The Nebraska spring game, a major event for both attendance and revenue in college football, is likely to be canceled in the future due to coach Matt Rhule’s concerns about other teams targeting his players.
“The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore,” Rhule said at his midwinter news conference on Saturday. “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.’”
The spring game has been a long-standing tradition at Nebraska. Last year, it attracted 60,452 fans to Memorial Stadium, ranking fourth in the nation behind Ohio State, Alabama, and Penn State. The event was also televised on the Big Ten Network.
“I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that,” Rhule explained. “To go out and bring in a bunch of new players and showcase them for all the other schools to watch doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
Six Nebraska players entered the transfer portal the week after last year’s spring game.
The spring transfer portal period ends on April 25 this year, just a day before Nebraska’s spring practice ends. However, players can still switch schools without entering the portal, like Wisconsin safety Xavier Lucas did when he moved to Miami.
Rhule said he’s more concerned about exposing his players to other schools than worrying about injuries that can occur in a spring game. Last year, receiver Demitrius Bell and cornerback Blye Hill got hurt during the spring game and missed the season. Rhule confirmed that live tackling would still take place in spring practice scrimmages.
“Guys are being compensated now, and you’re putting money behind some people, a whole other set of parameters,” Rhule said. “Yet at the same time you have to get good. Honestly, to me, it’s about protecting the roster and protecting through that portal period.”
When asked if a spring game with a scrimmage format would be held to conclude spring practice, Rhule replied, “I don’t know that yet, but I’ll be honest with you, I highly doubt it.”
He did express a desire to “show off” his players in some way. Athletic director Troy Dannen mentioned on his radio show last week that an event, possibly involving football and other fall sports, would take place on April 26.
