Matt Rhule addresses Jack McCallister transfer: 'I don't feel good about it'

Punter Jack McCallister only spent a brief bit of time with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, transferring out after just one spring with the program. That was born out of circumstances that head coach Matt Rhule acknowledged he doesn’t feel great about.

As spring rolled on, Rhule addressed the situation regarding McCallister. Essentially, it comes down to a schematic change that occurred after he got to the Cornhuskers, meaning he doesn’t fit with the team anymore.

“I won’t speak very often about particular individuals when they go in the portal,” Matt Rhule said. “However, there’s times when I feel like I do need to. I’m talking about Jack McCallister. This is an amazing young man who committed to us and had the team mentality to stay with Washington through their bowl game and then came to us.”

McCallister came to Nebraska as a transfer from Washington. A pocket punter, he left because coaches in Washington wanted to use a roll-out or rugby punter. However, a change at special teams coordinator at Nebraska means that the Cornhuskers are also going to be using a rugby punter too. Now, he once again doesn’t fit the system.

“Then, as we made a coaching change — and I know everybody loves coaching changes, like the fix is always to bring someone new in — there’s always collateral damage. Coach [Mike] Ekeler has done a wonderful job and he strongly, strongly, strongly believes in utilizing the college rules, which are different than the NFL rules in which guys can get down the field. So, we will be more of a rugby punt team. So, throughout the course of the spring, we’ve both [done] rugby and traditional punt. Traditional punt is what Jack’s great at. He’s an excellent player that we hope has a chance at the next level,” Rhule said.

“So, when we met with him on Thursday, first Coach Ekeler and then myself met with him on Thursday we let him know that we would be moving in that direction, away from what he’s good at. While we offered him certainly he could stay, it’s probably in his best interest to go and find something that’s schematically what he does.”

In all of this, Rhule praised McCallister. In particular, his character and how he’s handled what quickly became a difficult situation.

“So, he asked if he could continue to stay and be at practice because he wants to finish what he started, which is just the caliber of person we’re talking about. I know he posted something on social media, and I know when that happens I know there ‘why, why would you ever want to leave here?’ So, I just want to be clear, I feel terrible about the circumstances. When I met with him, he was so professional. So, you know, obviously deeply disappointed. He said, ‘Coach, I’d love to stay here. I love the culture. I love everything that I’m experiencing, but I feel like I probably need to go look for something.’ And I told him I don’t know if I would have handled it as well as he handled it,” Rhule said.

“So, I don’t feel good about how it happened. I don’t feel good about the situation. I don’t feel good about it, but it is what’s in the best interest of us moving forward schematically and special teams wise.”

McCallister is a redshirt senior who has put up massive numbers as a punter in his career. A career collegiate average of 42.3 yards on 104 punts, with 31 being placed inside the 20. He’s boomed eight punts of 50-plus yards this season and has 19 during his college career.

“If he doesn’t find something I told him we’d love to have him back. We’d love to honor all the commitments we made to him, but this is a separate situation. We want to do right by guys. As I tell them, I’ll tell you the truth all the time. I don’t mind disappointing you but I hate to have you say you lied to me. It’s better that he knows now than in the Fall. So, once that decision was made by Coach Ekeler and stamped by me, we’re gonna move in that direction. So, I just wanted to make that very clear that he’s not a kid that deserves anything — like I hope Bryant and Vivienne Rhule grow up to have the kind of character in the face of adversity that he had,” Rhule said.

“And I certainly wanted to address the fact that I hate the way it happened for us, timing wise and the way that we transitioned. In football, you change your scheme, but this is completely away from what he’d be able to do. So, we’ll try to help him as best as we can.”

As of now, McCallister is still without a new college team. However, for a team with a need at punter and the right schematic fit, he could offer value in the spring.