The Nebraska Football team introduced Friday Night Lights into the lexicon of Husker fans in a big way in 2016. In 2017, they upped the ante.
The Husker coaching staff realized that the camp has become one of their best recruiting tools because it is yet another way to show recruits the dedication of the fanbase. More than 3,000 came to watch some of the country's best high school phenoms a year ago. That number was improved upon last night.
Nebraska football shooting for 10,000 fans
Love having fans at camp! It makes a huge difference! Come out to FNL and show why There's No Place Like Nebraska! Can we get 10K? #GBR 🔴🌽⚪️ pic.twitter.com/dtQc8EH2O0
— Mike Riley (@Coach_Riley) June 22, 2017
On Friday, head coach Mike Riley tweeted out that he was hoping he could get more than 10,000 Husker fans to attend his Friday Night Lights camp.
Officials say they fell short of that goal, but not by nearly as much as some might have thought. Attendance by the public numbered almost 7,000 when all was said and done.
Nebraska's Friday Night Light's crowd was bigger than what 94 different teams drew for their spring games in 2017. #Huskers
— Sean Callahan (@Sean_Callahan) June 24, 2017
As Sean Callahan from Huskersonline pointed out, the attendance for a summer camp was more than as many as 94 schools saw attend their spring games this year. It's only a statement as to just how much the program is loved that the Friday Night Lights crowd came now where near where Nebraska football got when it came to its own spring game attendance.
Nebraska football targets blown away by attendance
So did the attendance of so many fans have the intended effect. It appears it really did. There were over 20 players that were either five-star or four-star recruits that the Nebraska football team was hoping to reel in. Riley, talking to the media after the camp said many players made it clear it was truly something special.
“Almost every player I talked to, none of them experienced anything like this,” Riley said. “It really makes it fun to be a part of it.”
The Big Ten Network's Howard Griffith was in Lincoln to check out what the camp had to offer. He wasn't there as a member of the media, he was there taking his son, Houston Griffith to camp.
The younger Griffith is a Rivals100 prospect who is going to be playing this fall with IMG Academy.
The NU Athletic Department said 6,817 was the official attendance count at Friday Night Lights.
— Sean Callahan (@Sean_Callahan) June 24, 2017
The elder Griffith is certainly one that has seen and done things all over the college football world. His visit to Nebraska still managed to stand out. Griffith told a colleague that he had never seen anything like what the Huskers managed to put forward on Friday. Players who attended were impressed as well.
Nebraska love is really different!!
— BLESSEDMVP (@Micah_parsons23) June 24, 2017
Micah Parsons who is one of Nebraska football's top defensive targets appeared to have been shocked by what he walked into. There is very little doubt this camp has become quite the spectacle. Now the coaching staff just needs to close the deal.