Nebraska football: Matt Rhule breaks down the current quarterbacks and if the transfer portal is an option.
Matt Rhule made no opening statement, but he did appear to have a freshly shaved face when he met with the media today to discuss the previous season as well as the future.
The quarterback position and where they go from here are probably the biggest elephants in the room in Nebraska football. When asked if he intends to address the position through the transfer portal, Matt Rhule raised a couple of interesting points.
When Rhule goes to the portal (regardless of position), he looks for guys with multiple years of experience who can be an instant impact upgrade and make a difference.
The most interesting piece of information he dropped was that a big time quarterback in the portal is asking $1 million to $2 million, “just so we are on the same page,” he added at the end of his response. “Some teams have players worth six or seven million dollars.”
That answer, and the way he said it, make it clear that Nebraska is not one of those programs, and it does not appear to be working in that direction.
While there are many negative things to say about Nebraska’s current quarterbacks and their performances, there are also many positives. Rhule was very pleased with Chubba Purdy, and you wonder how much further he would have improved if he had more experience leading up to the end of the season. He believes Chubba has a high ceiling.
Regarding Heinrich Haarberg, he stated that he was not even permitted to attend quarterback meetings last year.
What?
Yes, that is an insane thought, but it makes sense given that last year’s Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple laughed at the idea of Haarberg becoming a power five quarterback. Yeah, it’s hard to believe he could be a power five quarterback when he’s not even allowed to attend position meetings. Insane. Not enough chairs?
Rhule added, following his comment about Haarberg and not being allowed in quarterback meetings, “I’m very proud of him. And I believe that with further development, those guys (Haarberg and Purdy) have two years left. I think they’ll be good players.
Having said that, he will continue to do his due diligence with the portal and if he believes they can get an
In that lengthy response about quarterbacks, he never mentioned Jeff Sims.
So, the next question was about Jeff Sims.
“To be clear, I will never say anything that is disrespectful to a player.” I believe Jeff is an incredible young man who was always there for his teammates. If we had started with a couple of layup games to give him some confidence, things might have gone better. You are aware that he is extremely talented. Can run. Dynamic. Can make every throw. But I just turned the ball over too many times. But I adore who he is. I adore the person he is.
“So, what’s the takeaway from Jeff Sims’ portal recruitment? I remember a lesson I learned…. (from a former NFL GM)…they’re all fourth-round picks. When you bring players in with the expectation that they are all fourth-round picks who require time. When it comes to quarterbacks who have had a lot of success, such as Michael Penix and Bo Nix, they have been around for a while. A couple of years of development in that system. So there are many aspects to it. So I don’t regret taking Jeff. He has been an excellent teammate, and I enjoy having him here. I wish we had done more to help him.”
What about
We discovered that the original plan was to have Satterfield coach the tight ends (and be the offensive coordinator) and then have another coach coach the quarterbacks, but “that didn’t work out.”
Rhule believed that many of the coaches had their best years coaching, but he still intends to evaluate the coaches and proceed from there. He is hoping that the rules governing analysts will be relaxed so that he can bring in some who can assist with on-field coaching, allowing Nebraska more flexibility.
So it appears that Rhule likes Purdy and his high ceiling. When it comes to Haarberg, he is intrigued because he received so little development before Rhule and the staff arrived.
But what about the Portal? It appears that they will do their homework, but they will not accept just anyone. Also, if they do take a guy through the portal, they will have to write a large check to make it happen.
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