Personnel attrition is pretty much standard operating procedure whenever a new head coach takes over a football program, and Nebraska is no different.
On his personal Twitter account late Tuesday night, Willie Hampton announced that, "[a]fter prayer, talking with my mom and a good conversation with [first-year head coach Scott] Frost,” he has decided to transfer from the Cornhuskers. The linebacker has already been granted a release from his NU scholarship, although it’s unclear what if any restrictions were placed on the release.
“To my brothers on the team, we built a bond that will last a lifetime,” Hampton wrote, “I thank y’all for making my time in Lincoln something to remember. Also helping me grow as a player. All of you will be missed. I wish y’all good luck this year.”
Hampton was a three-star member of Mike Riley‘s last recruiting class in 2017, rated as the No. 46 outside linebacker in the country by 247Sports.com. He took a redshirt his true freshman season last year.
Including Hampton, a total of eight Cornhuskers players have left the program since Frost was hired in December. The other seven are offensive lineman Bryan Brokop, wide receiver Zack Darlington (HERE) offensive lineman Michael Decker (HERE), fullback Ben Miles (HERE), quarterback Patrick O’Brien (HERE), inside linebacker Andrew Ward (HERE) and wide receiver Keyan Williams (HERE). Six of those eight transferred, while one of the remaining two, Decker, retired from football and the other, Darlington, joined the Army.
According to the Lincoln Journal Star, all of the moves mentioned above leave Nebraska with 83 players on scholarship, two below the NCAA’s 85-man limit.