The seventh offseason of the transfer portal era is well underway. And Nebraska has acquired enough talent through the years to field a starting lineup.
Plenty has changed since the portal’s debut in October 2018 as a nondescript compliance tool. Undergraduate players no longer must sit out a season to compete elsewhere. Name-image-likeness financial deals have become the driving force for movement. Shrinking rosters and exploding transfer numbers have transformed free agency from exception to standard practice.
Nebraska this winter is bringing in nearly as many transfers (15) as high-school signees (20). But before winter workouts begin for a new crop of Huskers, let’s review the best the transfer market has previously had to offer Nebraska — and some of the busts — since coach Scott Frost’s first season in Lincoln.
Disclaimer: These are the best portal era additions. So no Tanner Lee, who sat out 2016 as a Tulane transfer and quarterbacked NU’s 2017 season. No Frost, once a Stanford QB who pivoted to Nebraska and eventually started on the 1997 national title team. The list also doesn’t include junior college transfers or players who went from a four-year school to juco to NU.
Offense
Offensive line (left to right): Micah Mazzccua, Nouri Nouili, Ben Scott, Hunter Anthony, Kevin Williams
Tight end: Travis Vokolek
Running back: Dante Dowdell
Quarterback: Casey Thompson
Receivers: Trey Palmer, Samori Touré, Jahmal Banks
Offensive linemen are a valuable portal commodity and Nebraska hasn’t landed an abundance of them. Scott (Arizona State) has panned out the best as a two-year starting center while Nouili (Colorado State) was a mainstay at left guard for two of his four NU seasons. Mazzccua (Baylor/Florida) saw action in eight games last fall and shored up the left-tackle spot down the stretch in his single Nebraska campaign. Hunter Anthony (Oklahoma State) and Kevin Williams (Northern Colorado) each logged a start with their second program.
Vokolek (Rutgers) and Chancellor Brewington (Northern Arizona) are two of Nebraska’s few tight end transfers in this window and each found success — Vokolek was a three-year factor offensively and an impact blocker. Dowdell (Oregon) was a rare hit among transfer backs while netting a team-best 12 rushing touchdowns in his lone Husker season in 2024. The one-year stint for Thompson (Texas) coincided with the end of the Frost era in 2022 but the quarterback still threw for 2,407 yards and 14 scores in 10 games. Believed to be the program’s first prominent Native player as a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, his press conferences became appointment listening for his thorough and honest breakdowns.
Receiver is NU’s unquestioned success story while stacking one-time producers for four years straight. Palmer (LSU) in 2022 made 71 catches for a school record 1,043 yards including a school record 237 yards at Purdue. This after Touré (Montana) led the wideouts in 2021 and Banks (Wake Forest) paced the offense last fall. Honorable mentions include Billy Kemp (Virginia), Marcus Washington (Texas) and Isaiah Neyor (Wyoming/Texas).
Defense
Defensive line: Darrion Daniels, Stephon Wynn, Devin Drew
Jack: MJ Sherman
Linebacker: Ochaun Mathis, Stefon Thompson
Cornerback: Ceyair Wright, Tommi Hill
Safety: Omar Brown, Phalen Sanford
Nickel: Chris Kolarevic
Daniels (Oklahoma State) became an early and impactful transfer hit when he joined his brother, Damion, at Nebraska in 2019 and quickly ascended to captainship for a final season including 11 starts and a career-high 34 tackles. Drew (Texas Tech) and Wynne (Alabama) were rotational contributors in 2022 — Elijah Jeudy (Texas A&M) is another who fits a similar mold.
Sherman (Georgia) was the rare Nebraska portal producer who came from a blueblood program as the former reserve stepped into the lineman/linebacker hybrid role to start 18 games in his two Husker tours. Mathis (TCU) represented a significant win — giving Husker fans perhaps their first taste of portal recruiting as a pastime — when NU beat out Texas for him before the 2022 season and the edge rusher went on to log 3.5 sacks among his 50 tackles. Thompson (Syracuse) became the first linebacker in after the starters last year and played in 11 contests.
Wright (USC) is the only Husker honored here whose time in Lincoln isn’t over — the summer arrival became a playmaking edge defender and looks to reprise the role next fall. Hill (Arizona State) was a three-year starter who NU recouped after barely missing him as a prep prospect and is a probable NFL talent. Brown (Northern Iowa) and Sanford (Hastings College) each came from football’s lower levels, with Sanford arriving as a walk-on in 2019 and becoming an impact defender from 2021-23. Kolarevic (Northern Iowa) played in every game in 2021 and 2022 and combined for 60 tackles while shifting from traditional linebacker to rover.
Specialists
Placekicker: Connor Culp
Long snapper: Marco Ortiz
Punter: Brian Buschini
Culp (LSU) earned Big Ten Kicker of the Year honors in 2020 for making 13 of 15 field goals and every extra-point try during the first of two seasons in Lincoln. Ortiz (Florida) kept special-teams snapping a non-topic throughout his lone 2023 Nebraska season and drew NFL attention. Buschini (Montana) had been a top FCS-level punter and started the last three years with the Huskers while showing steady improvement as a kicker and leader.
Of the 25 Husker transfers listed here, 14 were one-year members. Only five — Nouili, Vokolek, Hill, Sanford and Buschini — played more than half their college careers with NU.
Nebraska has found most of its luck procuring talent from former Power Five schools with 18 of these honorees coming from that level. Five recognized here came from the FCS ranks in Williams, Touré, Brown, Kolarevic and Buschini. Nouili is the only Group of Five alum in the group while Sanford is the only one from NAIA.
Remembering the other guys
Not every Nebraska portal arrival panned out.
Start at quarterback, where Noah Vedral (UCF), Chubba Purdy (Florida State) and Jeff Sims (Georgia Tech) combined to go 0-8 as starters. Sims, handpicked by coach Matt Rhule’s staff, never began a Husker game again after week two in his only season in 2023.
Others were P5 travelers who didn’t live up to considerable hype as former top prospects. Defensive backs Kaine Williams (Alabama) and Tyreke Johnson (Ohio State) each saw just a few games of mop-up action in two seasons each. Former Florida defenders Chief Borders and Corey Collier combined for barely 150 defensive snaps in 2023 before both moved on.
More who fit the description include running back Markese Stepp (USC), offensive linemen Ezra Miller (Iowa) and Jacob Hood (Georgia) and receiver Oliver Martin (Michigan/Iowa). The jury is out on tight end Mac Markway (LSU), once a four-star recruit who came to Lincoln unannounced in late August and tore his ACL in practice but still has three years of eligibility left.
One of the first promoted transfers who gained early excitement was 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive lineman Vaha Vainuku (Utah) — “He benches a house,” NU defender Mick Stoltenberg said at 2018 Big Ten Media Days. Vainuku appeared in one game in two seasons.
A few others at least made a Husker moment. Levi Falck (South Dakota) caught a short lob and took it 13 yards for a go-ahead touchdown late against Michigan in 2021. William Przystup (Michigan State) uncorked an 84-yard punt against Northwestern in 2021 that went as the second-longest punt in Husker history.
Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda (New Mexico State) reeled in a 32-yard touchdown grab in Ireland for NU’s first score of 2022. Brandon Moore — the seventh-year player previously at UCF and Florida State — jumped a route for an interception that helped spark Nebraska’s rally past Rutgers the same year. Receiver/rusher Josh Fleeks (Baylor) broke off a 74-yard touchdown run late against Michigan in 2023 to keep alive the Husker streak of avoiding a shutout since 1996.
