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Nebraska Football: Program’s team captain strategy is brilliant

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Nebraska Football
Oct 29, 2022; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers nickel back Isaac Gifford (23) sacks Illinois Fighting Illini quarterback Tommy DeVito (3) during the second quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule had several interesting things to say in his press conference on Saturday. One of them was his method of picking captains. Nebraska football will not have team captains. They will have captains on a weekly basis, and decide on permanent captains for a potential bowl game. This was reported by The Athletic’s Mitch Sherman.

This is a very sound strategy. For one, it rewards the players who have practiced the hardest that week. Sometimes, team captains don’t always work the hardest every single week. Sometimes, the players with the lesser roles bring the juice. The fact that this gives the opportunity for the coaching staff to reward them is neat.

Selecting permanent ones before a potential bowl game also gives coaching staff a chance to evaluate each player’s body of work over the course of the season. It gives players yet another incentive to work hard.

It also allows for players of all eligibility levels to potentially make a name for themselves within the team, and earn the respect of their teammates. This is extremely important as well, especially if building a program long-term is the goal. Allowing players of all grade levels to have a say on this football team is important.

This isn’t the traditional way of selecting captains, sure. Nevertheless, it’s the one that makes the most sense. You reward hard work by doing this, and also give the players a sense of personal responsibility. Now, players will have an incentive to work for throughout the course of the season and engaged throughout the course of the week even more so.

It may be a little bit unorthodox, but this is an extremely smart move by Matt Rhule and the coaching staff. It gives everybody a chance to be involved, and allows unheralded players to be given a chance to make a name for themselves.

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Chris has worked in sports journalism since 2005 writing for multiple newspapers and websites such as the Bleacher Report and Fansided before starting Husker Big Red, A fan site for hardcore followers of the #Huskers offering articles, podcasts, videos and more exclusive content on all things Nebraska

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