Matt Rhule claims 'every team in the country' is trying to convince one of Nebraska's top players to transfer
The Huskers are fighting to keep one of their top players from transferring.
Nebraska football has yet to have a current player enter the transfer portal during the active window, but that could soon change after the Huskers wrapped up their spring practice on Saturday with a scrimmage inside Memorial Stadium. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said earlier in April that some players on his roster were contacted by other teams gauging their interest in entering the transfer portal ahead of the spring window. On Saturday, he revealed tight end Thomas Fidone as one of the top Nebraska players with outside interest.
"Every team in the country is trying to get him to leave and go there," Rhule said. "The kid is a Nebraska Cornhusker through and through."
Fidone rated as a four-star prospect and ranked as the No. 1 tight end in the 2021 recruiting class. After suffering a pair of ACL injuries in his first two seasons at Nebraska, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound played in all 12 games with eight starts as a sophomore in 2023.
Fidone led the Huskers with four touchdown catches and finished second with 25 receptions for 260 yards last season.
"I think the biggest thing with Thomas — at the end of the season I said to Thomas, I was like, 'What a great fall we had,' meaning him, us, we had. He's like, 'What do you mean?' What I love about Thomas Fidone, man, he is never happy. He is never happy. It's because he wants to be great. He wants to be the best tight end in the world. He's always trying to be better. My point was, coming off two ACLs, to get through a spring, a fall and a season healthy, that's what he needed. Because now instead of rehabbing this winter, he's lifting. He's in the 260 range at 4.5 with 34-inch arms. He's a physical freak. And he's loyal. ... So, I love that guy and I love his approach. It's so good for our players to see a guy who's so obsessed with being great and never happy. You know what I mean? But at the same time, to your point, he just had to have a true offseason. He just had to have weight lifting where he's not rehabbing and now I think you're starting to see what he can do."
Just sayin': If true, isn't that tampering?
