Nebraska Cornhuskers’ Head Coach, Matt Rhule, is going into his third off-season at Nebraska in a bit of an unorthodox fashion. As the Cornhuskers wrap up year two with Rhule, anyone planning to attend a spring game in Lincoln this April appears to be out of luck.
The reason? It appears that the Cornhuskers have canceled their spring game that was originally set for Apr 26.
The news was originally brought to the public’s attention in late January by the University of Nebraska’s Atheltic Director, Troy Dannen. Dannen had made a radio appearance where he officially confirmed that there would be no “traditional” spring game this year.
While Dannon did offer a variety of reasons as to why the decision was made, a notable one had to do with injuries.
“One of my first experiences here last year, we had two ACL (knee injuries) during that game,” Dannen said.
Rhule Fears of Transfer Portal Losses
On Feb. 1, Rhule met with members of the media to formally announce the decision and buckled down on the reasoning for the decision to not have a spring game. The decision, however, was not centered around the fear of losing players to injury.
Rhule appeared to be quite fearful of the looming transfer portal that opens shortly after Apr. 26. and also provided an explanation for the decision.
“The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore. It’s just an absolute free open common market. I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world and have people watch our guys and say, ‘He looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.”
Last off-season Nebraska had a net transfer loss of two players and, notably, had two outgoing quarterbacks to one incoming quarterback. Also, six players entered the transfer portal after last year’s spring game for Nebraska.
While a net transfer loss of two is not massively detrimental, the Cornhuskers are coming off an unremarkable season and a losing record in the Big Ten. Rhule’s agenda of mitigating transfers to a minimum by not exposing his players’ talent to the public may be a wise decision, especially if there is grave concern that further net transfer losses may cause a trend of underperformance in the Big Ten.
Nebraska Is Locked In on Rhule
Currently, Rhule is in the midst of a healthy eight-year contract. Between 2023 and 2030 Rhule is set to earn about 74 million should he see it through all eight years of the contract.
A fourth of the way through Rhule’s contract it appears that Nebraska has marginally improved since Rhule’s inaugural season in 2023. Nebraska finished 5-7 (3-6 in conference play) in 2023 and failed to qualify for a bowl game.
In 2024, Nebraska officially finished with a winning record considering their win at the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College 20-15. The Cornhuskers, however, did not improve in conference play and kept their 3-6 Big Ten record the same as in 2023.
As Rhule’s contract is structured to progressively increase the longer he coaches at Nebraska, Nebraska appears to be putting high hopes on Rhule to move the program in a more positive direction. Rhule’s determination to keep as much talent away from the portal as possible suggests Rhule is aware of the pressure being put on him to succeed.
The concept of canceling a spring game is certainly interesting. Time will only tell if keeping players out of the portal will help a football program like Nebraska significantly improve in such a loaded Big Ten conference
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