Nebraska Football: Matt Rhule using Osborne-led teams as model

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule athletic director Trev Alberts, and legendary head coach Tom Osborne held a roundtable on Thursday where they discussed everything from coaching styles to life in Nebraska, to life in general. There were fascinating soundbites from all parties involved, and Rhule had some of them.

Since taking the Nebraska job in November 2022, Rhule has seemed to embrace Nebraska. He’s been at several basketball games, been on countless Nebraska -related talk shows, and also made a commitment to staying in Nebraska long-term.

A commitment to both areas of Nebraska football

There’s no doubt that Nebraska is looking towards the future and trying to build a solid foundation for the program. It’s also true that many Nebraska football fans want to move on from the days of Osborne and focus on building a future. Nevertheless, Rhule is going to embrace the past as he looks toward the future.

“To me, the spirit of Nebraska is, that for so many years, Coach Osborne had it where they were the forerunners of everything, off the field and on the field.” Rhule said. “How do you respect that? You come here and say ‘Hey what are the best advantages we can give our student-athletes on and off the field? What are the best ways for training, for recovery? What are the best ways for equipment? What are the best things we can do academically, life skills wise?’ That’s the true, in my opinion, the true tradition of Nebraska is to be the best on and off the field, and then let the scoreboard take care of itself.”

This quote in particular exemplifies the all-around approach that the new Nebraska football staff is going to take for this program. It’s something that Coach Osborne did back in the 90s, and it’s an applicable approach today.

It’s clear that the new Nebraska football coaching staff wants a mix of respecting Nebraska tradition, while moving towards the future. That in itself is certainly respectable. There is too much tradition in Lincoln to not do so. It’s important to have a balance in college football, and in this case, Rhule has made it clear he wants to have it.