Life is full of questions, especially when you are the head coach at Nebraska—questions from fans, members of the media, the staff, and so on. Many of those questions and the answers you give can affect those around you, particularly when the questions being asked come from members of an NFL team.
With the NFL draft just around the corner, teams are leaving no stone unturned. You’ve probably heard some of the off-the-wall and ridiculous questions players get asked during their interviews. Gerold McCoy was asked if he wore a g-string or a jock strap when he played, and Dez Bryant was asked if his mother worked the corner. Yikes. The members of NFL teams aren’t afraid to ask players hard or way too personal questions. But what about the coaches? After all, the coaches should know the player better than anyone else, so what questions do they get? Well, according to Matt Rhule, there are three questions he gets asked the most by people in the NFL.
The first question he gets is, “What is their character?” This question is usually followed by many sub-questions. Do they use any drugs or substances? Are they a distraction, or do they personally have any distractions? How is their attitude? How is their relationship with their family, or do they have a family of their own? Let’s be honest: If you are about to invest hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars into someone, you want to ensure they are not a headcase. You want a guy representing your brand well on and off the field. After all, the NFL is dumping millions of dollars in marketing to attract younger kids to the game of football. Having a player who has constant issues isn’t going to be marketable. The guys you see in the commercials or ads are usually the guys not causing problems.
The second question Rhule gets is, “How’s his toughness?” This question usually dives into a player’s mental and physical toughness, grit, and resilience. Not everyone thrives in the spotlight or under extreme pressure, and that’s fine for the average person but not for guys going into the league. A team needs to know that they can count on you during the biggest games, even if that means you are dealing with an injury. Teams want guys who work through the pain, not pull themselves out of games for a paper cut or because their egos got hurt. Now I understand there is a fine line with playing through injury. Former Nebraska great Matt Slauson broke his spine in the 3rd quarter in a game against the Patriots and finished the game. While that’s pretty amazing, it’s also not worth the risk. It’s all about the risk-to-reward ratio. Are you sore or have a broken finger? You can probability play. Have a possible career-ending injury like a broken spine? Yeah, you need to be out.
The last question Rhule gets is, “What is his football character?”. It all goes back to the character. Teams want to know if you actually love to play football, and they can bet on you being there a few years down the road. Teams don’t want to waste a high draft pick on you only for you to disappear once that guaranteed money comes through (Look up Isaiah Wilson being drafted by the Titans if you want a perfect example). But besides wanting to know if you love ball, they want to know if you are coachable and can learn (Football IQ). There’s no point in investing in a player if that player won’t invest in themselves. If you don’t continue to learn and improve your skills, you won’t go anywhere in life; that goes for anyone from your Average Joe to your 1st overall picks like Jamarcus Russell.
In conclusion, Matt Rhule’s experiences as Nebraska’s head coach show us that teams want more than just athletic talent, they seek players who can rise to challenges, embody team principles, and commit to growth. By addressing these questions, Rhule not only shapes his players’ futures but also helps forge the NFL’s next generation of leaders, ensuring they leave a lasting, positive impact on the field, within their teams, and in the hearts of fans across the world.