Where/when was this quoted ?
Rhule quote on Reddit
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Don’t know if that’s the exact quote. But he talked about NIL in his presser today and that’s basically what he said.
Don't care enough to look them up but several on the board, me included, speculated that Rhule held out on a public commitment to stay at NU during the PSU nonsense because he wanted secure commitments of NIL funds for recruits and current players. A lot of people just kept on rag-dolling him at the time for not immediately putting the PSU speculation to rest. Rhule plays chess when others play checkers.
Leverage.
Reminds me of Cersei’s quote in Game of Thrones when someone said knowledge is power, “no, power is power.” The one who has leverage has power.
That’s good and all. Would be nice to seem him beat the teams with a less expensive roster as well
That should consistently be a given.
I say NU spend massively to try to get the dogs here we need to win big. If Rhule has $ 25M, he needs to commit $30M to kids that sign, if he has $ 30M commit to $ 35M. Somehow, someway, NIL and others will need to find a way.
Then you damn well better win and be a real factor in the BIG. And we can't have the Gilbert/Sims etc type recruiting mistakes. That can never be guaranteed, but it must be at a minimum.
No retreads, no recently injured players, no problem childs (that can't be fixed) preferably Redshirt Sophomores/Sophomores so you can have them hopefully for two years. In the cut throat world that is now college football, if the kid doesn't pan out in year one, just turn him loose next year. High profile players are already mercenaries.
Matt's default position could always be, "We commited more than we planned, but backing out now is a terrible PR move, so find the money."
It's better to seek forgiveness than permission.
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Yeah. When he said he was going to work faster on transferring his fortune to his kids charities or whatever, this is definitely what he meant. Just gotta read between the lines.
THIS^^^
Nebraska has had more money than most in the B1G since joining and it has not worked. Beating Minnesota and Iowa 50% of the time will be a good start.
I’d be interested in seeing who in the BIG19orwhatever actually has a more expensive OL than Nebraska.
I’d bet not many…
I’d bet not many…
The money has been there. When NIL kicked in most financial sports minds looked at NU as a “should be top 5 in NIL football”. However some of the powers that be didn’t see it that way. They wanted to hold out to change and hold on to booster funding elsewhere. Didn’t like NIL and hoped that it wouldn’t last. Hell many on this board hate it.
I strongly believe Matt was hired as someone some thought could maybe compete without NIL being the major factor. Still wanting to pour concrete for facilities, believing that would still factor in recruiting. Trying to outsmart the system. It just doesn't work.
Hell I work in finance. I work with fundraisers too. I can’t imagine my mind set financially if someone told me we needed to spend a ton in something that literally cost us nothing for years. I’d want to out smart it. I’d want the money to go toward fixed assets vs expenses. But that’s just not the way it works anymore. At all.
I have been a Rhule hater for years. Thinking he was hired to try to avoid financial change. Him pushing for more NIL in his extension gives me hope. More than beating a broke down UCLA or Northwestern did.
I strongly believe Matt was hired as someone some thought could maybe compete without NIL being the major factor. Still wanting to pour concrete for facilities, believing that would still factor in recruiting. Trying to outsmart the system. It just doesn't work.
Hell I work in finance. I work with fundraisers too. I can’t imagine my mind set financially if someone told me we needed to spend a ton in something that literally cost us nothing for years. I’d want to out smart it. I’d want the money to go toward fixed assets vs expenses. But that’s just not the way it works anymore. At all.
I have been a Rhule hater for years. Thinking he was hired to try to avoid financial change. Him pushing for more NIL in his extension gives me hope. More than beating a broke down UCLA or Northwestern did.
My concern about squeezing more money out of donors is that that is money that could be getting used to add long term jobs to our state. Instead it’s going to kids who are most likely going to blow it in whatever state they find a pro football job.
I got the impression that Rhule is tied to the hip to DR. If LaTeef is better than DR, (to me it's obvious that TJ is better) then I worry Rhule would let TJ walk to keep DR happy. I am the other way around. I'd let Dylan walk in a heartbeat to hold on to TJ. Matt Rhule's loyalty is honorable, but he always takes it way too far, to the point that it can be argued that it damages the team. We have already seen TJ and I think it's night and day TJ is better than Dylan. I don't want to see Dylan unless it is a backup role.
Wonder who came through with more more money after his earlier complaining.
nobody did.. that's just the AD telling the head coach to zip it on that topic.
some truth to this I think, however you can only call out boosters with the "you can't afford it" shame card only once or twice.. NIL commitments have to be thought of as new annual expenses that also grow by several percent per year on top of that.
Ever since we came to the BigTen I think the financial model for the team has been to see how much they can milk the cow, while still keeping the cow alive.
I hope that has changed, because the cow has been on life support one too many times.
What is the ROI of big stadium improvements when you can't afford an offensive or defensive line or both?
last edit: how much are we paying per win? what is the average $/win? probably hard to get the data, but how can anyone make sound decisions on that without knowing these things?
