Matt Rhule tips cap to Scott Frost staff for having players already process-oriented

It’s not often that the replacement in one job has glowing things to say about his predecessor. That’s especially so with how the Scott Frost era ended in Lincoln, Nebraska. Even so, Matt Rhule has one thing that he certainly wants to thank Frost for when it comes to the Cornhuskers he inherited.

Rhule joined ‘Andy Staples On3’ and at one point spoke about how his team goes about their business. In his opinion, Nebraska is as locked in on their work and process as they are because of what they had learned from Frost over the previous few seasons.

“It has been amazing. I think it’s a credit to Scott Frost and his staff,” said Rhule.

“To me, if you’re a smart coach? You follow good staffs. I remember watching Urban Meyer, one of the coaches I look up to, and he followed Gary Blackney, he followed coaches that had taught guys the right things. So I try to emulate that,” Rhule said. “I have a lot of respect for Scott.”

Not a lot went right during Frost’s four or so year tenure at his alma mater. Still, for all the issues during his 35-38 run with the ‘Huskers, it appears this is at least one thing that he got right.

Rhule’s glad that that foundation is there too because of how vital it is to a rebuild like the one he’s working on. He loves that his players know the goal but are more so concerning themselves with the grind it takes to get there rather than the prize itself.

“It’s a very Midwestern value, right?” Rhule explained. “You grew up on a farm and it’s like you know what you want. You know you want a bountiful harvest. And you understand, in order to get that, you have to plant seeds very, very early on and you can’t have a day off. You can’t have a bad day.

“For us? I constantly remind them of what they want. We talk about the outcome all the time, we talk about the goal all the time. We just can’t focus on it,” continued Rhule. “Just say to ourselves, ‘Okay, like, we want to beat Michigan State, we want to win our sixth game‘. If we want to win? We’re going to have to play well. If we want to play well? We’re going to have to be in the moment. If we want to play well? We’re going to have to prepare at a high level. If we want to play well? We can’t get distracted by a bad call or a bad play.”

This lesson is one that Rhule has also learned how to teach as well over the course of his seasons. He makes it plain as day for his players that, in order to reach their goals, there are steps they have to take and steps they have to take together as a program.

“I think, for me? Year 11, fourth job? I’m able to articulate it way better to the guys as opposed to when I was a younger coach and was just saying, like, ‘Hey, do the process’. Now, I’m able to say, like, ‘You want this. So what steps do you need to take in order to get there? Let’s just do those together.'”