Steven Sipple: Trev Alberts invokes a legend’s name as he discusses Matt Rhule’s work ethic
Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts set the tone early in his tenure as he discussed the position of Husker head football coach. In fact, Alberts set the tone well before he fired Scott Frost and hired Matt Rhule.
Looking back, though, Alberts’ comments in January of 2022 make even more sense now that Rhule runs the program.
Alberts told me in January of 2022 that the position of Nebraska head football coach “is a grinder job.” He said the job has always been about “people willing to pay a bigger price than the other guy.”
My early impression of Rhule, whom Alberts hired in late November, is he is precisely that guy.
I asked Alberts on Friday if he had the word “grinder” in mind as he sought Frost’s replacement.
Was it a leading factor in hiring Rhule?
“One hundred percent,” said Alberts, who won the Butkus Award as a Nebraska outside linebacker in 1993. “I watched coach (Tom) Osborne as a player, and I often felt bad for him. The guy just worked, and he was so competitive.
“Let’s be honest with ourselves,” Alberts continued. “There are strengths about this program that other people don’t have. We’ve talked about our fan base.”
However, “There are some weaknesses and challenges here that others don’t have,” Alberts noted. “To overcome that, No. 1, you must have somebody that just works and is driven by the work, and not the ancillary benefits that come with that position.”
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Trev Alberts not interested in hires driven by money
Alberts has said he’s not interested in hiring people who are driven primarily by money. That’s not what made Nebraska great as a program, he says. In the Friday interview, Alberts made it clear that he has certain expectations for his head football coach, and that he made those expectations clear during the interview process with coaches last fall.
“In talking to coaches, you lay a very clear vision about the expectation here,” he said. “Those who aren’t interested in doing it probably aren’t interested in being your candidate. That certainly didn’t push coach Rhule away. In fact, that’s exactly what he felt as well.”
Judging a coach’s work ethic is tricky business. If a head coach ascends to a Power-5 position, chances are he has a strong work ethic. But like anything, it becomes a matter of degrees — some coaches push it to a higher level than others.
Nebraska’s previous two head coaches won’t go down as all-time grinders.
That’s not to say that I feel Rhule is a home-run hire. It’s way too early to go down that road. But he’s made a strong early impression with his work ethic and the manner in which he’s fully embraced the job.
That all counts for something.
“Leadership is so important,” Alberts said. “Who’s at the top really matters.”
Listening to Alberts, it’s clear he learned a lot about leadership from Osborne, who was 255-49-3 (.836), with three national championships, as Nebraska’s head coach from 1973 to 1997.
Osborne was a grinder, no question about that. He wasn’t going to be outworked.
He was also supremely intelligent and intuitive. It wasn’t as if he had a perfect staff. It wasn’t as if everyone on his staff always got along. But he could pull everything together because he was an elite leader. What he pulled off amazed me in a number of ways.
“I had the privilege of living in a culture as a player under coach Osborne,” Alberts said. “If you hire a head coach who has that passion and vision, he is going to surround himself with other people — coaches, administrators, support staff, recruiting staff — who think like him.
“So, you’re not just hiring Matt Rhule the grinder. You’re hiring an entire staff that looks a lot like that, and that’s what we’re seeing right now.”
Matt Rhule doggedly pursues prospects
We certainly see it in the dogged pursuit of prospects. In recruiting, Nebraska — for obvious reasons — has no chance to succeed if it doesn’t have a “work-harder-than-the-next-guy” mentality.
Rhule surely understands he took on a difficult challenge. To wit: Nebraska has had a total of 11 players selected on day one or day two of the NFL Draft in the past 15 seasons. That’s not nearly enough and helps explain the program’s tailspin.
From 1993 to 2007, the same length of time, Nebraska had a total of 34 players picked during the first three rounds.
Frost produced a total of two players selected before the fifth round in his five years in charge.
Roll up your sleeves, Matt, because the job only gets tougher in 2024 once USC and UCLA enter the Big Ten fray and divisions go away.
Alberts hopes Rhule helps set the tone for the entire athletic department. By the way, Alberts himself walked into something of a malaise in the Husker athletic department. Consider a stat that Ivan Maisel of On3 recently pointed out: In the last five years, in a conference that sponsors 27 sports, Husker teams have won only three Big Ten championships: men’s indoor track in 2019, baseball in 2021 and the softball tournament in 2022.
Alberts has a massive job on his hands to change the culture in his department.
It appears Rhule could help matters. Just watch him work.
People notice. His boss notices.
“You’re seeing it on the recruiting trail,” said Alberts, adding, “Matt was with me last night until 10 o’clock at a donor event. It’s not just being a ‘grinder’ as a coach. It’s every single one of these key components that lead to success.
“It’s got to matter to you, and it mattered to coach Osborne. Coach Osborne talked about being willing to pay a price bigger than the guy next to you. And that has to be the secretary, that has to be the football coaches, (and) that has to be the players.
“If we have that, and that’s our culture — of toughness and work ethic and unity — this place has proven you can do some pretty amazing things.”
Nebraska fans long to see “amazing things” on the scoreboard, especially in football.
If football is thriving, it has a trickle-down impact on the entire athletic department.
Rhule longs to see it, too. He appears willing to put in the effort to make it happen. Although his work ethic guarantees nothing, his “grinder” mentality is a change the football program needed.
The post Steven Sipple: Trev Alberts invokes a legend’s name as he discusses Matt Rhule’s work ethic appeared first on On3.