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Yeah we know you're a hater. That's why you don't sound rational. You let your bias cloud everything .
I agree with about 90% of this.
If Nebraska wins the last 2 + bowl game v ranked opponent with TJ @ QB, I believe we will see Rhule's true colors with respect to DR. Things might get very interesting.
Going forward, schools are increasingly going to need to choose between facilities upgrades and upgrading/maintaining the roster via NIL. NU already check the facilities upgrade box.
It's all going to come down to Dylan's health and recovery in 2026. If Dylan is healthy I fully expect he will be pushed for the number one spot next fall not this spring, Lateef will be the number going into this spring. I fully expect Lateef will be compensated through NIL at Nebraska in 2026 even if he's not starting as a sophomore.
It's obvious schools are going to come after Lateef hard and it's going to be Matt Rhule's hardest sales job to keep him in place but I believe he will. Matt Rhule has two great coaches working with Lateef and helping him attain goals he wants and dreams of, the money is here for him and it will only increase in the future.
Matt Rhule has stated Nebraska now has all the money it needs to compete through NIL, this will play an huge part in keeping important pieces in place for Nebraska and also adding pieces to push this program upward.
It's obvious schools are going to come after Lateef hard and it's going to be Matt Rhule's hardest sales job to keep him in place but I believe he will. Matt Rhule has two great coaches working with Lateef and helping him attain goals he wants and dreams of, the money is here for him and it will only increase in the future.
Matt Rhule has stated Nebraska now has all the money it needs to compete through NIL, this will play an huge part in keeping important pieces in place for Nebraska and also adding pieces to push this program upward.
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You should know this, but a winning football program is about the best thing you could do for the university. NIL is investing in the future of the state. If I was in my 20s, I would be happy that other kids my age were cashing in on their skills. Like the other guy said, there’s no way around this. There is a way to be smart about it though. We’re getting money into the hands of winners, whether it’s football, basketball, volleyball, or wrestling.
aren't we blowing space station type money on new stadium projects? I don't think it's a smart use of funds given the condition of NIL and what we are facing in 2026.
You are fkn wrong. I talked to someone at 1890 . They was a big increase.
I think NU is headed for an amazing storyline in the next year. We have a recently injured incumbent QB who has already established his strengths and weaknesses v. a young player who shined in one game, albeit against a weak defensive opponent. Yet, his overall ability in live action is largely unknown at this time. If TJ does manage to excel against two respected opponents in PSU and IA, then the whole scenario changes.
Assume for a minute that TJ plays very well against PSU and then IA what does that do to his value as a QB? Well, he will become a target in the portal and could be very attractive to the QB mentor Lincoln Riley on the West Coast or especially Curt Cignetti. TJ, at first blush, has the model characteristics that Cig has signed on for in his first 2 QB's. The potential that Cig could, for the first time ever, get a QB through the portal that will play at IND for 2 years would open up their purse strings.
So ask yourself, if you were TJ's dad, would it be in his best interest to remain in Lincoln, likely as a backup barring further DR injuries and get maybe upwards of $ 1M, or take your talents to the aforementioned teams for $ 1.5M or $ 2M? Being happy where you're at is very important but it doesn't trump everything.
Then you see that maybe USC has a 5* on the bench or another incoming high 4*/5* and ask yourself, did that seem to scare TJ away from coming to Lincoln to compete against a 5* player? The answer is no. IF, and its a huge IF, TJ doesn't fall apart or wilt under defensive pressure, shows that he can take some hits, he has the type of overall game that will command a lot more open market money than DR.
If TJ opts to stay in Lincoln, the next season will be marked with QB controversy every time DR struggles. I think it's interesting as hell to see what the next season unveils. JMO
I have no idea of how those upgrades are being financed, but if donors have earmarked money, you don't get to purloin it for NIL. Does NU 86 the upgrades and return donor money?
I agree. I hate NIL, but the genie is out of the bottle and will never go back. Our society believes money, accomplishments, and recognition solve everything, when the reality is the people who achieve it are miserable and empty. But it is what it is and we need to play the game.
More jobs go away if fans go away. Our fan base is getting older. Need to fix that.
the product is the football program. That’s why i buy Husker football crap or go to games or even donate a little, not so Joe Smith at XYZ landscaping can land a contract
No, but if I'm the AD, I'm thinking I have to be pretty strategic in how I spend whatever donor money is available. Sure you can go to donors and arm wrestle them a little bit to get a little more, but when you look at this year's team, and wonder what could be done with another 10-20 million in NIL to upgrade both lines. Nil is peanuts to stadium money, I just think it looks bad to complain about not having enough NIL support when you just kicked off a nearly trillion dollar stadium spend.
More NIL money means more pressure on Rhule to deliver and at least be in the conversation about conference championships