Wolverine Digest

Big Ten head coach considers canceling spring game due to tampering

Chris Breiler

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As the world of NIL, pay-for-play, and the transfer portal continue to have a massive impact on college athletics, some coaches are willing to do whatever they can to protect what they have. When it comes to Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule, that would include potentially canceling the Cornhuskers spring game for fear of tampering.

On Saturday, Rhule said that he's considering canceling the game after a situation that occurred after last year's spring game. According to Rhule, some of his players received offers from other programs to entre the transfer portal following the game. Rhule suggests that other coaches and/or scouts are using spring game coverage as a way to evaluate talent on other teams during the spring transfer window, and ultimately use that information to convince certain guys to transfer.

Michigan Football
Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

On Saturday, Rhule said he highly doubts a spring game will take place during his winter press conference.

“I don’t know that yet,”Rhule said. “But I’ll be honest with you, I highly doubt it. Fundamentally, I hate to say it like this, it’s really because last year, we were one of the more televised spring games and I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that. To go out and bring in a bunch of players, and then showcase them for all the other schools to watch, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore. It’s just absolute, free, open, common market. I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world. I don’t want these guys all being able to watch our guys and say, ‘Wow, he looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.’

You can catch all of Rhule's comments on the spring game and tampering below:

The Michigan Wolverines will open Big Ten play against Rhule and the Cornhuskers on Saturday, Sep. 20 in Lincoln (NE). Michigan has won the last four contests against Nebraska, including a dominant 45-7 road victory back in 2023. Of course, Rhule made headlines heading into the 2024 season, after he insinuated that the game against Michigan shouldn't have counted due to the sign-stealing scandal.

"What happened with DeShon is obviously he went to junior college and then came here and played four games, and then one play against Michigan," Rhule said Monday. " I petitioned to the NCAA because obviously, everything that happened against Michigan last year seems like there is some cloak of whatever. He got cracked on a run play. Did they know it was a run play? Or is that game going to count in a couple of years? So I thought he shouldn’t have gotten penalized for one play in a game that, in my mind, that’s not even a real game. The NCAA disagreed, so he did not get that year back."

Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI -

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Chris Breiler
CHRIS BREILER

Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.

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