How are there still Rhule apologists in our fanbase?

[realHuskerDrew]

The public outcry from NU fans to extend Rhule when his name was mentioned for the Penn State job makes me want to vomit.

Our leadership at NU is a complete joke.

Exactly! I won’t even blame Rhule, he sucks as a coach but can’t help that. He is neither an offensive or defensive guru and so relies on guys he hires. I can even see why NU took a shot… what I can’t stand about NU the school/program is the absolute stupid **** extensions given to both Frost and now Rhule. That convinces me this school is not serious about winning

The ONLY positive I see is that Rhule will replace coaches. Problem is, he will keep a worthless fvcking sack like uncle Donnie too long and let the savior QB hold him hostage… glad that **** is done

 

[Anon1751408132]

Rhule has 2 wins in November.

He's proven who he is the sooner we cut ties the better.

This nonsense of not wanting another coaching search is laughable.

 

[Man Woman & Child]

He's proven who he is the sooner we cut ties the better.

This nonsense of not wanting another coaching search is laughable.

But but but we can't afford the buyout. Tell that to Texas A&M who paid Jimbo more than we'd have to pay Rhule and was in the CFP 2 years later.

 

[oldjar07]

He's proven who he is the sooner we cut ties the better.

This nonsense of not wanting another coaching search is laughable.

People are afraid of change. I don't get it myself. I find coaching searches one of the most exciting parts of being a fan, and it represents actual hope for the future that we will finally hit on the right one rather than thinking a leopard will change its spots.

 

[dm1330]

Even after Wednesday? I've seen some strange mob mentality, sheeplike, groupthink behavior when it comes to sports throughout my lifetime. But this has to be a whole new level.

Are these people just so satisfied with mediocrity in everyday life that this is just more par for the course for them? Or are they too young to remember what being a once proud Husker fan feels like so they'll take anything with a pulse these days? Or is it some other psychological or mental deficiency?

It's truly mind-boggling. I guess some people just can't be helped.

Although it was an ugly game and loss one has to take into consideration NU had many key players not playing. Of course Utah also had the same but NU is not nearly strong enough to even miss one or two key players. As to the rest of the season, yes a great deal of improvement is needed and more talented players are needed.

 

[orclover11]

Defend him, or don't. Ruhle will be here until 2030 unless things get so bad ( 2026 ?? ) that he agrees to a lower buyout, AND our boosters are willing to fund it. Very unlikely on both counts. So if you support him, great. If you don't then at least you know it will be a long time until the Ruhle ship sails. All these people wanting him fired, where do you imagine the 70 million would come from? Especially since NU has had to scale back the stadium project and even delay that smaller project? Now the AD is another matter. I do not support him at all.

Rhule will be fired next year. The buyout doesn't matter because keeping him costs people money by the millions every year. Bringing in a new coach at least gives hope of increasing profits, business, and improving the brand which will make back the 80 million or whatever in no time. This is why coaches are always bought out, despite the apparent massive number. The trade off is that Rhule will never coach again if next year collapses. Solich, Pelini, Callahan, Reilly never coached at the same level again once they left Nebraska...Frost only because of his ties to UCF and he won't last long.

 

[konaki]

Keeping or firing Rhule is really in the hands of the major donors and upper echelon alumni $$$$$$$ who really control who Nebraska hires or fires. Dannen is really at the mercy of these people who really hold the fate of Nebraska football in their hands, I don't think enough people realize who really calls the shots. Money talks and people listen and that's what makes Nebraska and other big time programs tick. Troy Dannen doesn't make the calls by himself he has to get approval and that comes form outside sources who help flip the bill.

 

[big red23]

Serenity now. Serenity now. Some just choose not to obsess over something they can do nothing about. You on the other hand seem to want to vent every day in every single thread. How do you believe that expressing your anger and disdain multiple times per day advances your own well being? I get the disappointment but the constant whining is either trolling or a mental health issue. We get it. Your unhappy.

 

[big red23]

I have zero agenda but I do have the ability to see through someone who hasn't shown he can beat a team with a pulse

I have seen it, and I tend to agree. However @PvilleHuskerTim brought up something that I do believe is playing a roll.

