What We’ve Learned About Matt Rhule -

By T.J. Birkel from The Common Fan Podcast

5-7? Ancient history. Missing a bowl game for the seventh straight season? Distant memory. Optimism is sky high in Husker Nation right now.

Husker fans are known for consistently winning the offseason (or at least convincing ourselves we’ve won the offseason), but even for us, it feels like the Big Red Kool Aid is flowing like the Platte River in June after a tornado warning ended up just being a lot of rain.

One of the major reasons for the optimism, of course, is head coach Matt Rhule. We’ve focused on Coach Rhule quite a bit on the Common Fan Podcast, and we’re on the record – we are true believers. The only judgment that will ultimately matter will be results on the field, of course, but like many fellow Common Fans, we like what we’ve seen from the Huskers’ head man. As he leads his team through spring practice and gears up for Season 2 at the helm of our beloved boys in red, here is what we’ve learned so far about the man we hope will return us to the Promised Land.

He’s a builder

In his appearance on the Common Fan Podcast, legendary Omaha World Herald columnist Tom Shatel last year compared what Matt Rhule is doing to building a house. Rhule’s reputation as a college coach is that of a turnaround artist, having revived previously dormant programs at Temple and Baylor. And, as painful as it may be for Husker fans to swallow after seven years of losing, a builder is exactly what we need right now. “This program has been doing a lot of things wrong, and needed to be built from the bottom up,” Shatel told us. Let’s hope the building project takes a big leap forward in 2024.

He doesn’t stand pat

These were longtime Omaha radio man Gary Sharp’s words when he came on the podcast in December. And boy has that proven to be true over the course of this offseason. The Huskers had some glaring needs at the end of last season. The offense was abysmal in 2023; they were lacking playmakers at just about every skill position; and, more broadly, Husker fans were worried about Offensive Coordinator Marcus Satterfield’s ability to turn things around. What does Coach Rhule do? He brings in the top quarterback recruit in the country in Dylan Raiola; addresses nearly every hole on the roster through the transfer portal; and hires Glenn Thomas to be Quarterbacks Coach and Co-Offensive Coordinator. The results will ultimately need to play out on the field, but Coach Rhule attacked the team’s weaknesses the minute last season was over.

He has his guys’ back

There’s probably no greater example of this than his efforts to try to help Defensive Coordinator Tony White land a head coaching job. As Mitch Sherman told us, it seemed like White had a connection to every head coaching job that came open over the last few months. He coached at Syracuse and San Diego State, played at UCLA, and was in contention for each of those jobs once they opened up. It became public that Coach Rhule was actively advocating on White’s behalf–including talking to Athletic Directors–trying to help him land a head job. Even though it would be disruptive to his staff, and even though White is by all accounts doing a phenomenal job in his role at Nebraska, Coach Rhule took an active role in helping one of his guys chase a dream to be a head coach. In Sherman’s words, Tony White said “he’d never had anyone who he worked with that went to bat for him in the way that Matt Ruhle did.” That tells me all I need to know about Matt Rhule.

He genuinely loves Lincoln

When Nebraska hired Coach Rhule, even before he had coached a game for the Big Red, some Husker fans were already worried about what would happen if he got things going at Nebraska, and then the Penn State job opened up. Rhule played at Penn State in the ‘90s – wouldn’t he jump at the chance to coach at his alma mater? More recently, when Trev Alberts inexplicably accepted the job to be Texas A&M’s Athletic Director, fans once again worried that Coach Rhule would be the next to leave. Rhule quickly put any concern to rest, tweeting a video montage of Husker football highlights set to Paul Harvey’s famous, “So God Made a Farmer” speech. He came out publicly shortly thereafter, saying he’s not going anywhere. His wife is starting a business in Lincoln; his parents are moving to the state; his son is enrolled at the University. I don’t think Common Fans need to stress about Coach Rhule leaving any time soon. As Evan Bland told us, “He’s really comfortable in the fish bowl. You see Matt Rhule at pro wrestling events…storming the court at basketball games…endorsing local restaurants…these are things that no Nebraska coach has ever done.”

We’ve got a good one, Common Fans. Now let’s hope we’re adding “He turned Nebraska back into a winner” to the list after the 2024 season.