As spring practice approaches for Nebraska football, there is plenty of intrigue surrounding year 3 for Head Coach Matt Rhule. After revamping the coaching staff, bringing in both a strong high school recruiting class and a top 15 transfer portal class, and upending one of the biggest spring ball traditions, Rhule’s bunch is poised to begin practice later this month.
We recently discussed all the latest Husker football news with Husker247’s Brian Christopherson on the Common Fan Podcast. Brian provided insight on a wide range of topics, especially when it comes to Nebraska’s roster for the 2025 season. Over the last several days, we’ve looked at four true freshmen who could see the field for Nebraska football in 2025, as well as three transfers to watch as spring ball approaches.
Today we’ll look at three sleepers in Nebraska’s transfer portal class.
Hardley Gilmore IV
When offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen brought in his protege Daikiel Shorts Jr. to be the Huskers’ new wide receivers coach, Shorts went right to work. Coming to Nebraska from Kentucky, he brought not one but two Wildcat receivers with him to Lincoln. Senior Dane Key might be the bigger name, having compiled 1,870 yards and 14 touchdowns over three seasons at Kentucky. But Hardley Gilmore IV has tons of promise, and importantly, still has three years of eligibility left.
As Brian put it: “I don’t know that Hardley Gilmore is considered a sleeper at receiver. But he might have the highest ceiling, I think, of anybody. And if you paid attention to how Kentucky reacted when he left there…they were pretty disappointed. He arrived to that program when he was 16 years old because he reclassified. And so he just turned 18. I think he’s got elite speed. Obviously, Daikiel Shorts knows what he can do very well from having coached him and seen him up close.”
BC went on: “I’ve heard he’s a real workhorse. And he’s gained weight since he’s been here already. I know that. And I definitely think he is going to be one to watch. And also, the big question is…can Nebraska kind of take the top off defenses, which they really struggled with last year? That’s going to be a big part for Dylan and those receivers is if he can find those couple of options who DBs just can’t hang with. They (defensive backs) can’t run with. And maybe Gilmore’s that guy. We’ll see.”
Jack McCallister and Kevin Gallic
Rhule has aggressively attacked the entire special teams operation in the offseason, and rightly so. Husker fans know all too well the struggles recent Nebraska teams have experienced in this area. Rhule not only brought in new coordinator Mike Ekeler and two new assistants to assist with the third phase, but he also nabbed both a punter and a long snapper from the transfer portal. In order for Nebraska football to turn a corner in 2025, special teams absolutely has to be better. And for that to happen, new punter Jack McCallister and long snapper Kevin Gallic need to have successful seasons.
As Brian told us: “Other sleepers you think of are…Jack McAllister (who) came in from Washington as the punter, (and) Kevin Gallic, the long snapper from New Hampshire. Hopefully we talk about him…in the offseason, and then we never talk about him in October. That position just needs to be rock solid. And hopefully he nailed it. Because if you think about it, Nebraska might have lost one or two games because they couldn’t snap the football. And that’s really tough to take. So hopefully that problem is solved.”
Amen to that.