"Hoiberg Effect"

- 2019–20: 7–25 overall, 2–18 Big Ten (14th)
- 2020–21: 7–20 overall, 3–16 Big Ten (14th)
- 2021–22: 10–22 overall, 4–16 Big Ten (t-13th)
- 2022–23: 16–16 overall, 9–11 Big Ten (t-11th)
- 2023–24: 23–11 overall, 12–8 Big Ten (t-3rd), NCAA Tournament (Round of 64)
- 2024–25: 21–14 overall, 7–13 Big Ten (t-12th), College Basketball Crown champions
- 2025–26: 13–0 overall, 2–0 Big Ten

Those first 3 seasons were 100% fireable, but since the focus was hiring a new Football coach he finished strong in the 22-23 Season and bought himself a lifeline. People may be thinking Rhule can do the same, but I am not seeing any upward trajectory at all with him.

 

[ADV88]

The problem I have is myself... almost every change I wanted him to make he's done... maybe not in the timeframe I wanted but he did it... Sat removed for Holg, bringing in Eck... FINALLY getting rid of Raiola OL and now hopefully a real DC and DL coach... He's made mistakes, we all do... He's owning up and fixing those, finally... I just hope it's NOT a little too late....

if I have one real complaint... it's the mentality... when you go out week after week telling yourself it's going to be a hard, 3 point game that's what your mind is going to believe... he needs to get rid of that crap and create a real killer mentality that's ready to rip someone apart... watch any game from the last 2 days and that's all you need to see. That Georgia/OleMiss game was absolutely incredible the way those dudes acted and moved... Impressive to say the least!

 

[dinglefritz]

The problem I have is myself... alsmost every change I wanted him to make he's done... maybe not in the timeframe I wanted but he did it... Sat removed for Holg, bringing in Eck... FINALLY getting rid of Raiola OL and now hopefully a real DC and DL coach... He's made mistakes, we all do... He's owning up and fixing those, finally... I just hope it's NOT a little too late....

if I have one real complaint... it's the mentality... when you go out week after week telling yourself it's going to be a hard, 3 point game that's what your mind is going to believe... he needs to get rid of that crap and create a real killer mentality that's ready to rip someone apart... watch any game from the last 2 days and that's all you need to see. That Georgia/OleMiss game was absolutely incredible the way those dudes acted and moved... Impressive to say the least!

Fair take. I don’t necessarily agree with all of it but it’s reasonable.

 

[PvilleHuskerTim]

Kind of apples to oranges comparison between football and hoops as it takes fewer portal “hits” to turn a basketball program around.

Figures that an I_wa dork would not be able to comprehend the analogy. Nothing is ever exactly the same in anything. That is why I said “parallels” to clarify.

And BB rosters turn over a lot the past 3-4, way more than they ever did. So sometimes it takes more than 1-2 players. How many starters / contributors from last year are on this year’s I_wa roster? Damn few.

 

[konaki]

There will be players on the Nebraska roster who will hit the portal today and honestly anyone of them can be replaced, I wouldn't worry to much.

 

[oldjar07]

The problem I have is myself... alsmost every change I wanted him to make he's done... maybe not in the timeframe I wanted but he did it... Sat removed for Holg, bringing in Eck... FINALLY getting rid of Raiola OL and now hopefully a real DC and DL coach... He's made mistakes, we all do... He's owning up and fixing those, finally... I just hope it's NOT a little too late....

if I have one real complaint... it's the mentality... when you go out week after week telling yourself it's going to be a hard, 3 point game that's what your mind is going to believe... he needs to get rid of that crap and create a real killer mentality that's ready to rip someone apart... watch any game from the last 2 days and that's all you need to see. That Georgia/OleMiss game was absolutely incredible the way those dudes acted and moved... Impressive to say the least!

Timing is everything. A leader needs to make the right decisions at the right times. We may finally put together a respectable offense next year with better OL coaching, but then our defense may not be up to par. Imagine how much momentum might have been generated had Rhule made the right decisions off the bat and found a real OC and OL coach, a senior QB in McCord, paired with the 2024 defense. Rhule would have looked comparable to Cignetti in engineering a turnaround if those things came to pass. But alas, they didn't, and Rhule is revealing who he was all along which is a .500 coach.

