Rhule: "I have one job: It's to win at Nebraska"

[salsa red]

Interesting quote and refreshing to hear.

"I have one job: It's to win at Nebraska," Rhule said. "Anytime a coach here has tried to do anything else here but win at Nebraska they've been asked to leave. No man can serve two masters. We have to win."

https://247sports.com/college/nebra...ule-on-recruiting-in-state-players-248905782/

Seems like Rhule is finally getting over trying to win the Nebraska way, or winning with walk ons, and just building a winning program in modern college football. Get the best players here, regardless of where they are from, like all the big boy programs do. Kind of refreshing to hear, maybe this time it'll work.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Few coaches talk a better game than MR.

 

[goldencohusker]

I guess I don't get it....sounds like more coach speak to me. Like all that came before him, it boils down to whether he is a good enough coach to make NU a winning program with national relevance again. I don't think the coaches that failed were disillusioned on the importance of winning, they just weren't good enough at it.

 

[mgbreis]

Good post OP. Let me add the expanded quote from the article for context. I get tired of people being critical of Rhule because he talks a good game or engages in coachspeak. He was asked a question, he answered it. What do you want him to do?

It was a good question asked of Matt Rhule during Thursday's press conference. There are a lot of good players in the state of Nebraska. How do you walk the tightrope of reminding players and coaches in the state how they are valued while knowing you can't offer everyone you wish you could?

"I have one job: It's to win at Nebraska," Rhule said. "Anytime a coach here has tried to do anything else here but win at Nebraska they've been asked to leave. No man can serve two masters. We have to win. Everyone cares about everything else when you're not winning, the coach continued. When you win …" Rhule said before redirecting to a question to making a point. "Tommie Frazier was from where?"

I guess the alternative would be to take a Belichick attitude and just not engage.... and guess what? Fans would be super critical of that as well. I appreciate that his statements are in earnest and not just coachspeak.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I guess I don't get it....sounds like more coach speak to me. Like all that came before him, it boils down to whether he is a good enough coach to make NU a winning program with national relevance again. I don't think the coaches that failed were disillusioned on the importance of winning, they just weren't good enough at it.

I think several coaches who were fired spent a lot of time "recruiting the 500 mile radius", because that is what they were told was the key to winning at Nebraska. IMHO, they tried to copy the model of Osborne because Osborne told them that is what you need to do. Which ties into your last sentence about they just weren't good enough to do what Osborne did.

Edit - And when you have 150 players on your roster, you can try that model. Rhule is going to only have 105, so taking chances on Johnny Tryhards is going to become more infrequent.

 

[huskercabby]

To win at Nebraska. We have not had a winning record in conference play the last 8 years straight. 9 out of the last 10 have had a losing record in conference play. To win at Nebraska. Try having more Ws than Ls in conference. Not talking about winning the conference or even making the playoffs. Just win more games than you lose against your peers. Throw out the 3 cupcakes we have each year, we are 22-49 in big ten play over the last 8 years. To win at Nebraska., what a joke.

 

[king_kong_]

I think several coaches who were fired spent a lot of time "recruiting the 500 mile radius", because that is what they were told was the key to winning at Nebraska. IMHO, they tried to copy the model of Osborne because Osborne told them that is what you need to do. Which ties into your last sentence about they just weren't good enough to do what Osborne did.

Edit - And when you have 150 players on your roster, you can try that model. Rhule is going to only have 105, so taking chances on Johnny Tryhards is going to become more infrequent.

callahan didn't recruit locally
pelini didn't recruit locally
riley didn't recruit locally
frost didn't recruit locally

but, sure.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

"Calibraska"
I don't think anyone focused much on just local radius. I think the last 2 coaches not doing anything in terms of scouting recruits would be the main issues. Taking flyers on token 4 stars and big reaches in maturity/fit was the problem.

