Steven Sipple: Matt Rhule sheds light on what to expect from Nebraska in 2023; why Huskers could be considered “wild-card” team; and Brock Huard offers harsh truths
Things I know, and things I think I know: First-year Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule leads a Husker contingent to Big Ten Media Days this week in Indianapolis. The Huskers’ big day is Thursday.
Yes, Media Days are upon us, signifying a long offseason nears an end.
Nebraska’s preseason camp begins July 31.
In the spirit of Media Days, let’s highlight what some media folks had to say in recent days.
Matt Rhule has intriguing answer for Andy Staples
Andy Staples, who recently joined the On3 team, had an interesting question for Rhule, and Staples received an intriguing answer — or at least an answer I hadn’t heard from Rhule.
Staples’ question: Where is Nebraska as a program relative to what Rhule encountered upon taking over at Temple and Baylor?
Rhule told Staples that what he encountered in Nebraska’s program feels like what he faced in his second seasons at Temple and Baylor.
His second Temple team finished 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the American Athletic Conference. His second Baylor squad was 7-6 overall and 4-5 in the Big 12.
Of course, those records jibe with what many people expect from Nebraska this season.
Staples noted Rhule in 2017 took over a Baylor program that was essentially “burned down to the ground” because of a sexual assault scandal under Art Briles.
“He had a lot of work to do,” Staples told HuskerOnline. “There wasn’t as much work (in Nebraska’s program). There were obviously issues that caused Scott Frost to not succeed there. But it wasn’t a roster that had to be completely turned over. They didn’t have to do a Colorado-type fire sale on the roster. They had guys they liked, and then they brought in some transfers who they thought would be able to help.”
Jeff Sims, of course, is most notable among the transfers.
“Jeff Sims has the body type and tools you want,” Staples said of the 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior. “It just didn’t happen for him at Georgia Tech, and there are a lot of reasons why that might not be his fault. That makes you pretty optimistic about what Matt Rhule can do in terms of turning this Nebraska program around.”
Sims made 23 career starts for Georgia Tech and completed 58 percent of his passes for 4,464 yards and 30 touchdowns, with 23 interceptions. This past spring, Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield asked Sims to raise his completion percentage and cut down on turnovers.
Sims made progress, Satterfield said in June.
We’ll see how much as summer turns to autumn.
We’ll also see if Nebraska can markedly improve on last season’s 4-8 record.
“I’m not expecting miracles right off the bat,” said Staples, one of the nation’s foremost college football voices in the media. “But can (Rhule) make Nebraska bowl eligible in Year One? I think that’s a reasonable expectation. I think if they can do that, it’s a great sign of progress.”
I agree it would be a sign of progress.
Would 6-6 be a “great” sign of progress? I probably wouldn’t go that far in part because Nebraska hasn’t been blown out often in the past few years.
But, yes, 6-6 would represent discernible progress.
Rob Dvoracek anticipates competitive August as Husker linebackers fight for playing time
Omaha co-host has excellent question about Rhule’s program
Gary Sharp, co-host of “Sharp and Handley” on 1620 AM in Omaha, asked me an excellent question last week: Since the end of spring ball in April, has anything happened in Nebraska’s program that changes my expectations for the Huskers in 2023?
The answer is … sort of.
I’ve been consistent in saying Nebraska should be able to get to 6-6 or even 7-5 in the 2023 regular season. Has anything happened since April to change my opinion? Well, I’m now even more confident in the Huskers achieving bowl eligibility because of the apparent organization and structure in Rhule’s program.
As an example, you’ve seen it in recruiting in recent months. Rhule has been consistent in saying how he wants to go about recruiting, and it’s exactly what he’s done. The class of 2024 looks relatively strong. It’s well-conceived. It’s come together smoothly. Rhule is indeed “a man with a plan,” or so it seems.
Bottom line, I’ll be very surprised if Nebraska looks like a sloppy team in 2023.
At the risk of offering an esoteric burst of reasoning, I expect to see a buttoned-up squad on Saturdays.
In other words, I regard those six lost fumbles in the spring game as a one-off.
Nebraska fits description of “wild-card team”
Sharp opined that Nebraska could be regarded as a “wild-card” team.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Nebraska’s a wild card because a 4-8 regular-season record wouldn’t necessarily surprise me, but neither would an 8-4 finish. Not every team has that sort of disparity.
Nebraska’s a wild card because although it lacks obvious all-conference talent — Phil Steele has no Huskers on his first or second teams — it has decent talent overall.
Nebraska’s a wild card because it’s difficult to predict exactly how well the players will adapt to new systems in all three phases (offense, defense, special teams).
Nebraska’s a wild card because it has a veteran starting quarterback who has obvious raw talent but needs to show improvement in the areas Satterfield identified in the spring. Sims certainly impressed me in the spring game.
Nebraska’s a wild card because it has a veteran offensive line — but it’s a group that has had its share of struggle. Is this the year it all comes together?
Nebraska’s a wild card because the schedule is manageable by Big Ten standards.
You hear some interesting stuff on sports radio.
Just saying.
The week’s most intriguing comments come from Huard
The most interesting comments last week from a media member?
The strongest ones?
I’ll go with former Washington quarterback-turned-Fox Sports-analyst Brock Huard describing the Pac-12’s situation with media-rights negotiations as “very dire.”
In a column by Dick Harmon of The Deseret (Utah) News, Huard criticized how some Pac-12 schools have handled themselves in recent years — from everything to commitment to the game to support in the stands.
“These universities, these campuses, broke the trust of these networks by not showing up, by not caring. And frankly in some of the places like Palo Alto (Stanford) and Berkeley (Cal), they’d rather not have football,” Huard said.
“Upper campus and some of their leaders don’t even need football … and once you’ve broken that trust, and these networks, who pay all the money, and they do all the work, and they’ve got all their advertisers, they need numbers. We’ve got to have eyeballs.”
The truth can be harsh.
No question, the Pac-12 faces hard truths.
Of course, the Big Ten has issues of its own, as one of its long-standing members wrestles with a scandal that becomes more and more difficult to fathom as more information is released.
There’s no telling what else will come to light before Big Ten Media Days commence Wednesday.
Quotable
“I’m not surprised by anything,” Staples said of what occurred in Pat Fitzgerald’s program. “Nothing involving one particular coach is going to surprise me. It was interesting getting texts when this story started to break. It was, ‘Do you believe it’s Pat Fitzgerald?’
“They’re all football coaches. Let’s not get this twisted. You don’t know what’s going on in every program. None of us does. Really, you don’t know what’s going on in anybody’s house, even your next-door neighbor’s.”
The post Steven Sipple: Matt Rhule sheds light on what to expect from Nebraska in 2023; why Huskers could be considered “wild-card” team; and Brock Huard offers harsh truths appeared first on On3.
