Matt Rhule firmly pushes back on the thought of ditching FCS scheduling

The SEC’s recently announced move to shift to nine conference games, complete with a requirement to play at least one power conference team each year, has brought a renewed focus to scheduling. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule was asked about the change recently in a press conference.

Specifically, he was asked whether programs like Nebraska should ditch their current practice of scheduling an FCS school. He’s vehemently opposed to that idea.

“No. I think FCS schools depend on playing FBS teams,” Rhule explained. “I think — I was in the FCS. If you don’t have an FBS team, it’s hard to fund your football team; it’s hard to fund the rest of it.”

Rhule actually credited the SEC for its scheduling practices, even before the league adopted a nine-game conference slate. He sees a lot of merit in the approach the southern behemoth has taken.

“I think the SEC has been really smart over the years,” Rhule said. “They play their FCS team really late in the year, so as they’re getting ready to go on their playoff run, they play their FCS before the last game, which I think is a really smart way to schedule.”

As for the actual practice of scheduling FCS teams during the non-conference portion of the slate, Rhule is unapologetic. It’s good for the sport, he said.

“You look at the year, I remember, just watching coach (Jim) Tressel when he was at Ohio State,” Rhule said. “I don’t know how they schedule now, so I’m not smart enough. But back in the day we’re going to play an Akron, we’re going to play a Kent. Those athletic departments were counting on that revenue. I’ve been at those places. I’ve been at Temple, where we’re counting on going here and making that money to make ends meet. So, yeah, I wouldn’t make that rule.”

That’s not to say Rhule would remain completely idle if he were a commissioner in charge of college football. There’s still plenty that can be done with scheduling.

The Nebraska coach explained what he thinks would be most important for the sport. It’s not dropping FCS games.

“If it was up to me, which it’s not, across college football everything would be similar,” Rhule said. “If we’re all playing nine conference games, we’re all playing nine conference games. It would all be similar, so it’s easy to compare. But I think (dropping FCS games) would hurt.”