Matt Rhule details vision for program, coaching philosophies

Matt Rhule is back in the college game as Nebraska named him as their next head football coach over the weekend. The school has now tasked him with bringing a Cornhusker program back to prominence after five frustrating seasons under Scott Frost. In order to do that, Rhule will need a plan to accomplish that feat.

During his introductory press conference on Monday, Rhule he has now shared some of that plan. First and foremost, he said he wants the program to buy into a process. He says they have to buy in to uphold their duty to the Nebraska fans who buy in for them.

“Obviously we want to have Heisman Trophy winners, to win major awards, to win conference championships, to win national championships. But I’m a day-by-day guy. I’m a process guy, I’m a ‘what’s next?’ person. We have to have a plan and that plan involves working harder,” said Rhule. “It is a responsibility to me as the coach to know that there’ll be people from all across the state who take the money that they make with their hands, their work, and their daily toil and they spend it to come watch our team play. You can’t win every game every year, but you can certainly be a team that people are proud to watch.”

Rhule may not have found success during his time in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. However, he has accomplished two rebuilding jobs in college at both Temple and Baylor. He may only have a 47-43 career record. In the end, though, he did leave both the Owls and Bears in a better place than he found them.

How is he going to do the same at Nebraska, though? From what he says, it’s going to start in how he recruits and develops both lines for the Cornhuskers. Succeeding there will lead to wins and respect from their fanbase. As of now, he says those are the only two things that he’s worried about earning.

“I want to build a team that’s tough, that’s hard-working. I told the team today the price of glory is paid at 6 a.m…We’re going to be a little bit more of an old-school type of team. We’re going to be a physical team,” Rhule said. “At the end of the day, I don’t believe you can win if you can’t win the line of scrimmage…I believe that’s the type of team that can win in the elements, on the road, and that can have a lead and keep a lead. That’s the type of team Nebraskans want to see.”

Rhule now has a hill to climb to get a team that finished this season 4-8 back to bowl contention for the first time since 2016. With that said, having this vision early on is only going to benefit him and this team. They now have several months to execute it in recruiting and on the field in order to make his debut season in Lincoln come 2023 a successful one.