Since 2016, the Nebraska Cornhuskers hadn’t managed to secure a Bowl game, but that streak was broken last season. Still, Matt Rhule is aiming for more in the NCAAF, and that’s why he’s focused on building the most competitive roster possible. The Transfer Portal presents a great opportunity to bring in top talent, but it could also serve as a gateway for some of his players to seek new opportunities elsewhere.
Given that it can be a double-edged sword for college programs, Matt Rhule knows that the Transfer Portal has the potential to strengthen a roster, but it can also harm it. “I think anybody we lost to when it was straight up — so the world we’re living in now if I offer you [pointing] $50 and I offer you $500, you’re probably gonna go there,” the HC said to the press..
“So, we have to make different valuations based upon what we have. But when things were straight up, if we lost someone we lost them to a program we want to be in the same conversation with. I think that’s happening now with recruiting, too. We’re in the conversation with some schools we want to be in the conversation with. I think we did an excellent job.”
“Again, you can’t underestimate — revenue sharing hasn’t started so just to get guys here just a tremendous investment by the Peed family and 1890 and all the people who give to 1890 because what everyone did is they basically surged ahead this spring. I know schools that spent a ton of money on this spring — and we have, too to get the roster to the point where we have with rev share. 1890’s been amazing to us. It’s allowed us to be competitive,” Rhule also added. “I think we all saw in the College Football Playoff, the people who spent the most, got the most. I’ve been saying that since I got here. It’s kind of real, right?”
“So, I think that we’re competitive and the building, if you come here and visit, the building is really good. Even in normal recruiting now, like I’m in high schools now and I’m talking to players and it’s maybe the third time they’ve seen me in their high school and they’ve been here five times. It wasn’t like I was in college football and got here. I was in the NFL, so I didn’t necessarily know all these guys,” Rhule finally concluded.
Rhule expresses his intention to improve the special teams
Special teams have been a major headache for the Cornhuskers in recent seasons. With the arrival of Mike Ekeler as coordinator, Rhule believes that improvement in this area is possible in the short term.
“I’m always very protective of our players,” Matt Rhule said. “But I’ll be quite honest, I think even in the interviews, I don’t think anything was wrong schematically last year. I think a lot of our problems stemmed at the snapper position. Once that happens, you’re trying to compensate for things, and I love those guys, but it was just not a good year from that perspective. You think about scheme, you think about all these things, but really at the end of the day, it comes down to technique and fundamentals. So, when something at the very core is not right, then the elements all around it aren’t right.”
“I would love to go from being – you know, I look at special teams like you’re either net neutral where you’re not winning or losing the game on it, or you’re losing the game on it or winning it. You think back to Wisconsin, which was a great game for us, we played really well on special teams. Opening kickoff 60 yards, we made some plays on special teams, and all of a sudden it opened the game up,” Rhule also added.