Matt Rhule shares vision for Nebraska's future on ESPN's College GameDay
Shortly after officially being named the 31st head football coach at the University of Nebraska on Saturday morning, Matt Rhule made his first public interview on one of the grandest stages of college football.
Rhule appeared on ESPN’s College Gameday and fielded questions from the show’s hosts. He wasn’t on long, but the former Temple, Baylor, and Carolina Panthers head coach got his message across loud and clear.
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To build the Huskers back into national contenders, it would have to start from the ground up.
“I think it all comes back to that,” Rhule said. “There’s lots of good football players out there. I sat there last year and watched the (NFL) draft and watched six or seven Baylor kids get drafted. Guys that weren’t highly recruited, guys that weren’t five-star players, and they came and played for us, and they played for Dave Aranda – who’s a tremendous coach – and they built themselves into NFL players on the practice field, in the meeting rooms, in the weight room.
“They also got degrees and second degrees, and their lives are better. To me, players that want to come to Nebraska, they have to want to be NFL players. They have to want to do more in their life than just play football; they have to want to get great educations. Because you know what? We’re going to push them. But if they come – anybody can help you get to the NFL. We’re going to help guys get second contracts. We’re going to help guys, when they get to the NFL, be pros.
“That’s really been our specialty. Across the National Football League, there’s players from Temple and Baylor doing great things, and we want to do the same thing at Nebraska.”
Nebraska’s history, tradition, and leadership felt like a perfect fit
Rhule was of the more coveted coaches on the market during the current hiring cycle. He had plenty of options following his mid-season firing from the Panthers in October.
But his interactions with Nebraska AD Trev Alberts and President Ted Carter immediately made NU a legitimate contender. It also helped when one of Rhule’s coaching idols – NU legend Tom Osborne – called to sell him on the job.
Rhule said it ultimately came down to Nebraska’s leadership, tradition, and unified vision for the future that made him choose the Huskers.
“This is Nebraska,” he said. “This is a team that I grew up not just watching; this is a team that I grew up revering. Trev Alberts, Admiral Ted Carter, they ran an unbelievable search, and I could see right away that the leadership is right. There’s tremendous alignment. It’s got the greatest fan base in football, a storied history, a storied tradition.
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“At the end of the day, I just felt like, you know what, it fits me. I’m a guy that likes to go places and develop players. That’s my passion in life, is to watch players grow on and off the field. No one in history has done that better than the Nebraska Cornhuskers. It just seemed like the right fit, and I’m excited to get there.”
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Rhule will honor the past, but his focus is on the future
Rhule understands what Nebraska football is all about. His regard for Osborne and the program’s storied success were some of the main reasons he initially considered the job.
At the same time, Rhule understands that for the Huskers to reclaim their place in the new era of college football, they must focus on the future.
Rhule believes NU’s leadership shares his vision. Everyone pulling in the same direction would be the most critical component to Nebraska’s rebuild.
“I had a chance to talk to Coach (Tom) Osborne this morning – that’s like a bucket list item for me,” Rhule said. “When you go back and look at the five national championships and all the things that happened in the great, great days of Nebraska football, it all goes back, to me, to alignment. When the head football coach and the athletic director and the president and the chancellor – when everybody wakes up every day with the same mission, then you have a chance to do great things.
“We want to do that there, and we want to rally the entire state behind Nebraska football. We know that they love the team, but to me, it’s about everybody moving in the same direction. You can’t look backward. You can’t look to the side. We’ve got to put our heads down and look straight ahead. As I went through this process, I looked at a lot of the powers in football, and a lot of them had some times when they were dormant. Then the right people came in at the right time.
“This isn’t just about me; it’s about everybody that joins me. I think Mickey Joseph has done a tremendous job. One of the great things that drew me to it was that Scott (Frost) had been there for the last several years. Scott Frost is a coach that I truly respect and consider a friend. So I know that program has a good culture. I know they know how to work. Now it’s about all of us picking up and moving forward – everybody in the state of Nebraska – of one accord. If we do that, great days will be ahead.”
