Greg McElroy shares reasonable expectations for Matt Rhule in Year 1

Matt Rhule took the Nebraska job with full confidence to turn things around and make the Huskers a regular contender in the Big Ten down the line. 

ESPN’s Greg McElroy revealed reasonable expectations for Rhule in Year 1 out in Lincoln before things get restless. Rhule had previous success at Temple and Baylor before a less-than-stellar stint with the Carolina Panthers.

But there’s reason to think it’ll be different this time around with Nebraska starting in 2023.

“Let’s talk a little bit about what is a reasonable expectation for Year No. 1,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “We know he’s not going to be able to just go in there and wave the magic wand and compete in the Big Ten for the championship. I know that. I also know that right now, though, he is going to set the standard and Matt Rhule already is trying to make sure that he understands, and every single person on the roster understands, what the expectation level is from him and what the expectation level is for each and every individual player.”

McElroy went on to mention how Rhule shaped the roster in his vision and wanted to clean things up going into spring practice.

“Anthony Grant, who led the team in rushing last season, was suspended for the start of spring practice to address off the field issues now,” McElroy said. “He was a JUCO transfer, started his career at Florida State, led Nebraska in rushing yards last year. So he is a guy that could potentially be a difference maker. A couple other guys that are not going to be participating, at least early on in spring, Tommy Hill, another guy that was suspended to address off the field issues and there were already three players that are no longer associated with the program. 

“Rhule came out and announced all these and right now that’d be Tyreke Johnson, Chris Hickman and James Carnie. Now I don’t know the specifics of each one of these guys’ situations. Frankly, I’m not sure it really matters. But what I do know is that there’s a new sheriff in town when it relates to how things are going to be done in the program and how things are going to be done when you are outside the program. So I look at just some of the differences, some of the things that have been decided already. It does appear like he is going to rule with an iron fist that rule is and that should hopefully help Nebraska to become a little bit more consistent here in the years to come.”

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At the college level, Rhule is 47-43 with Temple and Baylor. He turned around the Bears after the end of the Art Briles era and went 18-9 in his final two seasons before going to the NFL.