Matt Rhule shares hilarious story of trying to get a beer from Mike Locksley at his cousin's wedding

Coaching is often referred to as a fraternity. Certainly, it’s a job that is unique in how demanding it can be, that few people other than a coach’s peers truly understand. That’s created friendships within the coaching ranks, like the one between Matt Rhule at Nebraska and Mike Locksley at Maryland.

As Rhule and Locksley prepare to play each other this weekend, Rhule looked back on their relationship. It’s one that’s decades old. In fact, he shared that, at one point, when Rhule was a teenager, he tried to get Locksley to get him a beer during a wedding.

“I was, I don’t know, maybe 14 or 15 years old,” Matt Rhule said. “And Coach Locksley and my cousin Craig were teammates at Towson with Rob Ambrose, who was the head coach at Towson for a long time. And they were in my cousin’s wedding. So, I was 14 years old, trying to get Coach Locksley to get me a beer at the wedding. He did not and I did not.”

It’s an experience that a lot of people can probably remember well. Being a little bit caught in between ages, and being too young to celebrate an event like a wedding like an adult, but knowing that you might want to. Luckily, it appears Locksley was against underage drinking, and the story never became an after-school special for Rhule too.

As Matt Rhule mentioned, he’s known Mike Locksley since being a teenager. They’ve never coached together, though. At the same time, the two have gone to Big Ten meetings, coaching camps, and other events like that together for years. It’s part of that fraternity of coaches that they both belong to.

“I’ve known Coach Locksley for a long, long, long time. I have a lot of respect for him,” Rhule said. “But I know he’d rip my heart out if he could. So, I respect that about him. I love coaches, I love coaching. I know how hard it is, I know how hard coaching is on our families and all those things. I also know the positive things about it. The amazing things about it. Like, my dad’s a high school coach and teacher. I just love coaches of all ilks, of all sports, of all everything. I just want to win, though.”

Nebraska is entering the road trip to Maryland at 4-1 and got its first Big Ten win of the season last weekend against Michigan State. Maryland, meanwhile, is also sitting at 4-1 but is coming off its first Big Ten loss a week ago to Washington. Now, they’ll both look to beat each other when toe meets leather on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST.