Nebraska has landed another high-profile quarterback from the transfer portal.Â
Chubba Purdy, formerly of Florida State, committed to the Husker coaching staff Monday after visiting the campus over the weekend.Â
He joins former Texas starting quarterback Casey Thompson, a fifth-year collegiate veteran, in a Nebraska quarterback room that takes on a decidedly different look.Â
Purdy has a strong tie with new Nebraska offensive coordinator Mark Whipple.
In the 24 hours after Whipple helped lead Pittsburgh to a blowout win over Wake Forest in the ACC championship game in early December, one of the only — perhaps the only — recruits he saw was Purdy.Â
That meeting happened on a Sunday night in Arizona, where Whipple has kept a home for decades and where Purdy is originally from. The next day, Whipple resigned from Pitt and was named Nebraska's offensive coordinator.Â
It took several weeks several revolutions of the transfer quarterback carousel, but the two are indeed going to be part of each others' futures in football.
Purdy has already been accepted to the school and has been listed in UNL's student directory for several days, meaning he's likely to start classes just about when the spring semester begins Tuesday and jump right into the football program's winter conditioning session.
Purdy visited Oklahoma just before he and his family arrived in Lincoln on Friday.Â
On his official visit to Nebraska over the weekend, Purdy was hosted by Husker sophomore defensive lineman Ty Robinson, who is also an Arizona native.Â
Both NU and OU, the schools Purdy ultimately chose between, have already landed more veteran quarterbacks from the portal in the last month — Thompson at Nebraska and UCF transfer Dillion Gabriel at Oklahoma — meaning that Purdy and his family knew he would be choosing a school where he may not immediately be considered the favorite to win a starting job this fall.Â
That's not to say the quarterback competition will lack interest here this spring. Purdy has four years of eligibility remaining and will begin competing not only with Thompson but with the other three young quarterbacks on Nebraska's roster: Sophomore Logan Smothers, redshirt freshman Heinrich Haarberg and incoming freshman Richard Torres.
Purdy and Smothers have similar levels of experience at the college level at this point.
Purdy started one game in 2020 and appeared in three overall, completing 27-of-53 passes for 219 yards, a pair of touchdowns and an interception. He suffered a broken collarbone in a preseason scrimmage and was out for much of the season, but returned to make a start and appear in two other games. However, in November, Purdy had to undergo a second operation to remove the hardware that was in his collarbone because it was causing inflammation and irritation, That operation ended his season.Â
He appeared just once in 2021 — Purdy completed all five of his passes for 98 yards and a pair of scores against UMass in October — before putting his name in the portal in early November.
Smothers appeared in six games this fall for NU, starting once against Iowa, and completed 23-of-33 for 317 yards and an interception.
As far as Nebraska's quarterback competition goes, four are expected to be fully involved and Torres is still recovering from knee surgery after an injury that ended his senior season in San Antonio, Texas.
The group will be getting its first extensive on-field evaluation under Whipple, who tutored Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett the past three seasons at Pitt and now is tasked with finding the quarterbacks of the present and the future for the Huskers.
Keeping up with the transfer portal. Here's who the Huskers have coming to Lincoln