Today was Matt Rhule’s first spring news conference as head coach of the Nebraska football team, and BOY HOWDY, does he know how to connect with a fan base.
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One could argue that the main narrative of the week will revolve around Nebraska’s two basketball teams, as they prepare to play Texas A&M in the NCAA tournament’s first round.
Considering that athletic director Trev Alberts departed for Aggieville earlier this month, this isn’t a coincidence.
Many others have expressed on social media that Rhule will soon follow Alberts out the door, presumably from cranks or chain-yanking Iowa fans.
No, Matt Rhule responds. He states precisely what you’re hoping to hear:
You might scoff and declare, “That’s what he’s supposed to say,” but there is one thing, FOR REAL, that you cannot dispute: Rhule is an adult and a model of how to professionally handle a difficult circumstance.
When it came to handling Albert’s condition, Rhule said the following:
Concerning the Texas A&M basketball team’s men’s and women’s squad?
He also hits that bullseye:
Then there’s the real football conversation, as this excellent Twitter account explains.
Be aware that Gabe Irvin Jr. and Rahmir Johnson might not be present in the spring game.
I wrote up the first twelve minutes of his news conference. Almost every coach and key player on every other team was mentioned by him. He brought up administrators. Because that’s what Matt Rhule does, he spoke well about them.
The personification of the belief that “if you go through life looking for shit, what do you think you’re going to find?” is Matt Rhule.
He wants Nebraska to be a resource for other staff members or coaches seeking advice:
Last week, I gave Kirby Smart a call and asked if I could visit Georgia. We dispatched representatives from performance nutrition to visit Florida and Alabama. I want folks to come over here.
Julie studied Nebraska when she was the head nutritionist at Temple and was assembling a training table. That, then, seems to be where we are right now. We don’t have many serious issues, so even though I don’t read much normally, I’ve been reading lately since I hear what people are saying. Our department of athletics is amazing. We have a fantastic chance, but we also need to think ahead to 20 years from now.
He stated this explicitly when speaking of leaving Nebraska:
I’ve received calls from individuals across the country asking, “Hey, what’s your contract situation like when I’m here and Julie’s all in?” And I love Ted Carter, I love Trev, and I came because of them. And that’s how I ended up at Nebraska University. And I’ve loved the people that I’ve met. And unless you people throw us out, we’re not leaving.
I thought this was interesting because I’m an old, crusty man, and I believe this is true about “today’s generation”
And the thing that separates the good from the great, and I believe in today’s generation, is their ability to handle frustration. Think about when we were young, and there was nothing to do, and parents would let us watch TV, we’d go do something, right? Our kids, they’re on an iPad nowadays, they’re on their phone, they’re doing something. And there’s just not a lot of frustration in their everyday lives.
And so can we handle frustration? Can we handle it when our coach is really getting on our nerves? Can we handle it when the stakes are high? Can we handle it when we have to do something we really don’t wanna do? The team keeps answering, yes, yes, yes. So we’re gonna push them like crazy in a spring ball, and see where we end up.
The man can speak. Again, cynics will read into it what they want.
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