The Nebraska Cornhuskers finally breached the 6-win threshold and made a Bowl game after seven years in the abyss. However, there’s no one standing at the ceremony. Year 2 HC Matt Rhule cannot rest on his laurels and is seeking to retool his roster. The Huskers’ latest foray into the transfer portal sees them moving for a new head in the linebacker room. This is owing to 2 LBs leaving their disposition in Lincoln, namely Mikai Gbayor and Noah Bustard.

The portal is merely one facet of the offseason. It’s the season for festivities, but some rather discourteous decision-making as well. Coaches are being fired, and the players they recruited are getting itchy feet as a result. This seems to be the case at the WVU Mountaineers, who gave head coach Neal Brown the proverbial boot earlier this month. As a result of this uprooting at the helm, one player deemed it fit to seek new pastures.

LB Trey Lathan has exited West Virginia, much to the dismay of the Mountaineers faithful. The redshirt sophomore, with 2 years of eligibility left, is reportedly trending towards Nebraska. Huskers fan and insider Wilson Dittman leveraged his insight on where the recruitment process stands. Speaking on his namesake YouTube channel, Dittman pointed to one particular factor that gives Matt Rhule and Nebraska the edge over adversaries in pursuit of Lathan.

After leaving WVU in light of his HC’s exit, Trey Lathan is seemingly rebounding into a pre-existing relationship with another coach. Wilson Dittman stated, “There are a couple of things that are leaning in Nebraska’s favor with regards to this recruitment. First thing I’ll mention [is that] Nebraska’s new outside linebackers coach, Phil Simpson is from the Florida area…He has some connections to Lathan. Former 3-star Lathan is a Miami native. Because of that, Lathan is expected to visit next week around New Year.”

Trey Lathan had a remarkable season in the Big 12 last season, putting up 79 total tackles, 8 TFLs, a couple sacks and a forced fumble. He started all 12 games for WVU and was deployed as both a middle LB and a weak-side LB. As a result, Dittman and conventional wisdom both suggest he’ll slot straight into the lineup.

Dittman voiced confidence that the official visit will indeed prove consequential and have Lathan “sign the dotted line”. However, the geographical connection between Simpson and Lathan is superseded by a different school in the race.

Matt Rhule has to compete with Mario Cristobal’s Hurricanes for Lathan

Aside from Lincoln, Trey Lathan is also poised to visit the Miami Hurricanes’ campus. The Canes are naturally an enticing alternative and allow for a homecoming. Lathan is scheduled to visit them on January 2. To provide context for just how close in proximity the Canes are to Trey Lathan, both literally and figuratively, his high school, Gulliver Prep, is located less than 4 miles from the UoM.

Naturally, Wilson Dittman is concerned about them swooping in. He explicitly stated, “Miami is the one school I’m worried about.” Mario Cristobal’s roster is undergoing a relatively major overhaul in the wake of star player Cam Ward’s imminent departure. Earlier in the portal cycle, there were murmurs of them coincidentally looking to sway Nebraska QB1 Dylan Raiola. There’s often no smoke without fire, although that doesn’t appear to be transpiring.

A massive decision, potentially career-altering, beckons for Trey Latham. Both programs are historically great and are presently trending skywards. However, there’s more uncertainty around Miami going into next year. Matt Rhule has extensively been trying to recruit ancillary pieces all off-season, and he’ll hope to pip Miami and land Trey Lathan for his front 7 on defence.