With Day 1 of spring ball in the books, Rhule couldn't be happier with Nebraska's progress
When Matt Rhule went to bed on the eve of his first spring practice as Nebraska’s new head football coach, he could hardly keep his eyes closed.
Rhule finally fell asleep around 1 a.m. on Monday. His alarm went off at 4:15.
When he arrived at Memorial Stadium, his staff had already hit the ground running, preparing for the team’s helmets-only session. By 5:15 a.m., every player was in the building getting ready to go.
The Huskers won’t always start their days that early. Most of Nebraska’s practices will begin at around 7:45 or 8 a.m. But Rhule wanted to get a jump on spring ball right out of the gate, and his new team responded exactly as he’d hoped.
“For me, this is, like, the first time I’ve seen these quarterbacks throw a ball,” Rhule said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen these guys – I’ve seen them move, but do football things. Practice is kind of chaotic, so I really can’t assess things until I go back and watch the tape.
“I don’t know if we’re good or not, but we’re a very coachable team.”
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Husker players have been eager to learn
The first spring practice, especially after a coaching change, is mainly focused on two things: getting players where they need to be and having them know what they’re doing once they get there.
While there is plenty of work still to be done, Rhule said he couldn’t be happier with how receptive his Nebraska team had been to both coaching and criticism.
In an era where players often take things personally more than ever, Rhule said the Huskers had done an excellent job of watching, listening, and learning since the new staff arrived.
“There’s just not a lot of defensiveness,” Rhule said. “I talk about ‘palms up’ a lot. There’s not a lot of palms up. I think great players listen with their eyes. These guys will turn and listen to you, and we’re talking a lot about it.
“This generation of young people is under so much pressure. You drop one pass, and you can become a meme pretty quickly. So, there’s a lot of pressure. We’re trying to reduce the idea of good and bad…
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“These guys really want to be good. I don’t know if we are good. That’s the big difference. I’m just trying to get us a little better every day, and they’re adapting that mentality.”
Rhule, White working to eliminate ‘gray area’ on staff
Monday wasn’t only a significant offseason step for Nebraska’s players. While Rhule has a long history and great chemistry with many of his assistant coaches, he’s also acclimating to some of NU’s staff.
The most notable has been with defensive coordinator Tony White, who joined NU without any prior experience with Rhule.
Rhule admitted that both he and White were adjusting to each other. But they’ve had an open dialog since White arrived to help the transition go as quickly and smoothly as possible.
With spring ball underway, Rhule said he would spend each practice taking notes on his phone. He and his staff would then meet afterward and discuss various questions or comments Rhule might have.
The hope is that everyone will be on the same page by the time fall camp rolls around in August.
“It’s really important that we go through this process now in the spring so that when we hit the fall, there is no gray area,” Rhule said. “That’s the worst thing you can give players is gray area. It’s got to be concrete.”
