Matt Rhule on spring portal window: ‘The problem is not the players’
Matt Rhule takes the good with the bad in regards to the NCAA transfer portal. The Nebraska head coach won’t blame the players in their decision making though.
Rhule prides himself on being transparent and vice versa with his players every single day. The Huskers coach said the team had yet to lose anyone as the portal opened Tuesday.
But he acknowledged the way the portal operates is “sad.”
“I think if anybody on our team wants to go on the portal it’s open today,” Rhule said. “I mean obviously no one has yet, I don’t anticipate anybody going in when we get done with spring. We’ll have a couple guys left a couple days to see if something’s best for them. Our guys are really transparent.
“We’ve had players on our team already have people from other teams contact them you know, come in, walk in, say ‘Coach, look at this.’ Shows us a text message … Just it’s a sad, sad state of college football when, you know, but the problem is not the players. Let me start there. Problem is not the players.”
Rhule wants to keep all of his guys, as any coach would. But he wasn’t afraid to say if a kid is hellbent on transferring that he’ll move on quickly.
“So I love our guys, I want everyone to be here,” Rhule said. “We had guys transfer to other places last year. I’ve talked to their coaches. I’ve talked to them, how they do and I think once you played for me, you played for me for life …
“But we’re pretty transparent with our guys. Like if they want to come talk to us, we’re here to talk to them. I asked coaches after scrimmages to meet with guys one on one, I’m always available. So I just don’t think it’s really prudent to me, maybe this is pollyannish, but like, I don’t think it’s prudent for me to coach guys thinking about the portal.”
Rhule’s philosophy is to push his players to greatness, regardless if the portal is looming or not.
“The worst thing you could ever do for a young person is not have high standards for them and not push them to greatness,” Rhule said. “So if you’re afraid of pushing them because they might go to the portal, you probably don’t have the right guy anyway. So I’m sure things will happen. Good, bad, but I’m gonna coach the guys to try to get the team better. And pour everything we have into our players both on the field, off the field and personally, and if something happens, it happens.”