Matt Rhule shares insights on NIL, Nebraska Football and more on Pat McAfee Show
In an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday afternoon, Matt Rhule took part in wide-ranging conversations covering topics from NIL to the new Big Ten and his expectations for the future of Nebraska football.
Much of the early discussion centered around the massive changes in the college football recruiting world over the last five years. Rhule reemphasized the developmental focus he has for recruiting at Nebraska and said a simple sales pitch is no longer enough to secure a commitment. Transparency regarding personnel and culture is more critical now than ever before.
“I think when you find someone that really wants to be at Nebraska, you take him,” Rhule said. “You have him for four or five years because it’s hard to win with guys who are only there for a year or two.”
According to Rhule, the future of recruiting and Husker football will be built on a foundation of roughly 90% high school recruits in each class supplemented with talent from the portal.
“It’s important to me that our locker room knows that the coach cares about them,” Rhule said. “You’re not going to bust your tail for three years and then all of a sudden coach is going to bring someone in ahead of you. That’s really important to us. Try to do as much high school as possible. But when the time comes and you can get a difference maker, you better go get him and there are some out there.”
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Rhule on the wild world of NIL
Rhule made headlines two weeks ago with his comments regarding the $1-2 million price tag on a top-tier quarterback in the transfer portal. On the McAfee show, Rhule joked that he got a hard time in texts from other college coaches about resetting the quarterback market.
The lack of any real organized NIL system bothers Rhule. The inability for colleges to directly talk to players about the amount of money they can offer along with unregulated agents of varying qualities and third party organizations handing out the money has created a potentially harmful situation for players.
Rhule gave an example of a player being promised $1 million to transfer. After following through based on that promise, the party that promised the money could say that the funds were no longer available. The player would then be stuck at the school he transferred to without any way of receiving what he was originally promised.
“I worry about the players,” Rhule said. “Some players are going to get a lot but a lot of players are gonna enter the portal and end up with nothing. A lot of players are going to be told they’re going to get X, Y or Z and get nothing. At the end of the day, not everyone goes to the NFL so I think we have to have the conversation about it. We have to talk about it and not talk about it to get rid of it but just make it competitive and make it real.”
NCAA President Charlie Baker is working to allow schools to engage in communications with players according to Rhule. That’s something he said he is in favor of. Rhule also mentioned that in some NIL deals agents are taking up to 20% of what a player makes compared to the NFL where the number is closer to 3%.
He also praised Nebraska’s collective, The 1890 Initiative, for its work handling taxes and other educational resources it provides athletes.
The future of Husker football
Rhule made it clear that he wasn’t seeking a quick fix at Nebraska. Becoming a developmental program is his vision.
“Do you know how proud I am when I turn on the NFL and see Dion Dawkins and Tyquan Thornton and Tyler Matakevich and Jalen Pitre who was a no-star recruit and the only guy left over at Baylor and he’s one of the dominate safety for the Texans now?” Rhule said. “I love that. I love that relationship with the players.”
According to Rhule, Nebraska will be a team in the coming years that everyone in college football will have to deal with. The trenches will be one of the key points of emphasis to getting to that level according to the head coach. Building the team through the weight room and on the practice field will be key, too.
Rhule added that he felt the Huskers were competitive in every game this year with the exception of Michigan and the Colorado game that got away in the second half. His expectation is that Nebraska will put forth a similar and improved effort next season. Still, it seems relationships will be another foundational piece of what will drive the Huskers into the future under Rhule.
“Young people still need adults and they need coaches to believe in them,” Rhule said. “We’re going to try and win at the highest level and make sure guys get an education and make sure guys leave good lives. And you know what? If we do that, we’re doing something right.”
