Coach Rhule’s Saturday Press Conference
Husker fans it is almost time for the 2026 season to kick off officially. In what was a largely quiet off-season for press conferences and media appearances from the Husker Head Coach, fall camp has been a different story. As fall camp began Coach Rhule began doing his usual press conferences with the media, including this Saturday after the second scrimmage of the camp. Here is a breakdown of what he had to say
– Rhule opened the presser with the news that Sophomore CB Kahmir Prescott is out for the season with a knee injury
– Beyond Prescott’s season ending knee injury the Huskers have everyone else available
– Saturday was the end of training camp, Rhule was pleased with the growth he has seen but says there is a long way to go
– Special teams participated in a large part in the last scrimmage for the first time this year
– Athony Colandera is going to be the QB1` to start the season, noting that he has shown improvement with his checks and reading the defense, as well as stressing the defense with his legs
– Saturday’s scrimmage added the special teams unit, with the huskers totaling 110 plays for the day
– The Running Backs have all practiced and played hard. Noting that this offense is not the type of offense that has a ball running specialist
– Single digit jerseys will be handed out soon. Rhule noted that its different to support your teammates in the summer than it is to do it while fighting through fall camp
– TJ Lateef and Daniel Kaelin are both in competition for QB2 at the moment
– The team and staff has worked really hard this fall but Rhule needs to see what happens during the games, with a lot remaining to be seen
– Tree Babalade did not practice Saturday with hopes to retrun next week
– Gunnar Gottula is one of the best 5 for the Huskers
– Dawson Merritt is a talented player who has put together a good camp for Nebraska
– Last year was the first year Rhule has ever had an official Captain. Noting that its easy to be a leader when things are convenient and difficult when things are going bad. It remains to be seen if the team will vote for a team captain or not, Rhule noted that he hopes it’s not a popularity contest and the right player is selected
– The Huskers have around 15-18 players that Rhule thinks can have an impact on the defensive line this season
– The Head Coach is pleased with the current depth chart, with all three levels of the defense having about equal depth across the board
– Jordan Ochoa has put on 30lbs since last season
– Rhule is utilizing the scrimmages to find out who the winners are and who wants to be here
– Ohio prep will begin on Thursday
– Rhule has been hammering home the idea of brotherhood within the team with a focus on moving everyone towards the same goal
– The punters and place kickers have done well this spring
– Nebraska wants sacks, but the true measure of success is how often can the defense affect the QB and disrupt the rhythm and timing
– Both sides of the lines are a very positive work in progress
– Rhule has had less distractions this season when dealing with players than in the past
– True leadership to Rhule is when the players are pushing each-other to meet and exceed the standard while maintaining the standard
– The Bowl Game preparation has helped the D-Line get a launch into fall, with Dave Taulinson being mentioned by Rhule as someone he really likes
Overall Rhule adressed the media for about 19 minutes on various topics. Sometimes with Coach Rhule it can be hard to get a read on the differences between coach speak and how he really feels about something. This is going to be a unique season with a lot of questions going into it, questions that we probably will not have answers to until the first B1G game against Michigan State.