 

[king_kong_]

"Calibraska"
I don't think anyone focused much on just local radius. I think the last 2 coaches not doing anything in terms of scouting recruits would be the main issues. Taking flyers on token 4 stars and big reaches in maturity/fit was the problem.

yep.

won't stop long time outspoken detractors of local kids like @Tuco Salamanca from believing their fairy tales, however.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Every single coach since Callahan has made the statement that you have to recruit the area within 500 miles to be successful at Nebraska.

If you want to do a study, research which coach, since Osborne, signed the most players that ended up in the NFL and where they were from.

 

[c3o]

oh baby the off season is getting good

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

"Calibraska"
I don't think anyone focused much on just local radius. I think the last 2 coaches not doing anything in terms of scouting recruits would be the main issues. Taking flyers on token 4 stars and big reaches in maturity/fit was the problem.

That was one class.
The 2015 class which Riley signed in Feb was 8 of 22 kids within the 500
In Riley's first full year of recruiting 11 of his 21 recruits were midwest kids
in 2017 8 of his 19 were midwestern kids within the 500

Riley signed 8 of 62 players from California, heck think he signed more from Colorado than he did California.

 

[goldencohusker]

I'm not being critical of Rhule for his comments - what he is saying is perfectly fine. I'm just not taking them as a sign he has found the cure for what has ailed Husker football for the past decade.

I don't really care where they get recruits from, but I think they've ended up being more reliant on the recruits they did get from the 500 mile radius (including walk-ons) by default due to to high failure rate on so many higher profile recruits from outside the 500 mile radius, particularly the classes from Frost and Riley eras.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

That was one class.
The 2015 class which Riley signed in Feb was 8 of 22 kids within the 500
In Riley's first full year of recruiting 11 of his 21 recruits were midwest kids
in 2017 8 of his 19 were midwestern kids within the 500

Riley signed 8 of 62 players from California, heck think he signed more from Colorado than he did California.

You are always going to end up with more local(ish) kids than out of the area.

By that regard Rhule has signed
2023 12/29 500 mile radius
2024 13/33
2025 12/20

I get what Rhule is trying to say, that they are not going to take reaches just because they are local. In overall numbers though he's no different than any other before.

 

[inWV]

I'm not being critical of Rhule for his comments - what he is saying is perfectly fine. I'm just not taking them as a sign he has found the cure for what has ailed Husker football for the past decade.

I don't really care where they get recruits from, but I think they've ended up being more reliant on the recruits they did get from the 500 mile radius (including walk-ons) by default due to to high failure rate on so many higher profile recruits from outside the 500 mile radius, particularly the classes from Frost and Riley eras.

What has ailed NU over the past decade? 1. Dwindling of talent, which started at the end of the Pelini era. Classes had decent rankings, but for a lot of examples, the recruiting rating did not match the player we saw. So very much Potemkin Village recruiting classes. 2. Less than stellar coaching and practice habits. Kids play the way they practice. Offensive line play was a case in point, especially in the Frost years.

 

[kakdawg]

I guess I don't get it....sounds like more coach speak to me. Like all that came before him, it boils down to whether he is a good enough coach to make NU a winning program with national relevance again. I don't think the coaches that failed were disillusioned on the importance of winning, they just weren't good enough at it.

I think previous coached felt pressure to win "the Nebraska way" whether they would wanna admit or not. Meaning they would utilize the walk on program heavily, invest heavily in Nebraska HS football players (even to a fault) to appease some. Make sure EVERYTHING you do jive with what Tom Osborne would value etc. Those who did that would greatly increase their chances of staying around longer as a coach. Those who didn't would be more apt to get fired quicker. In some cases even winning wasn't quite enough.

I guess we all "say" winning should be all that matters. But if we are being honest there is a pressure in Nebraska perceived or otherwise to win a certain way.




Holla

 

[goldencohusker]

I think previous coached felt pressure to win "the Nebraska way" whether they would wanna admit or not. Meaning they would utilize the walk on program heavily, invest heavily in Nebraska HS football players (even to a fault) to appease some. Make sure EVERYTHING you do jive with what Tom Osborne would value etc. Those who did that would greatly increase their chances of staying around longer as a coach. Those who didn't would be more apt to get fired quicker. In some cases even winning wasn't quite enough.

I guess we all "say" winning should be all that matters. But if we are being honest there is a pressure in Nebraska perceived or otherwise to win a certain way.




Holla

Agree mostly with this although I think Callahan was the exception to that. Callahan's staff were the best recruiters of any since TO but clearly Callahan's approach to recruiting didn't sit well with TO given the symbolic scholarship offer given to Pelini's first signee - Mikah Kreikmeier, whose was something like an honorable mention all state from a small NE school. Arguably the high-water mark for Husker football since 2001 was when Bo/Carl were able to leverage the defensive talent recruited by Callahan into what should have been a BG 12 championship.

 

[timnsun]

Agree mostly with this although I think Callahan was the exception to that. Callahan's staff were the best recruiters of any since TO but clearly Callahan's approach to recruiting didn't sit well with TO given the symbolic scholarship offer given to Pelini's first signee - Mikah Kreikmeier, whose was something like an honorable mention all state from a small NE school. Arguably the high-water mark for Husker football since 2001 was when Bo/Carl were able to leverage the defensive talent recruited by Callahan into what should have been a BG 12 championship.

I think that’s exactly what @kakdawg was saying…

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

You are always going to end up with more local(ish) kids than out of the area.

By that regard Rhule has signed
2023 12/29 500 mile radius
2024 13/33
2025 12/20

I get what Rhule is trying to say, that they are not going to take reaches just because they are local. In overall numbers though he's no different than any other before.

I don’t disagree, but the comment he made recently appeared to be about going forward. The 2026 and 2027 classes are going to be small in nature. Regardless, if it is 85 or 105, the senior classes over the next couple of years are small because of attrition. Taking a guy because he’s local is no longer going to be the norm.

 

[salsa red]

I don’t disagree, but the comment he made recently appeared to be about going forward. The 2026 and 2027 classes are going to be small in nature. Regardless, if it is 85 or 105, the senior classes over the next couple of years are small because of attrition. Taking a guy because he’s local is no longer going to be the norm.

Exactly. I took it as rhule saying he tried it the nebraska way, and it didn't work. If we want to be a top program and beat top programs we need to act like one. OSU, Bama, MI, GA, etc are all this way, they won't take a chance on a lower ranked local kid over a blue chip recruit from out of state.

 

[king_kong_]

they won't take a chance on a lower ranked local kid over a blue chip recruit from out of state.

I would be interested to see if anyone can provide just one single example of NU doing this

Thanks in advance, everyone

I am enjoying this episode of fairy tale corner

 

[goldencohusker]

I think that’s exactly what @kakdawg was saying…

Again, I mostly agree, but my point was I don't think Callahan was brought in with expectations or pressures to do things the Nebraska way, at least by the AD that hired him and was his boss all but 6 weeks of his time at NU. Clearly things changed when TO replaced Pederson, but Callahan was going to be fired by any AD in their right mind, whether he was doing things the Nebraska way or not, given the train wreck that unfolded the second half of his last season. Had Callahan replaced Cosgrove early enough, the trajectory of his career at NU may have changed and the Nebraska way mantra may have gone by the wayside along time ago. However, his failure just reinforced the cry to go back to it and probably contributed to the program's ongoing identity crisis.

I'll be happy as a clam if Rhule gets the Huskers in a good place doing things his way, just as I would have been if Callahan had been successful his way.

 

[king_kong_]

I remember when a homegrown coach, mentored by TO, told a legacy QB who wanted to come here to go F himself because our Californian was better than him

Maybe I dreamt that?

 

[Frosts Playcall Sheet]

yep.

won't stop long time outspoken detractors of local kids like @Tuco Salamanca from believing their fairy tales, however.

