For the casual Colorado fan, the last week or so has been a difficult time to forge an opinion regarding the trajectory of the football program in Boulder.

After all, in recent days, Karl Dorrell made a pair of interesting assistant hires in Vic So'oto, who will oversee CU's defensive line after holding the same position at Southern California for the past two seasons.

Similarly, Dorrell hired Rod Chance to coach the Buffs' cornerbacks; Chance arrives in Boulder from Oregon, where he had been in charge of the Ducks' corners over the last two season.

However, while Dorrell has made some intriguing hires of late, they have been juxtaposed, perhaps even overshadowed, by a number of prominent Buffaloes players to enter the transfer portal.

Following the news that now-former CBs coach Demetrice Martin was leaving CU to take a similar position at Oregon, star second-year freshman corner Christian Gonzalez announced he'd be entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal.

Gonzalez's announcement was followed by sophomore Mark Perry, also a fixture within Colorado's defense over the past three years, who entered the portal after starting every one of CU's games this past fall at free safety.

While the portal news regarding Gonzalez and Perry was softened in a sense as a result of Dorrell hiring So'oto Thursday and Chance Friday, on Saturday, the Buffs suffered another considerable blow, as standout wide receiver Brenden Rice tweeted that he'd be leaving Boulder.

While Rice was forced to miss Colorado's season-ending game against Utah on Nov. 26, he still led all CU receivers with 21 catches for 299 yards and three touchdowns, establishing himself as a favorite deep target, and target in general, of fellow second-year freshman Brendon Lewis.

Rice, a former four-star recruit from Chandler (Hamilton) Ariz., was one of the Buffaloes' top signees within the Class of 2020.

In addition to showing out at wide receiver, Rice provided a solid spark for the Buffs as a specialist, returning 17 kicks for 469 yards last season.

Even before the 2021 season got underway, Rice had given fans ample reason to be excited for his first full season in a CU uniform.

During the COVID-condensed 2020 campaign, Rice shined as a true freshman, catching six passes for 120 yards and leading the Buffs with a pair of touchdowns.

Before becoming CU's primary kick returner last fall, in 2020, Rice started out returning punts, where he was solid; a major season highlight for him came vs. Utah in the regular season finale, as he caught a touchdown pass from Sam Noyer and also returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown in the 38-21 loss.

While Rice tweeted that he was. entering the portal, as of Saturday afternoon, he had not officially entered in his name just yet.