Matt Rhule details how his NFL coaching has carried over to Nebraska

Matt Rhule’s tenure as an NFL head coach was not a success by most measures, as he posted an 11-27 record in two-plus seasons with the Carolina Panthers. But he learned some valuable lessons that he’s translated to his new job at Nebraska.

Mainly, Rhule feels better equipped to be a head coach in an era where college football players effectively have the ability to hit an open market as free agents. While that’s the norm in the NFL, having experience dealing with it already has aided Rhule now, he said on the ESPN College GameDay podcast recently.

“Well I think very simply, football, to me, usually comes down to player acquisition, player development, player retention, which used to in football just mean scholarship,” Rhule said. “Now it means NIL and all those things. I think I got sort of a crash course in it in my time in the NFL. So as you’re sitting there and young people have the ability to kind of really, now with multiple transfers, hit free agency every year. I just feel like I have a better perspective on it. I’m not emotional about it.”

Rhule explained that in the NFL, there are also organizational structures in place to take the emotions of a coach and player out of the negotiations. That balance is likely different, and varied, at college programs.

“There’d be a player who’s going to free agency with us or unhappy with their contract and I can let them deal with a GM, whether it was Marty Hurney or Scott Fitterer and just say hey, ‘Whenever you get back, I’m ready to coach you in football again,'” Rhule said. “And probably didn’t have that ability before I went through that. So I think that’s really helped me.”

The situation isn’t quite the same at Nebraska, but it’s made Rhule recognize that he’s still got to put a premium on relationships with his players and coaches without letting the burgeoning business of college football cause hurt feelings.

And it’s easier having done it a bit at the professional level.

“And we get to the end of the season and three guys that have probably draftable grades decide to come back and play another year,” Rhule said. “No one really goes into the portal looking to cash in. I think it started with just really spending time with everybody and instead of just doing stuff, explaining what I’m doing and taking time to be pretty intentional.”