Matt Rhule compares Nebraska turnaround effort to those at Baylor, Temple

Matt Rhule has gained a reputation as a program builder, and rightfully so.

After watching Rhule build Temple and Baylor from ruins into successful programs, Nebraska brought the former Carolina Panthers head coach to Lincoln to do the same. Ahead of the challenging task, Rhule believes the starting point is much healthier than it was at his previous stops.

Speaking with On3’s JD PicKell on The Hard Count, Rhule elaborated on the comparisons between the Cornhuskers to the Bears and the Owls, believing that the Big Ten program is in much better shape than his previous two college stops were.

“I went into some unique situations,” began Rhule. “Temple, I had been there before. I came back. But we were making a step up in conference, so there were some challenges there. Baylor, I got there coming off a scandal. There were some real challenges there, roster wise. I think this is a much healthier situation.

“They won four games last year, they had a lead going into the fourth quarter in four other games. So to me, this is about us coming in, establishing sort of the way that we do things, our process. There’s been a lot of buy in from the guys so far. They want to win. They’ve been close. They really want to get it done. So I’m excited to get out there. We’re challenging them this winter. They seem to like it. That’s all I care about. We’ll get to spring football, and see who loves to play the game.”

The first year could be rough — Rhule started 2-10 during his first season at Temple, and 1-11 at Baylor — but the end result is the freshly-minted Nebraska coach usually leaves places better than how he found them. By the end of his tenure at Temple in 2016, the Owls had won their conference, and played in consecutive bowl games, while Rhule also brought Baylor to the Big 12 title game and the Sugar Bowl in his final season with the Bears.

After a pit stop in the NFL that didn’t go the way he planned, Matt Rhule is now back in the college game, where he’s proven to be a winner and a leader of men. At Nebraska, he has his best shot at winning a national title yet, and history shows he could get there sooner rather than later.