Nebraska’s Matt Rhule reflects on Joe Paterno, Penn State roots ahead of return to Beaver Stadium

Penn State letterman turned Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule was asked a variety of questions about the Nittany Lions during his Monday press conference.

A graduate of State College High School, Rhule has coached against Penn State before. His two trips to Beaver Stadium resulted in losses during his time at Temple, but he did lead the Owls to a win at home over PSU in 2015. It was the first time in 73 years that Temple defeated the Nittany Lions on the gridiron.

Now, as he gets set to return to State College with a Nebraska squad that’s having its best season under year three of his leadership, Rhule was asked if he had any emotions this week.

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“I don’t have many at all, to be honest with you. I spoke earlier to you guys about how much I love my time there, but it’s just different for me because I’ve been back so many times. The only thing I feel, to be quite honest, is that my grandfather had season tickets at Penn State, and he’s no longer living. My grandmother is no longer living, so just the people who poured into me and meant a lot to me in my life, [knowing] they won’t be there for this.

“When we beat Penn State at Temple in 2015, I have a great picture of my uncle, Chuck Sponsky, who’s in the Pennsylvania High School Coaches Hall of Fame. He runs up and is getting ready to hug me. He’s no longer living, passed away during COVID. So, I’ll think a lot about probably the people who would’ve been at that game who are no longer here. But outside of that, I have a lot of respect for Terry [Smith]. I have a lot of respect for their team, but I want this week to be 100 percent about our players. I want our guys to play their best football game.”

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Rhule, who was a walk-on at Penn State, played under former head coach Joe Paterno during a very successful stretch in the mid-90s. Rhule was asked about his time with Paterno and how he learned from the game’s all-time leader in wins.

“He didn’t speak to us very often. He knew how to pick his spots,” Rhule said. “But when he spoke, the man’s charisma and his ability to enchant and capture a room was amazing. When I look at my beliefs in coaching, I think the core thing that Coach Paterno did, besides he truly made you go to class. You had to get an education. He cared about who you were as a person.

“But the core value I learned from him is that he held his best players the most accountable. As I got into college football, I saw the opposite. I saw, ‘Hey, if you make plays, you can do whatever you want.’ Not there. You’re sitting there on a bowl trip and you see him sending a starter home because he’s late. You’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m never going to be late.’ So, I think that’s kind of carried over for me and I hopefully I uphold that ethos.”