiting process has done the same.
“It started early this spring with schools coming to watch me throw and I started to pick up some more offers, so that was definitely exciting,” Kaelin said. “This summer though, I’m really focused on getting back to those schools that came up in the spring, especially the ones that offered. Now I’m just trying to start narrowing it down.”
Kaelin, one of the state’s top 2024 quarterback prospects, is up to 10 offers — six of which have come since the calendar flipped to 2022. He aims to have a decision sometime this winter, but a strong junior campaign could give him even more to pick from.
Recently he's taken visits to Duke and Vanderbilt, but he’ll also be visiting Iowa, Rutgers and Minnesota in the coming weeks. He already has offers from Duke, Minnesota and Rutgers.
At times, Kaelin says it's been surreal to think about the attention and interest he’s received. Especially from the caliber of schools that have been recruiting him. Florida State and Nebraska offered on the same day (May 31, 2021) while he was technically still a freshman.
But at the same time, this has been the norm over the last year. So Kaelin isn’t worried about any additional pressure heading into this fall.
“I think this year it’s more about just doing what I know I can do on the field,” he said. “And knowing that I have the role of the starter and being the guy, it just adds that much more excitement to this season.”
Being "the guy" might be the biggest difference in Kaelin's immediate and future path on the gridiron. He was limited to just four games as a freshman, and, although he appeared in 11 of the Thunderbirds’ 12 games last season, he still found himself in a rotation.
Now he heads into the fall with a new mindset, confidence and title.
“I’d say it’s a little bit of a weight off the shoulders,” Kaelin said. “I don’t have to worry about competing for reps as much. Obviously we’re still competing in practice and have to earn playing time, but it adds more excitement to this season knowing that I’m the guy going in. I think I’ve matured a lot both on and off the field too.”
Kaelin stood just over 6-foot and 175 pounds last summer. After adding roughly 20 pounds in muscle, he’s now up to 6-foot-3 and has been hovering around 195 pounds.
“Literally right as the offseason hit last fall, I was already starting to work and grind for this year,” he said. “The way we lost last year, I know I wasn’t playing, but it still definitely lit a fire under me and for our team. We didn’t expect to go out like that and I know we have a lot of motivation going into this fall.”
In addition to those workouts, Kaelin has been making the rounds at camps this summer, too. The latest of which was last weekend at the Nebraska Preps 7 Tournament by Battle.
Kaelin stood composed and delivered several beautiful balls, leading the Thunderbirds to a second-place finish. Some of his best work came on a last-second throw to Kyrell Jordan at the pylon, which led Bellevue West to a 23-17 win over Omaha Westside.
And with more of those plays in the fall, more lanyards could be added to his backpack.
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!
Here are the All-Nebraska football teams since 2015.
Look back at some of our past All-Nebraska football teams and the iconic covers from past years.
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