Matt Rhule: ‘Highly doubt’ Nebraska plays spring game in 2025

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, third-year coach Matt Rhule said he ‘highly doubts’ the annual spring game, one of the country’s most attended, will be played again. He blamed the transfer portal.

‘I don’t know that yet, but I’ll be honest with you. I highly doubt it,’ Rhule said about the future of the spring game. ‘I hate to say this, but last year we were one of the more televised spring games and I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that.

‘To go out and bring in a bunch of new players and then showcase them for all the other schools to watch, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.’

Nebraska’s spring game was held on April 27, 2024, in front of 60,452 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The game was also televised on the Big Ten Network. Following the spring game, the Cornhuskers suffered a few losses to the transfer portal.

“The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore,” Rhule said. “It’s just an absolute free open common market. I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world. I don’t these guys all being able to watch our guys and say, ‘Wow, he looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.’ ‘

While a ‘traditional spring’ game for the Cornhuskers doesn’t seem likely, Rhule did say he wants to have the opportunity to ‘show off’ his players to the fans in some fashion. Nebraska could hold an event on April 26 to end spring practices. The transfer portal for the spring cycle closes on April 25 this year.

‘I do want to show off our players in some way,’ he said. ‘So what exactly will it be? … I have not worried about anything other than recruiting right now.’