Matt Rhule uses childhood memory to illustrate Nebraska fit

Growing up, Matt Rhule was a Penn State guy through-and-through. He’d root for the Nittany Lions as a child before walking on and playing there in the 1990s. And he can remember two occasions when Nebraska football left him in tears: a 44-6 Nebraska win against Penn State on August 29, 1983 and January 1, 1995, when the Nebraska beat Miami in the Orange Bowl.

Nebraska first beating his childhood favorites before 12 years later pipping Penn State and Rhule for the 1994 national championship. Then, this past weekend, it was a different member of the Rhule family crying because of Nebraska.

“And the University of Nebraska, that once brought tears to my eyes when I was 11, once brought tears to my eyes when I was in college, it brought tears to my wife’s eyes,” Rhule said. “Because she’s been telling me throughout this whole process, since the very first day that I got a phone call about a job and a university and different people have been coming at us, she said ‘This place, these people, this is the right fit for us. This is the right fit for our family.'”

Family and personal reasons for taking the job aside, Rhule hammered home how two things at Nebraska showed him the football side of things were primed for future success in Lincoln: Leadership and alignment.

“Because throughout this process, we found what we’ve been looking for,” Rhule said. “We found leadership. We found alignment. How do you put numbers like this up on the wall? How do you have the great seasons? How do you have national championships? You need leadership and you need alignment. And I’ve learned that lesson. I’ve learned that no matter how fertile the seed is, it’s gotta be in great soil for the plant to grow.”