Spring Practice Press Conference with Coach Rhule
As we head into another week of Spring Practice for the Cornhusker Football team there have been a few changes to the team as well as news on some form of a Spring Game for certain players. We still wait on the decision on the house settlement and Nico Iamaleava (Former Tennessee QB) has found a new home at UCLA. News in the College Football world is never ending.
On April 17th 2025, Matt Rhule held a press conference with the media, giving updates on the progress of Spring Practice. Here are some highlights of what the Coach had to say:
– Coach Rhule felt he needed to discuss the portal entry of Punter Jack McCallister, noting that he is collateral damage from the hiring of Coach Eckler who wants a rugby style punter. Unfortunately for McCallister he does not specialize in rugby style punting. McCallister asked to stay at practice and continue what he started. Rhule Emphasized how terrible he feels about the situation but it’s what best for both parties at this time
– Coach would like to thank Lee Corso for everything he has contributed to the game of College Football, and he will be missed
– Special thanks to the 1890 Collective for allowing the Huskers to be competitive in NIL
– The Huskers will bring in a rugby style punter in during the summer, and already have a plan A and plan B for punters
– Rugby style punting is schematically a “No Brainer” for Nebraska
– If a recruit is serious about coming to Nebraska, Rhule wants them to come and watch practice to see what the program is all about. He wants the recruits to know that their is high level of instruction with high demand and accountability
– Rhule wants to make sure that recruits can’t tell a difference between the starters and the walk-0ns
– It sounds like the roster size is going to stay at 105
– The Huskers are going to do the Husker game on Saturday and they will be doing a game for individuals who are battling for spots or for players to have some game film if they do not make the roster. Rhule plans on “Putting the ball down” and playing a football game
– Rhule expected the extra players on the roster to be grandfathered in and is surprised that they will not get that chance
– Jacob Bower was mentioned by Coach as an individual who walked on and is proving himself through hard work that he deserves a spot on the 105
– Rhule waited for the portal to open and things to die down before deciding to give all the kids on the team the opportunity to prove themselves one last time
– Rhule said the this team is “The team I have been waiting for” when referring to attention to detail and how much they love football
– When asked about in state recruiting and not offering more local players, Rhule said that “I have on job, and that is to win at Nebraska”. Nebraska will be bringing in the best talent from anywhere they can get it.
– Rhule noted that the B1G and the SEC are on a different level than what other conferences are such as the Big 12.
– Before recruiting any player, Nebraska needs to make sure that they will help them beat teams like Ohio State
– Rhule does not think Nebraska needs to add someone from the Portal to be good at the moment. That does not mean he won’t add anyone however
– When the 105 man roster takes effect it is going to be devastating to many in the program, just not players
– The defense is breaking on the ball and creating turnovers pretty efficiently so far in Spring. But Rhule noted that a lot of that is more so on the QB. But we will not really know if Nebraska has improved on this until the season starts
– When asked about why he likes this team, Rhule described how this team just wants to play Football and compete. He joked that if he wanted to punish the team he would have to make them not play Football
– Rhule understands the business of College Football and how we hear about the NIL holdout and other mainstream media news. But he wants people to know that that is only a small sample of the players, and most are just hard working kids trying to make themselves better
Rhule spoke for around 26 minutes today and as usual had a lot to say and decipher. I find it rather unfortunate that players on the current roster will not be grandfathered in and be allowed to stay on the team, especially since some have been on the team for the last 2-3 years putting in effort and energy. At some point I hope that the craziness of modern college football can calm down and we don’t have to see something like this happen again, or another player holdout for more money.