Matt Rhule Struggles to Secure Top Offensive Talent in Nebraska as Portal Market Hits a $2M Price Ceiling

There’s a certain expectation that comes with coaching Nebraska Cornhuskers football. Bringing the Huskers back to the national stage, reviving a brand that once struck fear across the Midwest—that’s the weight Matt Rhule carries. And while Year 2 with his freshman QB1, Dylan Raiola, showed promise, the pressure remains. While they have signed 15 transfers, including former Alabama right tackle Elijah Pritchett, there’s an elephant in the room—or maybe, more accurately, a 325-pound bodyguard in the trenches.

Rhule’s old friend and new OC Dana Holgorsen’s offense is tight, no doubt. But with 7-6, Nebraska is unhappy; they significantly improved from last season; however, they still have too many questions to confidently say that they are a 9 or 10-win team. Their OL is weak, and the RB room lacks depth. That’s a problem, considering their offensive line was arguably their biggest weakness this season. The Huskers struggled with protection all year, ranking near the bottom of the Big Ten in sack percentage allowed. They need more than just a fix—they need anchors.

It will arrive on Tuesday when the Huskers host Notre Dame interior lineman Rocco Spindler. The 6-foot-5, 325-pound interior lineman has one season of eligibility remaining with interests from Indiana and Michigan. But whether they get him or not, there’s a bigger problem looming. And that’s exactly what you should expect from former alum Adam Carriker and HuskerOnline insider Sean Callahan sharing a unique insight.

So why hasn’t Nebraska been able to land those difference-makers in the portal? The market is just too rich. “Why have we struggled to get transfer portal offensive linemen to come in?” Carriker asked. “Because we’ve been trying to get them.” Callahan is laying out just how steep the price tag is. “Call the elite tackles in the portal the ‘Unicorn tackles,’” per him. “And the market on those players is at least a million and a half for each of these guys, and it’s pushing $2 million now for some of them. So the amount of money it takes to get one of those six to eight unicorns is significant. Nebraska hosted three of them this year.” In other words, Nebraska’s efforts weren’t the issue—the financial arms race was.

This is the new reality of college football, where top-tier linemen are commanding quarterback-level NIL deals. Nebraska was in the running for some of the best, including Isaiah World (who ended up at Oregon) and Shiyazh Pete (now at Kentucky), as well as Fa’alili Fa’amoe (Washington State to Wake Forest), but the Huskers couldn’t close the deal. That’s why the focus has shifted to Rocco Spindler, the Irish guard who is visiting Lincoln.

“This would be an interior starter, and it would allow so many more things to happen,” Callahan explained. “An interior player doesn’t have near the price tag of, say, a tackle—just like the NFL. There’s still going to be a significant premium to get a guy like Spindler, but it would really answer a lot of the questions on this offensive line.”

Spindler isn’t just another name in the portal—he’s a proven commodity. A former top recruit, he’s started 23 games for Notre Dame over the past two seasons and played 1,325 career snaps while allowing just two sacks. That kind of reliability would be a massive boost for Nebraska. The Clarkson, Michigan native, saw 747 offensive snaps in 2024, including 402 pass plays with no sacks among his 10 quarterback pressures allowed.

Son of a former NFL DL, Marc Spindler, he’s tough, experienced, and, perhaps most importantly, available at a price that won’t require a multimillion-dollar bidding war. For a Nebraska team that still prides itself on its walk-on culture, that’s about as good a deal as they’re going to get. The Huskers have made strides under Matt Rhule and will keep on doing it, just like their old habit.

Matt Rhule clapped back at Paul Finebaum, and it’s pure gold

Old habits die hard. Apparently, grudges do too. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule took his sweet time, but he finally delivered a masterful response to ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, who trashed him last week. And let’s just say it was worth the wait.

The tension started when Rhule suggested that the Big Ten deserved four College Football Playoff spots. Finebaum, never one to hold back, ripped into him on air: “Man, stay in your lane! Win enough games to make a bowl before worrying about the big boys. You don’t belong at the table with Ohio State and Georgia! We saw what you did in the NFL; you were a complete disaster in Carolina. You don’t! Just try to win maybe six games, quit choking big games on the final play, and leave the punditry to the professionals. Thank you.”

Fast forward to now, with Ohio State fresh off a national championship, and Rhule finally fired back—without even breaking a sweat. “Looking forward to another exciting year of football in 2025 with everyone who makes this game so special like my friend @finebaum.” Rhule’s subtle jab at Finebaum might be the highlight of his offseason unless the transfer portal continues to rob him of his best players before the season even begins.