Matt Rhule shares how Nebraska is handling gambling concerns

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule has not seen his program face any gambling issues in his first year in the program. But the first-year head coach did double back on teaching the team the importance of staying away from it following the news that has come out of Iowa and Iowa State.

“Obviously when it first happened, we presented it to them,” Rhule said during a press conference Friday. “The athletic department presented to them. I know the conference is doing some things, also, that allows you to provide some resources.”

Multiple athletes in multiple sports for both the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones are facing allegations of gambling. Some of that gambling involved games the players were competing in while other bets were on games or events of other teams on campus.

On the football side of things, both teams will be without key players heading into the 2023 season. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz announced Wednesday defensive lineman Noah Shannon will be out for the year, although he is appealing the decision. Running back Jirehl Brock, Iowa State‘s leading rusher in 2022, left the program last week after being charged in the investigation.

There is still plenty more to unravel with the Iowa gambling investigations are more information comes out and the process plays its course.

But Rhule correctly stated that the gambling issue is nothing new. The difference is now it is so much more ingrained into mainstream culture. It seems like everywhere you look is a commercial or advertisement for gambling with professional leagues striking partnerships.

“When I was playing, it was still an issue,” Rhule said. “You couldn’t gamble, way back when at Penn State. And we still had guys that probably got involved in that and all college kids did, it’s just everywhere now, right? You watch the NFL and it’s sponsored by gambling apps. You walk into places where we play and it’ll say ‘sponsored by’ this thing. So it’s just so pervasive in our society and we have to remind our guys that there’s a line that they can’t cross and so they have to have that integrity to do that.

“So yeah, we’ve talked about it. We’ve brought people in to talk to them about it, within the athletic department and from outside. My hope is that our guys make good decisions as I hope they do in every aspect of their lives.”