Rhule Recap: What Nebraska's head coach said at Big Ten Media Days
INDIANAPOLIS – Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule made his second appearance on the main stage of Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday. Here is a full recap of what he had to say…
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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule
***Rhule opened by welcoming the four new schools to the Big Ten, especially UCLA, as he worked with the Bruins for a stint.
***Rhule said the three players he brought to media days – Ty Robinson, Isaac Gifford, and Ben Scott – embodied the key to the new era of college football. The teams that stay together and are full of veteran leaders will be the teams that compete for championships.
***Rhule said new A.D. Troy Dannen had brought “a real positive energy” to Nebraska’s athletic department.
***Rhule didn’t waste time expressing confidence in his team this season: “I think we have a really good team and are going to be a team that people will have to deal with this year.”
“The guys are getting it done in the weight room,” he added. “They’re getting it done in the classroom. Now we’ve got to get it done on Saturdays.”
***There was a silver lining that came from Nebraska’s injury setbacks last season, Rhule said. The Huskers threw so many young players into the fire, gaining them valuable experience. “I expect us to be great on defense, and I expect us to make a real jump on offense.”
***Rhule said hiring John Butler as the new DB coach brought “another set of eyes” to the staff. Butler’s experience, especially his time in the NFL, would be invaluable. The timing of Evan Cooper’s departure wasn’t ideal, but Nebraska might not have gotten Butler earlier in the calendar.
***Rhule said Tom Osborne “tried to warn me about the weather” in Nebraska and the Big Ten. “Coach Osborne wasn’t lying.” The varying weather and wind were some of his biggest adjustments as a coach last season.
Rhule thought weather and travel would be the most significant adjustments for the new West Coast schools this year.
***On a Year 2 jump, Rhule said, “You can tell when a team is ready to make that jump with their body language… When I walk through our locker room, our weight room, and on the field, I see a team with confidence.”
***Rhule said that playing nine Big Ten games, including five conference road games, was a major challenge for the league. However, that scheduling will “give us a lot of access to the College Football Playoff.”
***Rhule reiterated the need to improve ball security: “It’s a blemish. It’s something I’ve never been a part of before… Our season would have been different if that hadn’t happened.”
He said the first step to fixing that was “buy-in.” The team practices it daily, and he evaluates how coaches around the country – from high school to the pros – approach turnovers. The goal is to make a jump like going “from -17 to +7 ” in turnover margin.
“We won’t have to do an overhaul,” Rhule said. “We don’t have to fire a bunch of coaches or change the offense or defense; we just have to win the turnover margin. The players truly understand that we have to protect the football”
***Rhule on NU’s run of close losses: “The close losses at Nebraska are not an affliction. We don’t need to get out a voodoo doll.”
***The Huskers’ expectation is to get back to the postseason in 2024. Rhule said as much on Wednesday when talking about his team’s academic success.
“When we go to our bowl game, we’ll have 30 graduates on our team.”