 

[mgbreeze]

There will be players on the Nebraska roster who will hit the portal today and honestly anyone of them can be replaced, I wouldn't worry to much.

Exactly. Gotta make room, double digits need to go.

 

[ADV88]

Timing is everything. A leader needs to make the right decisions at the right times. We may finally put together a respectable offense next year with better OL coaching, but then our defense may not be up to par. Imagine how much momentum might have been generated had Rhule made the right decisions off the bat and found a real OC and OL coach, a senior QB in McCord, paired with the 2024 defense. Rhule would have looked comparable to Cignetti in engineering a turnaroundif those things came to pass. But alas, they didn't, and Rhule is revealing who he was all along which is a .500 coach.

I don't disagree at all... we all wish he would've made the right choices from the get go... 2nd best is to learn and correct those mistakes... now... is that Rhule making the tough choices or the AD??? that's the question we also need to ask

 

[king_kong__]

I don’t think he has what it takes, but I still hope he proves me wrong. He’s going to be our coach the next couple of years no matter what anyone posts on here.

I have a little more optimism on the offensive side of things based on my belief that Geep will improve our OL significantly. But I’m a little leery about our defense despite the coaching overhaul.

Rhule should just appoint himself as GM and recruiting guy and hand over the coaching to actual coaches. That’s his best chance at success imo.

During Rhule’s tenure, he’s had 41 of his own recruits and transfer portal additions leave NU

2 have been drafted and only 8% of the rest went on to play in FBS. 8%!

GM? He can’t identify talent for shitt

just put him in the Little Red costume, have him preach outside the stadium and make Ek the interim HC for the next 2 years until we can start over

 

[Sparkaddict]

I welcome a coaching search and look forward to seeing if this year will treat us to one. This time we should pick one who is an offensive guru that has experience calling plays and does more than just sit there and tell me how good every team we play is after he gets blown out and is uncompetitive from the first whistle.

 

[ADV88]

During Rhule’s tenure, he’s had 41 of his own recruits and transfer portal additions leave NU

2 have been drafted and only 8% of the rest went on to play in FBS. 8%!

GM? He can’t identify talent for shitt

just put him in the Little Red costume, have him preach outside the stadium and make Ek the interim HC for the next 2 years until we can start over

ooof!! That's Sobering!

 

[king_kong__]

ooof!! That's Sobering!

It’s very apparent each and every Saturday

I always laugh at the “we are just as talented as xyz” dumbfounded responses after every L

Basically none of our guys go on to do anything at this level or the next once they leave here

Rhule may leave here having produced the least amount of NFL talent of any coach in NU history - ironically after coming in and puffing his chest about running a “developmental program”

what a f’ing clown

 

[RBigredMax1]

During Rhule’s tenure, he’s had 41 of his own recruits and transfer portal additions leave NU

2 have been drafted and only 8% of the rest went on to play in FBS. 8%!

GM? He can’t identify talent for shitt

just put him in the Little Red costume, have him preach outside the stadium and make Ek the interim HC for the next 2 years until we can start over

Where did you find this information?

 

[konaki]

I welcome a coaching search and look forward to seeing if this year will treat us to one. This time we should pick one who is an offensive guru that has experience calling plays and does more than just sit there and tell me how good every team we play is after he gets blown out and is uncompetitive from the first whistle.

"This time we should pick" I will repeat again and I think people need to understand this and maybe you do, Troy Dannen does not really choose who the final choice of a coach is. This is made by the major donors and major alumni who contribute and they make it know who they want, money talks and Dannen listens. I think people have been barking up the wrong tree for far too long, if you want to blame those that have made bad choices look no further than those that put out the cash and make it known what they want, this is a fact.

 

[Old_Gold_Knights]

I'm tired of turnover and I believe in the guy, he is a good fit for this program. Has there been many headscratching things so far sure. But I think him being kind and noce about the past has now caught up with him and those words will not haunt him. I think he believed he could get more out of the Frost roster and tried to breathe toughness into many of those players. It hasn't worked mostly as those dudes were/are softer than charmin. But this season most all of those types should be out and this young Rhule roster with much much veteran help(fingers crossed) should help get this thing better. It isn't ideal since we're watching Indiana do the unimaginable. But thats why I still have faith in him and the process. I knew it was a dumpster so my standards have been lower the last few years.

