Though the transfer window has closed, Nebraska may still have portal work to do

“I haven’t thought about it,” Rhule said April 11, four days before college football players started entering their names in the portal. “I’ve been pretty straightforward that I look at the transfer portal as a tremendous opportunity for guys to figure out where they want to go.”

The 15-day window opened April 15 and Rhule spoke with reporters again that morning following a brisk scrimmage inside Memorial Stadium. This time his response made national rounds as some wondered whether it was directed at any particular school.

“Whereas I hear other schools say they can’t wait for today — the transfer portal — they can’t wait to go out (and find players) — I can’t wait to coach my guys,” Rhule said. “Let me tell you that. I’m not thinking about anybody else than this team that’s out here.”

The message held up through another busy transactional stretch in the sport. Nebraska hasn’t added a transfer — in large part because it was double-digit scholarships over the 85-man limit for months and remains above the threshold now — since late January. And nobody left the team before the Red-White scrimmage on April 22.

That changed last week when 10 scholarship players entered the portal in a six-day span. Among them were three quarterbacks in Casey Thompson, Logan Smothers and Richard Torres, high-upside running back Ajay Allen and defensive lineman Stephon Wynn. Thompson, Allen and Wynn all qualified as surprises to some degree as likely key contributors in the fall.

Rhule, appearing on “The College Football Daily” podcast last week, repeated his spring position that he views the portal as a complementary piece to the foundation of building through high school recruiting.

“We don’t have five open scholarships,” Rhule said. “For me to be talking about the transfer portal means I’m saying, ‘Hey, these players have to leave.’ Even if a player is going to leave, I don’t want to put that pressure and anxiety on my own guys.”

Combined with the 45-day transfer window that begin in early December, Nebraska saw 24 scholarship departures into the portal while 11 emerged and went through spring practices in Lincoln. NU recouped three others who had entered the portal — receivers Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda and Zavier Betts and edge rusher Jimari Butler — before workouts began.

Though the window has closed for most players to transfer out, the roster dust is far from settled. Those who have their degrees may still enter at anytime. Those already in the portal — roughly 1,000 FBS scholarship student-athletes — may still visit schools and commit whenever in their own timeframes.

Nebraska and Rhule also have at their disposal an NCAA rule allowing first-year head coaches to not invite scholarship players back to the team while those players still keep their scholarships to stay in school and don’t count against the 85-man program limit. Whether Nebraska has or will need to utilize that power remains unclear as it still publicly carries three scholarship players too many.

Should the Huskers choose to add any other transfers between now and fall camp, they would need to part ways with more players than that.

The inevitability of attrition, though, has maintained for months since the Huskers brought in upwards of 40 players by the end of January. Rhule wanted everyone to go through spring ball and see if the new Nebraska was for them and they did — there were virtually no defectors for two months until last week.

Wynn was the only outgoing player to talk with media members during spring practices. On track to be at least a rotational member on a resetting defensive line, he spoke about a final chance to settle in and show pro scouts his abilities.

“I just felt that I didn’t do all I could do to give myself the best chance (last year),” Wynn said then. “I feel like I can come back and give myself a better chance to maybe go higher (in the draft) and get more opportunity.”

Allen, a redshirt freshman whose debut was marred by injury, was part of a running back group that Rhule said was the deepest he’s been a part of in college. Anthony Grant, Gabe Ervin, Rahmir Johnson, Emmett Johnson and others remain in the mix.

The move by Thompson — who is already commanding more than a dozen suitors and visited Auburn this week — paves the way for transfer QB Jeff Sims as the clear starter this season. Coaches and players praised Thompson all spring for his work ethic while recovering from shoulder surgery, though NU’s new vision for a power offense with a healthy amount of quarterback runs ultimately factored into his verdict late in the window.

“Some people probably don’t make the right decision, some people do make the right decision,” Rhule said last month. “I think the main issue is coaches sometimes inducing people to leave places for the wrong reasons. … I care deeply about all of our guys and I want them to go where they’re going to be happy.”