Inside Matt Rhule, Trev Alberts' approach to NIL at Nebraska

Nearing the end of his breakout session at Big Ten Media Days last week, Matt Rhule caught himself for a moment. 

A seasoned veteran in the coaching ranks, he may have left for the NFL for three seasons. But the world of recruiting inducements and pay-to-play has been intertwined in college football throughout his career. 

So, when asked what the learning curve has been with NIL, the first-year Nebraska head coach made sure not to cross the line. Because for Rhule, none of this tampering that has the NCAA and athletic directors pushing Congress for help is new. Cheating and inducements have always been around the sport. NIL has just poured more dollars into the bags of handlers and collectives. 

“The cool thing about being the head coach at Temple was all the big recruits there, they weren’t coming to Temple, but they would always kind of come talk to us,” he said. “I saw everything that was happening. This has been happening for a lot of years, and it’s not everybody. It’s a couple of places. But it’s pretty prevalent. 

“It’s funny if you look at, I have to be careful how far I go here, but if you look at the Tennessee case, you look at the numbers that Coach [Jeremy] Pruitt – $2,500 here, $6,000 there. That’s nothing in the NIL Era.”

That’s the reality of the world Nebraska and Rhule now find themselves in. Since taking the job in Nebraska, Rhule has had to play some catch-up in understanding the world of name, image and likeness. But speaking with some of his peers, he also learned many do not have the best grip on this new world. 

Nebraska’s NIL market has gone through some evolution in the last two years. Athlete Branding & Marketing rolled out the collective N100 in April 2022, announcing it had secured gross payments of more than $850,000 to more than 90 student-athletes across five sports. Run by former Husker football chief of staff Gerrod Lambrecht, ABM was folded into The 1890 Initiative in October. 

Run by former Husker receiver Matt Davison, the collective has public support from Nebraska businessmen Tom Peed and Shawn Peed. Whenever industry sources talk about the NIL landscape in the Big Ten, Nebraska is one of the first collectives brought up.

Football has been a key focus for 1890. But the collective is working with every major sport at Nebraska. The collective has exclusive agreements with roughly 100 football players and more than 20 volleyball and men’s basketball athletes. 

Last month, the collective signed a $5 million partnership earmarked for Husker volleyball over 10 years with the Nebraska Crossing outdoor lifestyle center, which is in Gretna, Nebraska, and JUSTDATA. 

Interestingly, Trev Alberts has not publicly thrown his support behind Davison and 1890. For example, Tennessee athletic director Danny White released a video this past October backing Spyre Sports Group. Many administrators have followed with similar announcements. 

The Husker athletic department Twitter account promoted 1890 back in January along with the Big Red Collaborative and Athlete Impact Management. Big Red Collaborative reportedly acquired Athlete Impact Management in October; the collaborative has not tweeted since January. 

Speaking exclusively with On3 last week, the Nebraska athletic director pushed back on the narrative he doesn’t back 1890. Alberts stated he’s made multiple appearances for the collective. 

“We’ve done a lot,” he said. “I go to their events and speak and thank them. I’m grateful for 1890. Again, certain places have created state laws that allowed them to have more involvement. And we haven’t done that in our state yet. But we’re very, very supportive of – there’s multiple folks, not just 1890.

“… We’ve had a lot of people, a lot of donors in the state of Nebraska and beyond that have really helped us in this space. It’s been really, really important to us.”

Rhule has not hesitated to interact with key Nebraska boosters on behalf of the organization. Nebraska’s 31st coach in program history held a camp in June in Dallas. The 1890 Initiative held a fundraising event that night for Nebraska boosters in the area. They also have hosted booster events in Phoenix and Denver.

While the Huskers are not tampering or wheeling contracts with recruits, building an NIL war chest is enough to attract prospects. The race in college football is to stockpile the most cash to distribute to current players so recruits know what they can make once they enroll at the school.

Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Dylan Raiola committed to Georgia earlier this summer month. A Nebraska legacy, his father played for the Huskers and his uncle is currently Nebraska’s offensive line coach. Multiple sources have indicated to On3 that if NIL had been a major factor in his decision, he would be a Nebraska commit.

It’s just an example of where Nebraska stands in the NIL landscape. Rhule is appreciative he doesn’t need to spend too much time chasing down boosters. 

“Very grateful for 1890, they’ve done a tremendous job for us,” he said. “The Peed family has been awesome. Matt Davison has been awesome, doing a great job for our student-athletes. Getting them opportunities. Endorsing this, all that. I have to worry about picking up third downs and picking up first downs.”

Since taking over the top job in the Nebraska athletic department two years ago, Alberts has had to mend some bridges. A College Football Hall of Famer, he moved on from Scott Frost this past fall. In his eyes, he’s spent most of his time getting the Huskers back on the same plan.

NIL has obviously added some wrinkles. Some institutions have been uncoordinated and have seen their fundraising efforts stumble. Alberts does not want to see any division amongst his fan base because of NIL. 

In his opinion, attaching himself to a specific collective could be a bad move. Finding a role for everyone to participate in NIL is his plan. 

“I think the most important thing is to have one vision around NIL – one vision,” he said. “That can look a lot of different ways, right? I mean, some people have one collective. There are other institutions that have multiple collectives with one vision. I think there’s plenty of space there for people to perform certain functions and roles within that and not be exclusionary. 

“At the end of the day, for me, I spent two years at the University of Nebraska trying to bring unity back to the department. This is a space that if you’re not careful, contributes to a lack of unity. Unity of purpose to me is saying, ‘What’s the objective here? What do you want?’ Is it Nebraska? Then let’s find a role for everybody to play – we’re a team. Obviously, 1890 has played a leading and most critical role.”