I’ve seen some complete idiocy written here since last night. So here goes.
Work ethic
NO ONE has worked harder in his position since Bill Callahan. I’ve spent some time in the offices at the stadium over the last 20 years and can tell you that Callahan was the hardest worker I had seen. Rhule is the only one that is gis equal. Where Rhule exceeds him is in his ability to connect with people and reverence he has for Nebraskas past. For those who are wondering, Frost was the laziest coach we have ever had and the gap between him and 2nd worst is the Grand Canyon.
At Nebraska, you have to be absolutely tireless in your approach or it won’t work. The recruiting and the pressures from the local Legion guys, ex players, women with babies on the street for your attention require it. There aren’t many coaches out there that have what Rhule has in this department.
Time
There are a lot of ghosts here. Lots of people with long memories. For as much blame as people have for the players losing games like tonight, how many of us were waiting for the inevitable late turnover vs Iowa so we would lose 13-10. It takes time to erase those completely. Just does. We are a unique fan base here with incredible knowledge. But that knowledge also brings a burden of remembering every loss. That alone keeps a dark cloud here that makes it a little tougher to break through. It’s a pressure that everyone feels and makes us our own worst enemy.
Despite “us” we had a freshman QB starting this season. The kid is still learning and had to do it under an absolutely awful OC for his first season. Freshman QBs make mistakes. The kid is a student of the game and will learn. Kid needs time. So here we are.
Contract
Are we really going to fire him right now and pay yet another coach to not coach Nebraska. We paid $32M to previous coaches when we fired them. Frost got $15M.
Rhule has the 6th largest buyout in college football. If we fire him today we owe roughly $58M. He gets 90% of his contract if we fire him. And it’s due within 24 months of his firing.
The next coach that would come in would require a similar contract.
Do you buffoons really want to be paying $25M in head salaries next season to have another guy running the ship (who history shows may or may not work!) or would you rather just calm down and realize that
1. We made progress this season and are going to a bowl
2. We just hired arguably the best OC in college football
3. Our S&C coach is one of the best in the business. We look different than in the past and our lack of injuries on the field support what coach is doing.
4. Our defense has been good. Our DC has shown that he knows what it takes requires to shut down too running games in the Big 10. Ty Robinson surely helped with that.
The future is fine. Take a deep breath and support Rhule. He’s the right man for the job and, frankly, you don’t have a choice.
With that being said, if he doesn’t fire his special teams coach, then that’s on him and deserves all of your vitriol you give him. Our special teams literally cost us 2-3 wins this season.
I agree, but for different reasons.
1) This program was in an absolute talent black hole when Rhule arrived. We had zero drafted players in 2024. We had two 6th rounders in 2023 and both guys were one-year transfers. We've had a grand total of two guys get drafted higher than the 3rd round in 10 years. People for some reason don't believe the Jimmies and Joes applies to Nebraska, but then when we see an opposing RB run the length of the field against us we seem POed. Bottom line is talent MATTERS. A LOT. Go back and look at the number of players drafted in the 80s, 90s, and the first years of the 2000s. Rhule is finally getting a lot of these highly rated recruits to look at us.
2) We appear to now have two good coordinators and a pretty good staff overall. I wish that Satterfield had been fired earlier but I believe that Holgerson is a win for the program. I would like to see what Tony White can do with even more talent.
3) We have a good young group. The senior veterans (except for Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher) have been largely disappointing. Ty Robinson was the best recruit of the Frost years and he finally developed under Rhule. The other guys are marginal athletes that are probably better on this team than they would be elsewhere. Only two guys in all five seasons of Frost actually developed into good players: Cam Jergens and Cam Taylor-Britt. The rest floundered and left only to become better players elsewhere.
4) Our win over Colorado is an indication of what happens when you try to build a program almost all on transfers. They got better as the year went along but at the start of the season they were not a good team. The idea of blowing it up every offseason will have consequences as well. Indiana is a fluke and it appears they are coming back to Earth.
5) We need to get over the past. All of the shit coaches, all of the 'curse' BS. All of the crap about how great Pelini, etc was despite nobody else but a mid-major wanting him. Pelini won early on BECAUSE OF CALLAHAN's recruits. It was a fluke, along with playing in relatively weak conferences at the time. Solich took a program at the height of college football, the Alabama of the 90s, and turned it into a mediocre team that got boat-raced by good teams. Callahan was a good recruiter and it's entirely possible that given a chance to replace his DC (or had he been willing), he might have done reasonably well going forward. He has left HC and doesn't seem to want to do it anymore. Riley was a bad coach and a fit only at Oregon St where mediocre-at-best is fine. Frost was the all-time worst.
6) College football is a completely different world now. The super-conferences make it hard to win a majority of games. Iowa and Indiana avoided tough opponents the whole year and lost when they played anyone. That won't happen a lot going forward. Michigan is one year removed from an undefeated championship team and is going to finish 6-6. USC is full of NFL talent and appeared at the start of the season to be a sure-thing playoff team. They will finish 6-6. Don't be surprised if a 2 or 3 loss team wins the playoff. OSU spent 20 million and Texas close to that to position themselves for a chance. We will have to put up big NIL funds to get into the higher eschelon. Matt Rhule gets that. I'm not sure a lot of coaches from the old school will.