You gotta get Haarbergs dick out of your mouth there’s gas stations for that

 

[salsa red]

I would be interested to see if anyone can provide just one single example of NU doing this

Thanks in advance, everyone

I am enjoying this episode of fairy tale corner

Some are upset about the local qb going to iowa state

 

[king_kong_]

Some are upset about the local qb going to iowa state

Wouldve been nice if we could’ve actually gone through a proper QB recruitment this cycle instead of having already laid our nepotistic cards on the table.

Alas

 

[king_kong_]

You gotta get Haarbergs dick out of your mouth there’s gas stations for that

All these days obsessing over me and you can’t do better than repurposing my line?

Wish I was surprised. I can hear you mouth breathing from here.

 

[SLOHusker]

I think several coaches who were fired spent a lot of time "recruiting the 500 mile radius", because that is what they were told was the key to winning at Nebraska. IMHO, they tried to copy the model of Osborne because Osborne told them that is what you need to do. Which ties into your last sentence about they just weren't good enough to do what Osborne did.

Edit - And when you have 150 players on your roster, you can try that model. Rhule is going to only have 105, so taking chances on Johnny Tryhards is going to become more infrequent.

Every program pulls a significant percentage of it's roster from the local area. Only California, Texas, and Florida have the populations to really allow schools to build maximally from in-state. For Nebraska that means recruiting heavily nationally.
And Osborne DID NOT recruit primarily from in-state. Only the OL and FB were generally homegrown.
1995 Huskers:
QB: Florida
IB: Cal
FB: Neb
C: Texas
G: Both Neb
T: Both Neb
TE: Neb
WB: Neb
WR: Neb
DE: Indiana and Missouri
DT: Both New Jersey
LB: Georgia, Neb, Indiana
DBs; Florida, Cal, Okla, Neb
This was also a rare year when the receiving corp was all Neb. Usually at least half the receivers are from out of state.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Every program pulls a significant percentage of it's roster from the local area. Only California, Texas, and Florida have the populations to really allow schools to build maximally from in-state. For Nebraska that means recruiting heavily nationally.
And Osborne DID NOT recruit primarily from in-state. Only the OL and FB were generally homegrown.
1995 Huskers:
QB: Florida
IB: Cal
FB: Neb
C: Texas
G: Both Neb
T: Both Neb
TE: Neb
WB: Neb
WR: Neb
DE: Indiana and Missouri
DT: Both New Jersey
LB: Georgia, Neb, Indiana
DBs; Florida, Cal, Okla, Neb
This was also a rare year when the receiving corp was all Neb. Usually at least half the receivers are from out of state.

Osborne was able to take any and all Nebraska kids he wanted. Some walk ons, some were 80-85 on the roster, some were put on scholarship after a year or 2. My comments were also geared toward the 500 mile radius around Lincoln and he sure as hell did recruit a bunch of players from Kansas, Missouri, Indiana (fringe) Illinois, the Dakotas, Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma.

Rhule does not have that option or ability with the new laws coming down and with NIL.

 

[king_kong_]

Osborne was able to take any and all Nebraska kids he wanted. Some walk ons, some were 80-85 on the roster, some were put on scholarship after a year or 2.

Rhule does not have that option or ability with the new laws coming down and with NIL.

What rule prevents programs from carrying “walk-ons” all winter, spring and summer before making fall cuts?

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

What rule prevents programs from carrying “walk-ons” all winter, spring and summer before making fall cuts?

IDK, the rule of not being a dick to college aged kids. Winter and spring maybe, but if those players want to play, you have to get them a chance to find a place before August.

After this summer things are going to be different. There will probably be no more walk ons.

 

[king_kong_]

IDK, the rule of not being a dick to college aged kids. Winter and spring maybe, but if those players want to play, you have to get them a chance to find a place before August.

After this summer things are going to be different. There will probably be no more walk ons.

Giving kids an opportunity to live their dream is “being a dick”?

Lol. Okay.

NFL teams should probably stop with the non-roster training camp invites, too?