Nebraska football WR, former No. 1 player in Nebraska, plans to enter transfer portal

Nebraska sophomore receiver Malachi Coleman plans to enter the transfer portal, Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule said on Monday.

The transfer portal opens Dec. 9 and closes Dec. 28. In the spring, the transfer portal is open from April 16-25, 2025.

“I can’t say anything but great things about Malachi,” Rhule said Monday at his Iowa Week press conference.

Coleman, a 6-foot-5, 210-pounder from Lincoln (Neb.) East, was a four-star prospect, the No. 60 overall recruit in the 2023 class and the No. 1 recruit in the state.

Due to depth problems in the receiving room in 2023, Coleman was thrust into a large role as a true freshman. He played in 11 games with six starts and caught eight passes for 139 yards with one touchdown while also making an impact as a blocker.

Coleman underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason. In September, Rhule said the plan for Coleman was to redshirt the 2024 season. He’s played in just one game this season, against Rutgers, on the punt return unit.

“I just think Malachi stepped up for us last year, in a year that maybe he could have redshirted, and tried to play,” Rhule said in September.

After the 2023 season, Nebraska added two veteran receivers in Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor, who have both started every game this season and combined for 60 catches for 841 yards and seven touchdowns.

“We have these two big receivers out there that are playing well,” Rhule said of Banks and Neyor in September. “If Malachi can have this year, and he can play four games and play in the postseason, I think he would just be really picking right up where those guys left off.”

Coleman’s potential departure would rate as a notable loss. No, he isn’t playing and it didn’t sound like that would change for Wisconsin and Iowa. But part of Rhule’s vision for Coleman includes stepping into the role Banks and Neyor have right now and be one of the featured big-bodied wideouts in the offense in 2025.

Rhule and his staff grinded on the recruiting trail to land the highly-touted recruit, but they’ll have to tweak future plans at wideout now.

Coleman was a member of a Garret McGuire-led room that has come under scrutiny lately. The group as a whole has struggled to consistently beat man coverage and separate from Big Ten defensive backs. The receiver screen concepts that must have perimeter blocking haven’t worked. It was just one game, but there was improvement in the screen game at USC after Dana Holgorsen had spent a couple weeks in the program.

NU is set to lose Banks, Neyor and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda after the season. If the current receiver room stays intact for 2025, the most veteran wideouts on the roster would be Alex Bullock and walk-on Elliott Brown, who both have a year of eligibility remaining if they want it.

NU’s 2025 class includes verbal commitments from four-star receiver Isaiah Mozee and three-star athlete Tanner Terch, who plays many different positions, including receiver, at Littleton (Colo.) Heritage but is expected to begin his Husker career as a defensive back.

Without Coleman, NU’s receiver room loses a pass catcher with size. True freshmen Carter Nelson and Quinn Clark are both 6-5 while another true freshman, Keelan Smith, stands 6-3. Sophomore Janiran Bonner and true freshman Dae’vonn Hall are each 6-2.

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