By Mitch Sherman – July 17, 2025 – The Athletic (New York Times)

OMAHA, Neb. — Hidden from the view of traffic near a busy intersection and crammed between tennis courts and a softball complex, the single practice field buzzed with intensity on a Thursday in early July.

A defensive coach barked instructions and stopped a play mid-flow. The football players, many larger and more developed than the norm for their ages, returned to the line of scrimmage. The same coach chastised one defender for moving slowly.

“Do it again.” His words tore through the morning air. “Do it right.”

The threat of complacency rates as a primary enemy of the Millard South football team in 2025.

From 2008, when seniors in the graduating class of 2026 were born, until 2020, the state of Nebraska annually produced between three and 10 FBS signees. An increase in developmental opportunities and exposure to college recruiters sent that number soaring to 15 on average since 2021.

This year, at Millard South alone, 12 seniors hold Division I offers before they’ve conducted an official preseason practice. Nine are committed to FBS programs — including Alabama quarterback pledge Jett Thomalla.

It is likely the greatest collection of talent to assemble on one Nebraska high school football team. And this surge came, seemingly, from nowhere. Millard South produced four FBS signees in the past five years.

“It’s obviously something special,” said tight end Isaac Jensen, who turned down Nebraska, Notre Dame, Florida State, Texas A&M, LSU and Auburn to commit to Missouri in June. “But that’s not how you win games.”

Tight end Isaac Jensen committed to Missouri in June.Mitch Sherman / The Athletic

To be clear, Millard South is not Bishop Gorman nor IMG Academy, the highly resourced, private powers that routinely produce top recruits.

Millard South, a public school, is notably understated in appearance, unlike the modern high schools in suburban Omaha built near it in recent years. It is housed in a 55-year-old building, the oldest facility in a district with three high schools.

So how did it put together a roster full of all-stars?

“Most of the guys played together in sixth, seventh, eighth grade,” first-year coach Taylor Mendenhall said. “On top of that, high school football is still about becoming better teammates, becoming men and stuff like that.

“Their competitiveness within position groups and within the team has elevated them all.”

Former coach Ty Wisdom, in four seasons, employed an aggressive approach to player development. His attitude attracted the likes of tight end Chase Loftin, who transferred to Millard South from Elkhorn North in Omaha before his senior year. Loftin signed with Florida State last December.

Wisdom coached previously at Horizon High in Phoenix. He used Arizona connections to schedule a season-opening contest last year at prep power Basha High. Millard South lost 39-25 but then rolled to 12 wins against Nebraska competition.

It won 27-10 in the Class A title game against two-time defending champion Omaha Westside — a school with four alums on the Nebraska roster.

Thomalla threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns. The quarterback received his first scholarship offer in January from San Diego State. Thomalla said he “realized something was happening” when Missouri offered in February. He committed to Iowa State in April.

The next day, Alabama quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan followed him on Instagram. An offer from the Crimson Tide followed. Thomalla visited Tuscaloosa in late May. He flipped to Alabama on June 17, the morning before his check-in at the Elite 11 finals in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

“Once you commit to Alabama, you’re automatically going to get more attention,” Thomalla said. “Not a lot of kids have my problem that they’re too busy to hang out with friends. I just try to soak everything up and realize that I’m blessed.”

Quarterback Jett Thomalla switched his commitment from Iowa State to Alabama in June.Mitch Sherman / The Athletic

Wisdom left Millard South in December, returning to Arizona to run the program at Chandler High.

Mendenhall, 30, a former Millard South defensive lineman who spent five seasons as an assistant coach at the school, took over. He got word in his first days at work that Basha — against which Wisdom had scheduled a home-and-home arrangement — was not coming to Omaha this fall. The Arizona trip last year benefited the Patriots competitively and in generating notice for their players in recruiting.

“For this senior class, we owed it to them to do something special,” Mendenhall said.

So next month, Millard South will open at Arbor View of Las Vegas, which finished 10-2 in 2024 with a pair of losses against national power Bishop Gorman.

“We’re going to treat it like a business trip,” said Nelsyn Wheeler, the running back who committed to Illinois last month over offers from Wisconsin, Maryland, Michigan State and Kansas. “We’re going to stay smart, because we’re going there to compete. And we’re going there to put Nebraska on the map. We’re going there to win.”

Among the FBS commits at Millard South, Wheeler is the only player who’s new to the Patriots this year. He rushed for 114.7 yards per game last season at Grand Island, a Class A program 140 miles to the west of Omaha.

“First lifting session,” Wheeler said, “I realized I was no longer the strongest one. You had four-star O-linemen lifting four plates. It’s a different level, which is exactly what I came for.”

Running back Nelsyn Wheeler transferred to Millard South for his senior year.Mitch Sherman / The Athletic

The spring recruiting spotlight at Millard South paid dividends immediately. Illinois offered Millard South offensive lineman Landen Von Seggern last fall. Von Seggern committed to the Illini in January.

Wheeler’s offer came in May. He couldn’t turn down Illinois coach Bret Bielema after they watched film together of Illini assistant James White. Bielema told Wheeler that his running style reminded the former Wisconsin coach of White, who rushed for 4,015 yards with the Badgers.

Wide receiver Amarion Jackson is committed to Iowa State, offensive lineman Carter Glab and defensive back Dayton Gaius-Anyaegbu to Army, and defensive end Solomon Baker and tight end Dallas Gaius-Anyaegbu to Fresno State.

Defensive back Toris Rudd pledged to North Dakota of the FCS. Wide receiver DaShawn Prince was offered by Nebraska as a freshman, and linebacker Teagan Urban counts FCS-level Drake among his suitors.

There’s more talent hidden on the Patriots’ roster, Mendenhall said. The Patriots’ opener in Nevada and opportunities in the fall to play in front of college coaches figure to produce another wave of scholarship offers.

“They’re hungry,” Mendenhall said. “But like all high school kids, they need to be reminded.”

That need for a reminder explains the tension on the turf behind the high school building at a July workout — still several weeks before the Patriots don pads early in camp.

The pressure applied by coaches didn’t stop with a demand to repeat one play.

Mendenhall experienced a state championship in 2009 during his time in uniform at Millard South. The program later endured some rough times, but its players maintained a work ethic that pushed the Patriots over the top when an abundance of talent arrived with the senior class of 2026.

“The coaches need to stay on us,” Wheeler said, “because we’re going to be everyone’s national championship this year.”

The Patriots spent most of last season ranked No. 2 in their own state, downgraded because of the loss to Basha. Did it matter that other teams in Nebraska played no such competition?

“No,” said Baker, the defender committed to Fresno State. “Losing our first game gave us a lot of our motivation. Being ranked No. 2, that’s the first-place loser.”

Tight end Solomon Baker will play at Fresno State next fall.Mitch Sherman / The Athletic

They’ll be favored heavily to repeat in 2025.

Some motivation this year might involve an interesting subplot: Nebraska, in putting together its 2026 class, pursued only Jensen, the Mizzou-bound tight end, from Millard South.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Thomalla, the state’s top-rated prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, did not receive an offer because the Huskers took the commitment of 2026 QB Dayton Raiola — brother of starting QB Dylan Raiola — last September.

The Huskers, in fact, went after just three prospects from Nebraska, landing only Elkhorn North linebacker Jace Reynolds in their 12-player class.

“They’re not just going to offer because a kid is from Nebraska,” Jensen said. “It was a blessing that they gave me a chance. But we will all keep our heads down and keep working.”

To date, their work has produced unprecedented results.

(Top photo: Mitch Sherman / The Athletic)

By Mitch Sherman

Staff Writer, Nebraska