Coach Rhule B1G Media Days Opening Interview
Husker Nation B1G Media days are upon us. The event began Tuesday morning in Las Vegas with Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule taking the podium for a brief 13 minutes to answer questions. Here is a breakdown of what Coach Rhule had to say;
– Rhule opened up the press conference by stating his appreciation for being there and recognizing the challenges that schools are facing and thanking the B1G Commissioner for ensuring that the conference continues to put the best product forward
– Rhule mentioned that there were so many players he could have brought to media days but he decided on DeSean Singleton, Marquis Buford, Henry Lutovski, and Dylan Raiola. Noting that these players are tremendous leaders and representatives of what they are trying to accomplish.
– Nebraska is in a whole different place both on the field and academically, noting that Nebraska is a place where young athletes can change their lives for the better.
– Though academically winning in many aspects, Rhule said it is time to get it done on the football field
– The coaching staff really likes this team, with belief in the guys and that they can play with anybody
– Coach Rhule stated “we are going to go make a run at this thing this year”
– The program moves forward when players talk about the right thing, taking ownership of the program and making it the players team
– Good organizations win because everyone owns the product
– Rhule believes that they are about to make a jump because he is seeing extreme ownership all around within the Husker Football team
– On the maturation of Dylan Raiola coach said that he is proud of his work, his physical shape coming into the season, and his leadership that he has displayed from last year to now. Focusing on how an 18 year old kid had to come in and tell 24 year old men what to do.
– When recruiting Raiola, Rhule used adversity as a selling point. Noting that if he goes to the best team in CFB he may be expected to throw a game winning TD once in a while, but compared to the challenge of building Nebraska back up being what could turn him into an amazing Pro QB
– Coach is thrilled with all three of the new coordinators. OC Dana Holgorson is displaying elite level loyalty and assisting Rhule with building offensive game plans. DC Jon Butler has had success in previous stops, but is embracing his new role as a DC and teaching more than he did in the NFL
– The coaching staff as a whole is doing well to the point where Rhule says he walks into work and has no idea what to do besides recruit and check in on his players
– When asked about doing any special dedication to Jack Hoffman coach Rhule said that he did not want to preempt the team Jack foundation and will let them determine what they want to do in Jack’s honor
– The reason Nebraska lost a lot of close games last year is because they simply weren’t good enough to win
– Since the Pin Stripe bowl Rhule has seen less panic from his players and more of a mature team that knows they need to step up and make the play. The players are now aware that they are good and thats the direction Nebraska needs to be going
– There is no Complacency at the University of Nebraska. There are veterans on the team, the lines are good, and the Coaches are in place to succeed
– Rhule looks forward to the first close game and seeing the team execute
– We will see a good team this year
The Nebraska head coach looked and sounded extremely confident this afternoon in Las Vegas. I look forward to seeing what kind of progress this Husker team has made. It seems that we have the right coaching staff, made the right offseason acquisitions, and another year for QB Dylan Raiola under Dana Holgorson should be fascinating to watch.
More from Las Vegas B1G Media Day’s coming soon