Matt Rhule reacts to having Frank Solich involved with first spring game at Nebraska

In his first spring game as the head coach at Nebraska, Matt Rhule brought back a legend. Frank Solich, who took the Cornhuskers to their most recent national championship appearance, returned to campus after two decades away.

After the game, Rhule spoke about how important having Solich return was to Nebraska.

“So, my wife did an event last night for the moms,” Matt Rhule said. “All the moms of the players on the team. And halfway through I got a text from Coach [Solich], ‘Hey, Matt. I’d love it if you and Julie came upstairs,’ to the event that he was having. He had former players there.”

Rhule went upstairs to see Solich and those former players. There, he got an important reminder from a coach who he admired.

“And that was special to be a part of, I don’t know how I got to be a part of it, but it was special to be a part of and it was really special because, at the end of the day, we all come and go as coaches but the impact he’s had on his players was really important for me to be reminded of and to see,” Rhule said.

“So, I’m just really grateful for him as a man, as a person, as a coach he’s someone I’ve always looked up to. But, he’s been so kind to me and so, to hand the ball off the fullback the first play and being able to hand the ball to him, that’s kind of a bucket list item for me.”

Even prior to the spring game, when it was first announced that Frank Solich was coming back to Nebraska, Matt Rhule was incredibly excited.

“I really loved, you know everyone knows him here, he was running this offense, the Nebraska offense, at Ohio and then he morphed into like a spread, but it still was the same principles,” Rhule previously said.

“You know what I mean? So, where he wasn’t using the fullback anymore. He was still the same series offense and all the great things that they did here. So, I always have a lot of respect for coaches who are able to extend their success by adapting to different times and so I’ve had some great conversations with Coach. I think it’s really important for me to figure out how to win here.”

Matt Rhule on the spring game format

Immediately ahead of the Nebraska spring game, Matt Rhule explained the format of the game and why he chose to make it as close to a real game, rather than a scrimmage, as possible.

“I think it’s so important for our guys, we’re going to play it just like a game,” Rhule said.

“We need to see how we can handle the situations in a game in everything from how we dress, to the penalties. It’s a great dry run for the fall.”