Nebraska wide reciever Malachi Coleman plans to enter transfer portal

Nebraska wide receiver Malachi Coleman is entering the transfer portal, Matt Rhule announced. The former four-star recruit and top-60 prospect in the 2023 cycle stepped in and was an immediate contributor last season.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound wide receiver finished with eight catches for 139 yards and a touchdown in 2023 in 11 games. He initially committed when Mickey Joseph was the interim head coach and de-committed following the coaching change, but Rhule brought him back on board.

A Lincoln native, Coleman picked Nebraska over Colorado during his recruitment. He played in just one game during the 2024 season. Now he plans to enter college football’s free agency.

“Malachi’s healthy,” Rhule said earlier this season. “We had no injuries. Malachi’s doing great, there’s no problems. I just think Malachi stepped up for us last year, in a year that maybe he could have redshirted, and tried to play. And so, again, he’s kind of in that same — if we have to play him, we’ll play him. It’s early, but I don’t want to play him later in the games.

“We have these two big receivers (Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor) out there that are playing well. If Malachi can have this year, he can play four games and play in the postseason, I think he would just be really picking right up where those guys left off. Because he made a catch last week on the scout team that I was like, ‘Wow, that’s awesome to see.’”

Coleman played 335 offensive snaps last year, according to Pro Football Focus, and started six of the 11 games he appeared in. Of those 139 receiving yards, 44 came on a long touchdown catch against Northwestern.

A former four-star prospect from Lincoln East High School, Malachi Coleman was the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 60 overall prospect — including the No. 10 wideout — in the 2023 class. He stood out as a junior in high school, turning 10 of his 17 catches into touchdowns that season while adding 7.5 sacks and four forced fumbles on defense.

The transfer portal officially opens on Dec. 9, 2024. More than 2,800 FBS scholarship players entered their names into the NCAA’s transfer database during the 2023-24 school year. Removing those who withdrew or went pro, the final total sat at 2,707 transfers. That means roughly 25% of all FBS scholarship players hit free agency in one year.