 

[king_kong__]

Where did you find this information?

here

I mistyped since I read this yesterday - it’s 8 players total, not 8%

basically 1 in 5 guys Rhule has brought in in 3 years is even a P4 football player after they hit the open market again

 

[ADV88]

It’s very apparent each and every Saturday

I always laugh at the “we are just as talented as xyz” dumbfounded responses after every L

Basically none of our guys go on to do anything at this level or the next once they leave here

Rhule may leave here having produced the least amount of NFL talent of any coach in NU history - ironically after coming in and puffing his chest about running a “developmental program”

what a f’ing clown

Produced & development... that was my biggest gripe with the OL... there are some guys that came here and never had a chance because of who we had leading the OL... that's an injustice to those kids & this program!

 

[Steely Dannebrog]

Not spending every waking moment bitchin about our coach doesn’t mean apologists. It’s like a bad marriage where the RDS dudes are just finding things to be mad at. “I hate the way she eats toast!!! Ahhhhhhhgggghhhh!!!!!”

This season was a total let down - everyone gets it! But then the same RDS crew are running around with hair on fire already throwing in the towel for next year. Seriously, getting pissed that people aren’t jumping on board with that?

I teach my tiny little children that in situations where you can’t control what happened, you can control how you respond. Sorry, many of us choose not to waste a bunch of energy bitching about everything Matt Kenneth Rhule.

He walked in to clean up a heaping pile horse crap that our once proud program was. He hasn’t done it as fast as we wanted and obviously made some very poor hiring decisions along the way.

I’m anxious to see if the Oline can improve like special teams did this year. Hopeful we can get a QB room competition with mobile QB’s. See if we can add some big boys up front and hope for all things holy that our young bucks see a big step after the spring.

I love the Huskers and look forward to football season every year. Honestly, I would like to see us do better but my fulfillment in Saturdays and life doesn’t come from the Huskers win-loss record. I suppose that makes me an apologist?? If some of you ***** about everything in your life like you do on this board, you would be miserable to be around. GBR!

This mat be the dumbest post in the history of BBS.

You won't waste energy complaining about the 87 million dollar infant running our program, but you had no problem rage-pooping out this gem of a post bitching about the fans, which.....spoiler alert....you ARE POWERLESS TO STOP.

Maybe take a couple weeks off bud.

 

[Frank Sobotka]

..if he was winning the backwards hat would be cool. BUUUUUT, since he sucks it gets thrown into the same ring as his lip licking, etc.

Pretty much everything a women does after you decided to break up with her irritates you. When you were still in the honeymoon stage (IE- fukcing all the time no matter that day or hour) those things didn't.

Good point, and what you say definitely makes sense.

That being said, I’d still make the same comment about the backwards hat even if we were winning. It just stings more when we’re not.

Just win, coach. Just win.

 

[dinglefritz]

There will be players on the Nebraska roster who will hit the portal today and honestly anyone of them can be replaced, I wouldn't worry to much.

I dunno. Losing Pritchett or Evans would be bad.

 

[dinglefritz]

here

I mistyped since I read this yesterday - it’s 8 players total, not 8%

basically 1 in 5 guys Rhule has brought in in 3 years is even a P4 football player after they hit the open market again

To be fair. Rhule was hired too late to build much of a first class. It was FILLED with reaches. His staff brought virtually nobody with them and we were coming off of 6 losing seasons. I would hope to he11 he would churn his roster and process non-contributors who by definition, aren’t going to be picked up by P4 teams.

 

[Macho Man]

This is rich. You do nothing on this board but complain when people "remain optimistic". You and other state all the time that you are just realist. Then in the same breath have no clue that Nebraska isn't a name anymore. How is that for realism. It isn't just Rhule or his hires.

