Matt Rhule put up a poor 5-7 season in his debut year as Nebraska HC. Enter Dylan Raiola, whom he managed to flip from Georgia as an early enrollee. That’s some serious recruiting right there. Raiola brought with him the 5-star tag and was easily one of the most talked-about players then. However, his debut season did not go as many expected. With his bumpy performance, Raiola helped the Cornhuskers finish with a 7-5 record. Now, as he looks to play his second season, how is Rhule looking to propel his star quarterback to a better record?

The running back room is an area that caused some trouble for Nebraska in the season. Emmett Johnson became a much more dependable player on the roster. He ranked second on the team with 117 carries and 598 rushing yards and led the team with 908 all-purpose yards. Johnson dipped into the transfer portal briefly but is returning for one more season this year. He also looks set for his position. There’s also Kwinten Ives, who has reportedly secured the backup position to Johnson. However, Matt Rhule might be looking to add an immensely promising running back from the transfer portal as well.

Nebraska is going strong in the transfer portal recruiting. They currently rank No. 12 in the portal, according to 247Sports, and already have 16 commits. But Rhule can go higher if he lands this star running back. Wilson Dittman revealed that Nebraska was actively pursuing CharMar Brown from North Dakota State. And his stats speak for themselves. In his debut season, Brown posted an impressive 244 carries, 1,181 yards, and 15 touchdowns. With all of these factors, Brown can be a huge investment for Rhule in the long run. “He has the ability to lower the shoulder, to be our power back, to be that one-two punch with Emmett Johnson. And it should be noted, he has three years of eligibility remaining. He could be in the fold for a long time for Nebraska,” Dittman said.

However, there’s also the case of the NIL. Running backs are relatively low cost, ranging around $200,000, according to Dittman. “[It’ll] be interesting to see if they come to agreement, if Nebraska can outbid some of these other schools.” The schools in question are Miami, North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa State, and Northwestern, which is a competition worthy of worrying about. “The only school I’m kind of worried about is Miami. They have a pretty good collective. But it should be noted around Chamar Brown, we can’t really outbid a team like Miami if it gets over about that $300,000 range.” Dittman revealed that it was the fee for which Johnson came back from the portal. Paying a rookie transfer more than that amount will set him off.

But Dittman has high hopes for Rhule landing Brown. “They’re (Nebraska) going to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to pay you this, not anything more.’ If he signs that line – I  think he will – we will have a new running back too, alongside Emmett Johnson,” he said. “He [Brown] will be [a] Nebraska Cornhusker,” Dittman declared. However, as Rhule is keen to land this elite prospect, he also made the tough call of letting another valuable recruit leave.

Matt Rhule acknowledges ‘collateral damage’ with a transfer departure

The Nebraska HC had secured Jack McAllister from the last portal. Coming from Washington, the punter was known to be a brilliant fourth-down element and had a record of not having any of his kicks blocked. However, a “change in circumstances” that reportedly came after Mike Ekeler was hired as special teams coach forced McAllister to return to the portal.

Matt Rhule is admittedly unhappy about the whole play of events. He told Huskers247, “This is an amazing young man, who committed to us and had the team mentality to stay with Washington through their bowl game and then came to us. As we made a coaching change, there’s always collateral damage. Coach Ekeler has done a wonderful job and strongly, strongly believes in utilizing the college rules, which are different than the NFL rules where guys can get down the field, so we will be more of a rugby punt team.” Is it possible that this new style of punting was what forced McAllister out?

McAllister, at Washington last year, punted 36 times. 8 of those punts went flying for 50 yards or more. Coincidentally, Washington is also in need of a punter. And it’s not unlikely for players to return back to their former home after they have transferred to another program. Rhule, on the other hand, has just one remaining punter: Kamdyn Koch.

Matt Rhule, with CharMar Brown on the roster, can look to create a more promising O-line for Dylan Raiola. On the other hand, he also seriously lacks a punter, with Jack McAllister moving out of Lincoln. Can this loss be made up for by gaining Brown in the transfer portal?