Nebraska coach Matt Rhule nearly loses head as dunk contest prop

The Nebraska basketball team took on Minnesota on Sunday evening, while the football team got to put on a special show for fans at halftime with a dunk contest.

Five members of the football team participated, showing off their hops and elite dunking skills.

Even coach Matt Rhule was involved, albeit as a prop. And Rhule nearly lost his head when running back Emmett Johnson very nearly completed a dunk while skying over his head coach.

Johnson, though, could not land the dunk. Check it out below.

😂😂😂😂😂@CoachMattRhule 🤝 @EmmettJohnson_ pic.twitter.com/xut2tNigre

— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) February 26, 2024

The players involved in the dunk contest were 6-foot-6 tight end Thomas Fidone II, 6-foot-5 quarterback Heinrich Haarberg, 6-foot defensive back Jeremiah Charles, 6-foot-5 defensive lineman Kai Wallin and Johnson, a 5-foot-11 running back.

Charles won the dunk contest with this sick throwdown, a between the legs slam.

“It felt great,” Charles said after the dunk contest. “Had the fans here, all full of energy. Adrenaline running, I’m not going to lie.”

Charles was a multi-sport star in high school, and he’s fresh off an appearance on the indoor track team for the Huskers in which he finished fifth in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.

He went into the dunk contest knowing he had a leg up on his opponents. To the point that he didn’t even choreograph his dunks.

“I’m going to win,” Charles said of his mindset. “It just came, I didn’t even plan them. No plan. I just was like, ‘OK, off the rip, let’s go.'”

The dunk contest seemed to enliven both the fans and the football players in attendance to watch it, a fun moment for all involved. It was a little bit of levity in between a crucial offseason period for the football team.

The Cornhuskers were in several close games last year but couldn’t always finish, so going a little bit further with the offseason training this year will be key.

“It’s really important. You need to spend time with your guys, for sure,” Charles said. “That’s what I feel like the mat drills are for, it’s like shared suffering so it makes us all closer and trust each other and go out to war with each other when it comes to fall.”

And maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea for Matt Rhule to get Charles involved in a way where he can showcase that outstanding athleticism a little more.