Everyone talks about Texas Tech, McGuire was a 7 and 8 win coach his first 3 years with losses to Wyoming and Washington St and had multiple blowout losses during those 3 years. Then when their billionaire decided to get involved, they went out and signed a bunch of transfers, and hit on all of them. HItting big on all the transfers doesn't happen often. Height had played for 3 other schools before he got to Tech, then balled out this year. Bailey will be gone after this year as well. Then you have Rodriguez the former QB turned walk on LB that turned out to be a much better LB. That doesn't even count Hunter and Wiesniewski two starters that transferred in for one year. Is that sustainable?, Clearly they didn't develop the talent they recruited or else there would be no need to bring in 6 or 7 one year starters on defense.

You can bring up spewing ******** all you want, but the biggest amount of ******** being spewed is that Nebraska is a desirable location for coaches or transfers at this time. Well unless you have a billionaire that is going to pay, and you hit on every single one of them.

You want to know why we are not a desirable place for transfers? Our MORON head coach lol. It’s like when people excuse away losses on “our lack of talent” or something similar. You know whose fault that is? Matt “cool dad” Rhule.

I don’t think he has what it takes, but I still hope he proves me wrong. He’s going to be our coach the next couple of years no matter what anyone posts on here.

I have a little more optimism on the offensive side of things based on my belief that Geep will improve our OL significantly. But I’m a little leery about our defense despite the coaching overhaul.

Rhule should just appoint himself as GM and recruiting guy and hand over the coaching to actual coaches. That’s his best chance at success imo.

GM and recruiting guy???? Dude is TERRIBLE at identifying talent and roster management. Absolutely terrible. Worse than Solich, Pelini, Riley or Frost. About as bad as a P4 coach can be. And he’s not that great of a recruiter either. If you haven’t, check out our ‘26 class. An absolute disaster. If it’s a small class, you either load up on top tier talent or make room for more recruits. He did neither, because he’s absolutely clueless. We’d probably be better off if he just stayed home and never showed up to do his job.

 

[meo1960]

Even after Wednesday? I've seen some strange mob mentality, sheeplike, groupthink behavior when it comes to sports throughout my lifetime. But this has to be a whole new level.

Are these people just so satisfied with mediocrity in everyday life that this is just more par for the course for them? Or are they too young to remember what being a once proud Husker fan feels like so they'll take anything with a pulse these days? Or is it some other psychological or mental deficiency?

It's truly mind-boggling. I guess some people just can't be helped.

While its starting to feel like we'll never be relevant again, Matt has shown that hes willing to replace coaches that aren't cutting it.

I'm still not sure if DH is running his own system yet or is still holding onto pieces of Satts offense, but id like to see Holgerson use his own system as we already know Satts offense sucked.

Special teams most improved this year. Now start bringing in some road graders on the lines. I'd rather have dominant linemen than good to great skill players. Your skill players will look better with great linemen in front of them.

Anyway, with a killer schedule next year, we need to at least be competitive or Matt's seat will definitely be on fire.

 

[redwine65]

Even after Wednesday? I've seen some strange mob mentality, sheeplike, groupthink behavior when it comes to sports throughout my lifetime. But this has to be a whole new level.

Are these people just so satisfied with mediocrity in everyday life that this is just more par for the course for them? Or are they too young to remember what being a once proud Husker fan feels like so they'll take anything with a pulse these days? Or is it some other psychological or mental deficiency?

It's truly mind-boggling. I guess some people just can't be helped.

frost was 16-37
rhule is 16-16

so to me thats improvement..so far...I'm gonna judge rhule after the 27 season and look at his complete work.
thats 5 years...

it's well documented the likes and dislikes I have about rhule so far..so I won't go into that again..
I guess I'm more like the folks at Vally forge, they had a rough go at it, but kept fighting for the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Laner2]

Even after Wednesday? I've seen some strange mob mentality, sheeplike, groupthink behavior when it comes to sports throughout my lifetime. But this has to be a whole new level.

Are these people just so satisfied with mediocrity in everyday life that this is just more par for the course for them? Or are they too young to remember what being a once proud Husker fan feels like so they'll take anything with a pulse these days? Or is it some other psychological or mental deficiency?

It's truly mind-boggling. I guess some people just can't be helped.

You're 4platebencher on the other extreme.

 

[Spinner4]

I'm gonna judge rhule after the 27 season and look at his complete work.
thats 5 years...

I get that.

Dumb people generally need more time to process.

