Could a concern from Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule lead to a change to one of Penn State’s biggest offseason events on the calendar? It may not be quite ready to jump to that kind of conclusion, but a decision that could be made at Nebraska is certainly worth paying attention to in the modern era of college football.
Rhule, a former Penn State linebacker coming off his second season as head coach of Nebraska, raised some eyebrows with a comment about the possibility of Nebraska scrubbing its annual spring football game. Like Penn State, Nebraska’s spring football game is a tradition in Lincoln, Nebraska that draws one of the biggest spring game crowds in the country on an annual basis. The mere thought of canceling one of the best spring games is somewhat mind-boggling. Rhule’s reason for even bringing up the idea is a fear of what the transfer portal could do to his program by putting on a spring game.
“The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore,” Rhule said 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.'”
Rhule’s concerns are a modern-day issue and one that coaches of the past like Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne never would have had to fear. But he does have a point. Spring games of today, especially at the bigger schools, receive more media exposure than ever before with more games airing on television on networks like ESPN, FS1, and conference-branded networks like Big Ten Network.
“I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that,” Rhule said. “So you 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.”
It is fair to suggest Rhule is more…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nebraska-cancel-spring-football-game-222648866.html
Author : Nittany Lions Wire
Publish date : 2025-02-01 22:26:00
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