Offseason Rankings for Every Big Ten Football Team; Nebraska Top-6

A ranking of the offseason for every Power 4 football program from ESPN has the Huskers in the top-third of the Big Ten Conference.

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola celebrates during the Illinois game. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska football has had a solid offseason.

This week saw an offseason ranking for every Power 4 program from ESPN. The team of reporters focused on three areas for their analysis: retention of key (non-draft-eligible) players, retention of coaches or staff upgrades, and player additions through both the transfer portal and high school recruiting.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule holds the championship trophy as the team celebrates its 2024 Pinstripe Bowl win against Boston College. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The overall ranking saw four conferences in the top 10. That list is below, led by LSU out of the SEC.

1. LSU Tigers
2. Texas Tech Red Raiders
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
4. Oregon Ducks
5. Clemson Tigers
6. Oklahoma Sooners
7. Auburn Tigers
8. Miami Hurricanes
9. Illinois Fighting Illini
10. Arizona State Sun Devils

For the Big Ten Conference, Penn State, Oregon, and Illinois took the top three spots. The next three went to Indiana, Ohio State, and Nebraska.

The key additions listed for the Huskers are wide receiver Dane Key, offensive tackle Elijah Prichett, and offensive guard Rocco Spindler. The key departures are defensive tackles Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher to the NFL and running back Dante Dowdell, who transferred to Kentucky.

Nebraska defensive lineman Ty Robinson participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

ESPN notes that the biggest coaching move was head coach Matt Rhule's "layered approach to replace defensive coordinator Tony White." That approach saw John Butler take over as DC and the addition of Phill Snow, a defensive coordinator under Rhule with Temple, Baylor and the Carolina Panthers, as associate head coach.

The "what went wrong" section noted the departure of White to Florida State and the losses of Robinson to the NFL and pass rushers Jimari Butler (LSU) and James Williams (Florida State) to the transfer portal. The Huskers also lost leading rusher Dowdell to the portal and did not add any transfer replacements at the postion.

As for "what went right", the retention of quarterback Dylan Raiola and elevation of Dana Holgorsen to full-time offensive coordinator lead the way. On that side of the ball, the additions of wideouts Key and Nyziah Hunter, as well as Spindler and Prichett on the line, have the Huskers looking solid going into 2025.

Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

"Typically having to hire your fourth defensive coordinator in five years isn't great, especially when you also lose three starters from a dynamite front seven," ESPN reporter Bill Connelly said. "But pilfering your rival's awesome defensive coordinator and keeping all of your offensive stars (while using the portal for receiver upgrades) is a good way to nail the offseason."

The full Big Ten ranking is below.

1. Penn State Nittany Lions
2. Oregon Ducks
3. Illinois Fighting Illini
4. Indiana Hoosiers
5. Ohio State Buckeyes
6. Nebraska Cornhuskers
7. USC Trojans
8. Michigan Wolverines
9. UCLA Bruins
10. Washington Huskies
11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
12. Michigan State Spartans
13. Iowa Hawkeyes
14. Northwestern Wildcats
15. Minnesota Golden Gophers
16. Wisconsin Badgers
17. Maryland Terrapins
18. Purdue Boilermakers

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