Steven Sipple: Matt Rhule clearly embraces the “let’s win now” message he received immediately from Husker veteran players
After listening closely to him during the past several months, one could say Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule seemingly took to heart what the veterans on the team communicated to him during the infant stages of his young tenure.
There are a lot of veteran players on the 2023 Husker two-deep, by the way, including 15 who have started at least 10 games in college. Keep that in mind.
There are a lot of veterans who want to win now. Keep that in mind this season, too.
Those veterans studied Rhule’s coaching history after he took the Nebraska job in November. Temple went 2-10 in Rhule’s first season before he got the program rolling. Baylor was 1-11 before Rhule’s turnaround plan kicked in hard.
Those places were in rough shape when Rhule arrived.
But Nebraska isn’t a mess — certainly not in the eyes of senior linebacker Luke Reimer.
You better believe he shared that sentiment with Rhule soon after the coach’s hire.
“Why can’t we do this now?” Reimer said Friday in recalling his message to his new head coach. “We were competitive last year (and) the year before. There’s talent in the building. Let’s be competitive now.”
Intriguing, isn’t it?
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Reimer spoke to media soon after Rhule had released a depth chart that has a heavy veteran presence among first-unit players. The offense has six starters who are juniors and three who are seniors. The defense has five junior starters and three seniors on the first string.
Nine starters on offense are holdovers from Nebraska’s 2022 roster, and 10 on defense are holdovers.
Rhule often mentions how much he respects the way Nebraska finished last season, with a 24-17 win against Iowa in Iowa City. The week before that, the Huskers dropped a one-point decision against Wisconsin in Lincoln.
The veterans on Nebraska’s roster don’t want to hear “train wreck” attached to the program that Rhule inherited. Granted, there’s no question the program needed new leadership. But Nebraska wasn’t in shambles.
Bottom line, Reimer left his conversation with Rhule convinced that the new coach would gear his building process accordingly, and it’s been the case.
“Absolutely,” Reimer said. “He always talks about it. It’s like, ‘I’m being Year 4 Rhule right now. This is who Year 4 Rhule is. I’m not nice guy Rhule like, OK, we’ll get them next time.’
“There’s pressure,” Reimer said. “There’s pressure to win right now. I really appreciate that. All the old guys, we want to win now. We don’t want to wait for Year 3, when we know it’s going to work.”
How much pressure does Rhule face in Year 1?
In reality, Rhule faces little-to-no outside pressure in Year 1. After all, Nebraska has endured six straight losing seasons, starting with 2017, Mike Riley’s final year in charge, which ended with a string of embarrassing, godawful Saturdays.
But Reimer is right when he points out Nebraska has been (mostly) competitive of late. In that regard, Rhule perhaps faces a modicum of pressure to avoid a disastrous 2023 season. It doesn’t have to be disastrous. Doesn’t have to be a 3-9 or 2-10 death march. There’s enough talent to finish .500 or maybe even above.
If you listen closely to Rhule, he seemingly feels good about this team. In recent days, he’s at least twice included the phrase “when we get to the postseason” in addressing a matter. Yes, it’s “when” as opposed to “if.”
He wouldn’t have to mention “postseason” at all if he were feeling shaky about it.
The guy is a breath of fresh air in a number of ways, isn’t he?
Rhule had what I regarded as a perfect response last week to a caller to his radio show who asked an excellent question: How do you balance winning this season while also building for the future?
“I believe teams win when they’re ready to win,” the coach said. “So, we’re trying to teach the guys what it takes to win.”
His overriding theme is that it requires unrelenting hard work and dedication — discomfort at times — to win at a high level in the college game.
“I think the biggest thing is, we want to win right now, but we don’t want to take any short cuts,” he continued. “The worst thing in the world is you get to Year 2 and it’s still like Year 1. You haven’t learned the standards.
“We have to establish what it means to be a Nebraska football player.”
All the while, though, Rhule is mindful of a roster that — in my opinion — lacks All-American-type talent but has plenty of good players. Good players who are hungry.
“I don’t think it’s going to take a long time (to win here) because the guys who are in Years 3, 4, 5, they desperately want it.”
As do Nebraska fans, obviously.
This is an ultra-hungry fan base. But my sense is, it’s realistic in terms of expectations for 2023.
I also think the vast majority tend to trust the man in charge.
This all seems like a pleasant conversation
So, this all seems like a pleasant conversation as Nebraska prepares to open the season Thursday night against Minnesota in Minneapolis. The Husker roster is loaded with good veteran soldiers who are easy for fans to cheer. I don’t even want to throw out names because there are so many likable characters in the discussion.
They are a led by a man who has their best interests in mind. I say that with certainty.
They are led by a man who seems to believe in their ability.
They are led by a man who in the past several months has given Nebraska fans plenty of reasons for optimism. Exhibit A: The trenches have to be strong if this program is going to take off, he says.
Amen, amen, amen.
Exhibit B: He’s a master communicator and enthusiastic leader. Excellent combination. Nebraska didn’t merely hire a scheme magician who’s buried in a play sheet on Saturdays.
Exhibit C: He profoundly respects the office that he holds. Profoundly respects Nebraska’s football tradition.
Exhibit D: He says he’s obsessed with recruiting. He takes special pleasure in finding players who are largely bypassed by other programs.
Come to think of it, Nebraska fans have a head coach they probably find easy to cheer for.
The veteran players seem to respect him and his staff’s overall approach.
“They’ve kind of emphasized that game day is a celebration of the work we’ve put in in practice,” Reimer said.
When I think of Scott Frost, “joyful” isn’t the first word that comes to mind.
It got pretty dour around here in the last few seasons, didn’t it? A lot of fans bickering. A lot of distrust in leadership.
The players on the team deserve more than they received from Frost. In Rhule, they have a coach who leaves no stone unturned. My read is Rhule will fight hard for players he’s still getting to fully know.
He listened to those veterans immediately. Took their words to heart.
That’s become clear — and that’s a good sign.
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