Matt Rhule analyzes where Nebraska is in the building process

Nebraska finished 5-7 during Matt Rhule’s first year as head coach of the Huskers program in 2023. Despite missing out on postseason contention, Rhule feels as though his team has gotten off to a strong start this offseason.

Joining On3’s JD PicKell on Tuesday morning, Rhule explained how his roster is coming along since the season ended, and how he’s planning on using the lessons learned from last season to refocus his team’s mindset before the 2024 season.

“We always kind of break it up into three or four different categories,” Rhule explained. “I think our roster, just the players we brought in plus the development of the players that are here is making tremendous strides. I think the team has gotten better, I think the standard that they’re having for themselves is raising.

“It’ll come down to really two things — the X’s and O’s, the football. Can we protect the ball better this year and take the ball away a little bit better? [But] I think the biggest thing is, are we going to allow ourselves to be victims of the past? Are we going to allow ourselves to be like, ‘Oh, well, we list close games at Nebraska because we did in 2021. Why? I wasn’t here in 2021. I didn’t lose any close games. With the guys that just came in and the guy, like, this year is a new year.”

Rhule says he wants the 2024 Nebraska football team to be the type that can withstand those gritty types of games. The ones the Huskers didn’t win before Rhule’s era.

“Or are we going to sit there and wait for something bad to happen? That’s why we do everything that we do right now,” Rhule said.

The Huskers headman said this wasn’t him trying to show how tough his team is. Instead, he revealed that they’re just focused on themselves at the moment. Making sure that the team as a whole can attain one collective mindset and putting the pieces in place to “attack” when the going gets tough.

In the end, Rhule says that there’s a reason fans expect “something good to happen” at Nebraska. The storied history of the program is a blueprint of the success the Huskers want to reimagine in 2024. If they continue on the same trajectory, Rhule sees no reason for fans to change their expectations anytime soon.

The Huskers will kick off their 2024 college football campaign in Lincoln when they take on UTEP on Aug. 31.