Nebraska is getting a lot of applause for hiring Matt Rhule. He’s a proven football coach at the college level and knows how to build a competitive program. He did it at Temple. He did it at Baylor. There’s little doubt that he should be able to do the same with the Cornhuskers.
Athletic director Trev Alberts deserves credit for landing a big name. The Nebraska alum was brought in in the summer of 2021 with the mission of finding the right guy to revive the program. It took a little longer than some fans would have liked, but this year he (finally) booted Scott Frost and replaced Frost with one of the better coaches on the market. Now comes the hard part.
What should be reasonable expectations for Rhule?
For all the excitement surrounding Rhule, he may not even be the best new coach in the Big Ten. Wisconsin might have scored the splashiest hire with Luke Fickell. Fickell not only has a much better career college coaching record than Rhule, but he’s also proven that he can lead a school into contention for a national championship. Cincinnati reaching the College Football Playoff last season is one of the more amazing feats of the past few decades.
Rhule, despite a strong reputation, went 28-23 at Temple and 19-20 at Baylor. His lackluster overall record didn’t deter the Carolina Panthers, who won a bidding war with the New York Giants for his services. Team owner Dave Tepper gave Rhule an astonishing seven-year, $60-million contract, a virtually unheard-of figure for a college coach.
It turned out to be an expensive mistake. Rhule lasted less than three full seasons as he was fired in October following a 1-4 start. Why did Mr. Fix It fail? According to Rhule, the lack of talent on the roster, particularly at quarterback, wasn’t his fault. That may or may not be technically true, but it also shows an astonishing lack of accountability. When you’re the head coach, no one wants to hear excuses. The buck stops with you.
In college, the coaches are the CEOs. They are empowered to micromanage every level of their program. From recruiting to the game-day atmosphere. If he fails with Nebraska, he’ll have no one to blame but himself. As mentioned earlier, Rhule should be able to make the Cornhuskers competitive. They haven’t had a double-digit-win season since 2012 when Bo Pelini went 10-4.
Many Nebraska fans couldn’t wait to push Pelini out the door. Now, they’ll celebrate madly if Rhule reaches that number within the next few years. However, even that might not be enough to satisfy them. Life has been tough for Nebraska since it moved from the Big 12 into the Big Ten in 2011. Winning the conference is only going to get much harder when Southern California and UCLA join in 2024.
The expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams in 2024 will give more school access to a championship game berth. But how long, if ever, will the Cornhuskers be good enough to make it there?
The glory days of Nebraska football are gone and may never come back. Tom Osborne ran all over the Big 12 to win three national titles in the 1990s. If those are the expectations for Rhule, fans might be in for a rude awakening. The landscape of college football has never been more volatile with conference realignment, the transfer portal, and name, image, and likeness policies.
Coaches need to adapt quickly. For Rhule to have any shot at long-term success, he must navigate those changes. The good news is schools can improve their roster fast. The bad news is that schools can also lose talented players just as fast.
Rhule signed an eight-year, $74 million contract. Nebraska is paying him to win big. But winning big in college football these days has never been more challenging.