 

[HuskerO58]

Even after Wednesday? I've seen some strange mob mentality, sheeplike, groupthink behavior when it comes to sports throughout my lifetime. But this has to be a whole new level.

Are these people just so satisfied with mediocrity in everyday life that this is just more par for the course for them? Or are they too young to remember what being a once proud Husker fan feels like so they'll take anything with a pulse these days? Or is it some other psychological or mental deficiency?

It's truly mind-boggling. I guess some people just can't be helped.

What would you prefer the fan base do at this point?

 

[orclover11]

Keeping or firing Rhule is really in the hands of the major donors and upper echelon alumni $$$$$$$ who really control who Nebraska hires or fires. Dannen is really at the mercy of these people who really hold the fate of Nebraska football in their hands, I don't think enough people realize who really calls the shots. Money talks and people listen and that's what makes Nebraska and other big time programs tick. Troy Dannen doesn't make the calls by himself he has to get approval and that comes form outside sources who help flip the bill.

Donations are a big part of the story, but if Nebraska needs money to fire Rhule, they will take out loans and donors aren't going to stand behind a random lizard man from the east-coast who has made many obvious wrong decisions from day 1. The good thing about being a non-profit in theory is the AD can kind of scale liquidity based on donations, they aren't chasing a % profit increase every year... they just need to cover costs, which Nebraska has always done. I don't think Rhule will make it through next year, I think Dannen will have someone lined up to replace him. Keep in mind that a day or two after the extension, we were looking at a win over USC and a 7-3 record, with the youngest team in the big 10. We were driving to extend a lead and our starting qb got his leg broke. We finish the season 1-3 with three blowouts and our starting qb transfers. I've been around competitive people and football coaches for a long time. I guarantee they expected to win 9-10 games in the north building, even if to fans it seems the collapse was obvious. To Dannen the worst case scenario was we beat UCLA and Penn State, we are 9-3, Rhule is still not extended by NU and he gets sniped by a team like Arkansas who is willing to give him a 6 year contract...there have been 30 coaching changes this year, and Dannen would be a hyper competitive environment with his roster going to Arkansas. The other worse case scenario is our one talented player gets hurt for the season and decides to transfer almost immediately after the UCLA game. We lose 3 in a row to end the season in embarrassing fashion. The good thing about nightmare #2 is he can go to work to find a suitable replacement for Rhule and can really pull the trigger at any time next season. If Rhule left, we are still paying somebody we don't want 50-80 million for the next five years.

 

[Baxter48]

What does Cignetti have to do with anything? Before him there was Meyer and Saban who won quickly wherever they went. And the portal has been available to us as well, actually a year longer under Rhule than Cignetti has had.

Because most of them complaining compare cig and his lighting in a bottle success to coach Rhule, yes coach Rhule has struggled not making excuses, cig wouldn’t have near the success if it was for the portal, 15 years ago he wouldn’t have been able to bring all his good players from his previous team.

 

[HuskerO58]

During Rhule’s tenure, he’s had 41 of his own recruits and transfer portal additions leave NU

2 have been drafted and only 8% of the rest went on to play in FBS. 8%!

GM? He can’t identify talent for shitt

just put him in the Little Red costume, have him preach outside the stadium and make Ek the interim HC for the next 2 years until we can start over

A handful of those were Nebraska boys that some on this board would have freaked out about had Rhule not landed them out of high school.

We know this because we've seen it from this most recent Nebraska high school recruiting class.

 

[HuskerO58]

here

I mistyped since I read this yesterday - it’s 8 players total, not 8%

basically 1 in 5 guys Rhule has brought in in 3 years is even a P4 football player after they hit the open market again

Do any of those who transferred here then transferred out, count? Like Dowdell.

Or these are only guys Rhule already had here (inherited from Frost) or Nebraska was their first stop? Like Coleman & Kaelin.

Because there's been definitely more than 8 transfers who left Nebraska playing for a P4 FBS school.

 

[king_kong__]

Do any of those who transferred here then transferred out, count? Like Dowdell.

Or these are only guys Rhule already had here (inherited from Frost) or Nebraska was their first stop? Like Coleman & Kaelin.

Because there's been definitely more than 8 transfers who left Nebraska playing for a P4 FBS school.

Only Rhule additions

frost guys don’t count