LINCOLN, Neb. — Around college football on Tuesday, the re-opening of the transfer portal created an abundance of noise.
150 FBS scholarship players entered the transfer portal this morning. Many more coming soon.
Here’s our live tracker with updates on new names plus all of our @TheAthleticCFB portal coverage: https://t.co/fQPxHEBXil
— Max Olson (@max_olson) April 16, 2024
Calm won the day at Nebraska.
“If anybody on our team wants to go in the portal, it’s open today,” coach Matt Rhule said. “That’s their right.”
No one among the 120-plus Huskers on the practice field this spring made an exit. Former linebacker Eric Fields and safety Corey Collier, both of whom left the team after last season, entered their names in the portal.
Otherwise, it was business as usual. Nebraska returned to the grass and artificial turf in the morning with its 10th practice of the spring. On the heels of his team’s first major offseason scrimmage Saturday, Rhule said he expected to see tired bodies. So he instructed the assistant coaches to push the Huskers.
“I was pleased with today,” Rhule said, noting an outbreak of the flu among the roster. “Guys were sick and out there battling through it. You don’t see me happy very often after practice. It’s not my job to be happy. But I was really happy with the bouncing back.”
Nebraska scheduled spring practice to start in late March with the understanding that it would extend through most of the spring portal entry period. The Huskers’ Red-White game is set for April 27; the spring window closes on April 30.
Rhule said he knew it could create a distraction. But the portal, at this stage of development for his program, is largely a non-issue. Nebraska added six transfers in January. It figures to lose a few players this month. Rhule does not anticipate in Lincoln anything like the chaos that envelops the sport at large.
“I just don’t think it’s really prudent for me to coach guys thinking about the portal,” Rhule said. “The worst thing you can ever do for a young person is not have high standards for them and push them to greatness. So if you’re afraid of pushing them because they might go to the portal, you probably don’t have the right guy.
“If something happens, it happens.”
The coach said he and the Nebraska staff had already heard from Huskers contacted by other schools to gauge their interest.
“It’s a sad state of college football,” Rhule said. “But the problem is not the players.”
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Other observations and takeaways Tuesday from Nebraska’s media availability, two-thirds of the way through spring, and from a 20-minute viewing period for media during an early period of practice:
• Defensive coordinator Tony White took Rhule’s message to heart about coaching the Huskers hard.
White brought the fire early in practice, barking at a group of defensive linemen who apparently cut short their time in pre-practice meetings, then starting slowly in the workout. “That’s what happens,” White yelled.
Minutes later, White called on linebacker Stefon Thompson to repeat a rep and implored linebacker John Bullock to show leadership. “Somebody’s gotta hold them accountable, John.”
This is nothing new from White. He’s intent this spring to avoid overseeing a step back for the Nebraska defense after its best season statistically since the school joined the Big Ten in 2011.
• The addition of Wake Forest transfer Jahmal Banks and Texas transfer Isaiah Neyor has “significantly improved” the Nebraska wide receivers. The group was decimated by injuries and inexperience in 2023, relying heavily on true freshmen Jaylen Lloyd and Malachi Coleman during the second half of the season.
Banks and Neyor, both seniors, allow the progression of Lloyd and Coleman to stay on a normal track — and for the Huskers to ease redshirt freshmen Jaidyn Doss and Demitrius Bell into the playing rotation. Junior Alex Bullock and sophomore Janiran Bonner also factor, along with senior Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, who has battled injuries in two seasons at Nebraska, and five true freshmen on scholarship.
Rhule said he’s seen better results in route running, speed, effort and knowledge of the offense. In the scrimmage Saturday, the Huskers’ ball skills and work against press coverage left him wanting more.
“I don’t think we’ve improved enough at it,” he said.
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• Coleman, the speedy, 6-foot-4 receiver who’s flashed stardom, is wearing a green jersey to keep him out of contact this spring after he underwent shoulder surgery. Receivers coach Garret McGuire said he’s eager for the full return of Coleman, in part because he brings a strong presence to the Huskers’ edge blocking.
“It was always in there,” McGuire said of Coleman’s physical style. “That’s how we want to play football. We want to play with dominant contact. We want to strike people and put our hands on people and move them. There’s a difference between blocking someone and moving someone.”
• Banks, 6-foot-4 and the 6-3 Neyor know all three receiving positions, McGuire said. But Neyor, in his first interview since arriving at Nebraska in January, said Tuesday that he envisions himself and Banks lined up opposite each other on the far edges of the field.
“He elevates my game,” Neyor said. “I elevate his game. Being able to come out here and have him on one side, me on one side, I think it’s a pretty good combo.”
• Neyor brings game-changing speed, similar to Coleman and Lloyd, who Banks, a bigger-bodied receiver, gets better when pressed in coverage, McGuire said.
In Banks, according to Rhule, the Huskers got a receiver who has strived to set an example for teammates on and off the field since he arrived in the winter. And he illustrates to lesser-experienced teammates that “as you have success, you don’t arrive.”
“You work to have more success,” Rhule said.
• Banks earned a rest during the scrimmage last week. Others to whom Rhule gave a break for part of Saturday include defensive linemen Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher, defensive backs Isaac Gifford, Marques Buford and Tommi Hill and offensive linemen Ben Scott and Bryce Benhart.
They’ll rest again during the second scrimmage of the spring at the close of this week. The veterans’ involvement in the Red-White is undetermined, Rhule said.
• Nebraska quarterbacks early in practice took turns throwing first to groups of tight ends and running backs, then to wide receivers. Among the scholarship QBs, not much separation was evident. Heinrich Haarberg, Daniel Kaelin and Dylan Raiola alternated throws, connecting regularly under the supervision of offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield and QBs coach/co-OC Glenn Thomas.
“They can all sling it,” Neyor said.
The quarterbacks played well in the scrimmage, Rhule said. They handled pressure against an aggressive defense and made adjustments in a noisy environment with manufactured crowd noise at Memorial Stadium.
Most importantly, they protected the ball.
“We’re on a mission to be in positive territory in turnover margin,” Rhule said.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule: “We had 31 turnovers last year. That’s obviously way, way, way too many.” pic.twitter.com/SxTcL1TBfG
— Mitch Sherman (@mitchsherman) April 16, 2024
Nebraska’s streak of seven consecutive seasons with a negative turnover margin rates as the longest in the Power 5.
(Photo: Reese Strickland / USA Today)
