If you are like me, you can’t keep from drinking the Rhule-Aid. It’s easy to get sucked in. The man can talk. And I’m convinced great things for Husker football are on the way. Now that I’ve said that I’m going to bring some of you back to earth. Not because I’m Chicken Little and I want to try to convince you the sky is falling but because Husker fans need to have realistic expectations in Matt Rhule’s second year at Nebraska and Dylan Raiola’s first.
As fans, it’s easy to compare Rhule to Osborne, but where we make our mistake is we compare Matt Rhule of the present to Tom Osborne of thirty years ago. It’s an unfair comparison. We need to remind ourselves that what we are seeing from Matt Rhule right now is a version of Tom Osborne in perhaps his 4th or 5th season.
So, with that said, I’m going to ask, what makes Nick Saban the GOAT? What makes Tom Osborne a Husker legend? And does “iron sharpens iron” apply to coaches?
Let me share a thought before I dive into the answers. When you watch college football games, you always see the head coaches chatting on the field before the game, and after the game you always see the winning coach whispering something in the losing coach’s ear. Wouldn’t you love to be in on those conversations? What words of wisdom or inspiration are being shared in those moments? You’ve got to believe something is garnered, win or lose.
To put my thought into perspective, Nick Saban retired with a record of 292 wins, 71 losses, 1 tie, and 7 national championships. He coached in 26 bowl games and during his career he faced 17 coaches who had won national championships. He faced Osborne in 1995 & 1996, Saban’s 2nd & 3rd seasons. After the 1996 game Osborn put his hand on Saban shoulder and said, “you aren’t as bad as you think.” How far did those words take Saban?
Tom Osborne retired with a record of 259 wins, 49 losses, 3 ties and 3 national championships. He coached in 25 consecutive bowl games, and during his career, he faced 18 coaches who had won national championships. Osborne lost 13 of those bowl games. It would be safe to bet he received more than a few words of wisdom.
Matt Rhule currently has a record of 52 wins and 50 losses. He has coached in 4 bowl games and has faced 2 coaches who have won national championships, Bob Stoops and Jim Harbaugh. If Rhule is to win like Osborne and Saban, he must face championship caliber coaches. For the record, there are only 3 coaches currently coaching who have won national championships, Mack Brown, Dabo Swinney, and Kirby Smart.
But back to putting things in perspective. Osborne became a head coach in 1973. If we are comparing games coached, Rhule is somewhere in the middle of Osborne’s 1980-81 season. From bowl games coached, Rhule is currently at the start of Osborne’s 1976 season. In the National Championship coaches faced, Rhule is in Osborne’s 1974 season. Osborne faced Barry Switzer and Darrel Royal in 1974. Royal, who was at Texas, won National Championships in 1963, 1969, and split with Nebraska in 1970.
When we look at Rhule’s record, we must consider he’s in his 3rd rebuild of a losing program. Jim Harbaugh might tell you Osborne was born on second base, and that would be hard to argue. Osborne inherited consistency, Rhule is trying to build consistency. And we can all see what he is building in Nebraska.
In my humble opinion, Matt Rhule is currently Osborne’s equal when it comes to identifying talent in both coaches and players, management skills, leadership, and being a visionary. But let’s face it, as far as actual game experience, we’re still drinking Rhule-Aid Lite. And as far as ‘iron sharpens iron’, some would consider Rhule still being hammered into shape. I don’t mean any of this in a negative way, I’m just pointing out that if we’re going to compare coaches, Matt Rhule will have to coach 200 plus games and face 16 more national championship coaches to catch up with Saban and Osborne in experience. But don’t worry, there are a ton of great coaches out there to put Matt Rhule to the test. Guys with names like Dan Lanning, Ryan Day, James Franklin, Lincoln Riley, Kyle Whittingham, Mike Norvell, Lane Kiffin, Brian Kelly, Kalen DeBoer, and Steve Sarkisian to name a few.
Experience must count for something. Facing the best coaches in the sport must count for something. But that doesn’t happen without success. Success gave Saban and Osborne the opportunity to face the best teams and coaches of the time. What was it Rhule said this spring, Raiola needs reps, Haarberg needs reps, Kaelin needs reps, they all need reps. Well, Rhule and his staff need games, big games, bowl games, playoff games and championship games.
Winning is imperative to the growth of Matt Rhule and Husker football. But the current college football landscape doesn’t make winning easy. Saban retired for a reason, and much has changed since Osborne coached. Rhule must be dizzy from the whirlwind of change he has seen since he started at Temple. The rules of football have changed drastically, NIL entered the picture, there has been conference collapse and realignment, a twelve-team playoff, and now the NCAA is setting a roster limit of 105.
As fans, we need to keep things in perspective. Heartache comes before winning and we’ve endured our share of heartache. But I believe winning is on its way and I’m excited for the future of Husker football. Matt Rhule is the right guy for the job.
And if the season goes like I think it will, we’ll all be drinking double shots of Rhule-Aid Stout by the end of November.
