Nebraska Football: Jaiden Francois continues Florida freshmen exodus

This is a blow to the Nebraska football secondary.

By now, you have probably heard that former Nebraska quarterback Jaiden François entered the transfer portal.

Francois was a four-star recruit, and he was rated the 28th overall safety in his class, and the 46th overall player in his class from the state of Florida per the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

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He committed to Nebraska on December 18, and you may recall his signing day drama. He delayed his signing day ceremony an hour after he received a phone call. He seemed upset by the call and went into the hallway with friends and family to make his decision. He returned to the table and chose Nebraska football over Miami.

This is certainly disappointing to say the least. Nebraska already lost Henry Gray, now Francois is packing his bags as well. It is certainly a decision that is disappointing, but in my view, it’s certainly not unexpected. As soon as Gray decommitted, I thought that Francois might be on his way out as well.

Just from a distance standpoint, transitioning from Florida to the Midwest is difficult. When one Florida player leaves, the others are bound to at least feel somewhat impacted by it. I could see Francois wanting to move closer to home, especially given his drama on signing day.

This is certainly a disappointing development for Nebraska football. However, it’s better to have  this happen now then cause a disruption over the course of the season. This way, both player and program are happy. I don’t fault Francois for wanting to move on. It’s tough to ask a kid to pack his things, and move to a different part of the country. If he can live out his college football dream and stay close to home, that may be beneficial.

Nebraska football has certainly taken a couple of hits in terms of players entering the transfer portal lately. However, I wouldn’t be too worried. At least now, Nebraska will be able to work with players who want to be here, and can contribute to the defense.

I wish François the best of luck, and I am certain we’ll see him down the road. Hopefully by then, he will have found a better fit. Nebraska has  strong recruiting classes coming up, so they should be able to offset the loss of Francois. Losing him is certainly tough, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s all part of the fun of big-time college football.