Did Rhule get bogged down on administrative tasks?

[Righteous Red]

Really interesting article by Sam McKewon of OWH this morning. Snippets from article tells that Rhule seemed to regret getting too involved with administrative duties and less on coaching aspects. In his defense they mentioned that he did have an administrative mess when he came here. However, a coach is judged by what we see and what happens on the field. IMHO, I think that much attention was diverted away from everyday coaching at the turf level. When a DC actually admits that he should have been more aggressive in his D play calling, and a Coordinator says that we can’t stop the run because our guys aren’t big enough or strong enough, then Rhule should have been more involved earlier and more often in the season. As a Coach, he should have his hand on the Pulse of the team. At the ground level there needs to have demands and expectations.

 

[Doc Fumble]

Interesting stuff, Righteous. Any CEO, sports or business, who inherits a bad situation has a laundry list of 'To Do's" to address. The thing is, there is no way that any new leader is going to address the entire list all at once. Typically, those type of folks say it takes five years to get through that initial laundry list so tasks on the list get prioritized into Year One, Year Two, etc.

Trouble is, sometimes the CEO ends up questioning some of his/her initial assessments plus new fires tend to pop up out of the blue so the list of priorities is constantly changing. This sure seems to be the case for Coach Rhule. While there's been a lot of shuffling, I can understand: a) why the changes were necessary; and b) how they tie into the grand scheme of things.

FWIW, I saw Tom Osborne make a number of changes over his 25 years as head coach. The thing is, TO tended to keep his changes behind-the-scenes and, unlike Matt Rhule, was never one to talk about internal stuff (and frankly, it was a totally different era back then.) But I'll always take a head coach who is never content and who is constantly looking for an edge versus one who has to be pushed, kicking and screaming, into making any changes to what he's put together.

 

[valiantsailor]

His job is football and winning games, not building the Rhule brand. Damn, to talk brands sounds more like a player or ladder climber. Excuses does not win ball games no matter who makes them

 

[Doc Fumble]

His job is football and winning games, not building the Rhule brand.

The way I look at it val, the "Rhule brand" = Increasing the program's name recognition (after years of bad football.)

Increasing Nebraska's name recognition among today's players = strengthening Nebraska's recruiting (HS and Portal.)

Strengthening Nebraska recruiting = bringing in better players.

Bringing in better players and then developing them = winning more games.

 

[valiantsailor]

The way I look at it val, the "Rhule brand" = Increasing the program's name recognition (after years of bad football.)

Increasing Nebraska's name recognition among today's players = strengthening Nebraska's recruiting (HS and Portal.)

Strengthening Nebraska recruiting = bringing in better players.

Bringing in better players and then developing them = winning more games.

Winning gets the brand going, not excuses. Look at I U. I m not sold on M R brand building. As I have posted many times, Q B seem to be a problem for M R.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

The way I look at it val, the "Rhule brand" = Increasing the program's name recognition (after years of bad football.)

Increasing Nebraska's name recognition among today's players = strengthening Nebraska's recruiting (HS and Portal.)

Strengthening Nebraska recruiting = bringing in better players.

Bringing in better players and then developing them = winning more games.

4 step approach sounds reasonable Doc, but I'm going to simplificate things. I think the point val was trying to make is if you want to attract better players, coach better football. Coach Cignetti has proven that formula works better than all the peripheral stuff. Let's hope Coach Rhule finally gets it in Season 4. Coach good football. Win games. The talent will come.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

Winning gets the brand going, not excuses. Look at I U. I m not sold on M R brand building. As I have posted many times, Q B seem to be a problem for M R.

Beat me to the punch, val. Just posted the exact same thing, only different.

 

[Pavlov's Dog]

This is what I see more and more from Rhule.

 

[Husker99]

4 step approach sounds reasonable Doc, but I'm going to simplificate things. I think the point val was trying to make is if you want to attract better players, coach better football. Coach Cignetti has proven that formula works better than all the peripheral stuff. Let's hope Coach Rhule finally gets it in Season 4. Coach good football. Win games. The talent will come.

The part in red...My thoughts perdy much.

 

[Cigarman]

4 step approach sounds reasonable Doc, but I'm going to simplificate things. I think the point val was trying to make is if you want to attract better players, coach better football. Coach Cignetti has proven that formula works better than all the peripheral stuff. Let's hope Coach Rhule finally gets it in Season 4. Coach good football. Win games. The talent will come.

Good point. But it seems to me to be a two-edged sword. You are not going to win in the Big without elite talent. You need a cadre of talented players to win those games that attract other talented players.

In short, I am trying to say you can't ignore the recruiting just to concentrate on coaching. Solich tried that. Pelini, pretty much did as well. If you want to attract top talent, you need to establish a relationship and grow it over time. In these days of social media, it is more important than ever.

 

[Doc Fumble]

Coach good football. Win games. The talent will come.

My thoughts perdy much.

Wow, I wasn't expecting an honest-to-goodness philosophical discussion here tonight.

This question of 'which comes first, the winning or the talent?' is reminiscent of the ages-old paradox of 'which comes first, the chicken or the egg?'

I thought about impressing you guys by waxing eloquent about its philosophical implications, but realized you'd figure out I copied it all down from its Wikipedia page. And yes, the question has its own Wikipedia page.

 

[redfred]

To the OP.......the answer is yes, and I don't feel I'm guessing on this one.

 

[valiantsailor]

Wow, I wasn't expecting an honest-to-goodness philosophical discussion here tonight.

This question of 'which comes first, the winning or the talent?' is reminiscent of the ages-old paradox of 'which comes first, the chicken or the egg?'

I thought about impressing you guys by waxing eloquent about its philosophical implications, but realized you'd figure out I copied it all down from its Wikipedia page. And yes, the question has its own Wikipedia page.

Heres the deal in a nutshell Doc, Im not getting any younger and I would like to see the NU brand back to where it was with Dr Tom. We have had all the futility I can stand and want to see some team improvement and trophies to match while I can.

 

[Doc Fumble]

Heres the deal in a nutshell Doc, Im not getting any younger and I would like to see the NU brand back to where it was with Dr Tom. We have had all the futility I can stand and want to see some team improvement and trophies to match while I can.

I hear ya, val!

Valiantsailor & DrFumble

 

[valiantsailor]

I hear ya, val!

Valiantsailor & DrFumble

Any questions? I think we should start with M R and work down.

 

[Jimbosc]

I am convinced Rhule lost this team with all the BS around leaving for PSU the week of the Minny game. They played like crap in that game and really didn't perform well the rest of the way including the last 3 blow out losses. Can he get the team back? I think our AD needs to asses that and if it is clear he still doesn't have the team performing as it should in 2026 - firing Rhule in season has to be an option.

 

[OhioHusker]

Matt Rhule's branding is all about Matt Rhule. He's more concerned with how he looks than how the team looks.

 

[MadRat]

Judging by his outfit, the game was stealing time away from skateboarding. His public appearance agent has been giving him losing advice.

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

Matt Rhule's branding is all about Matt Rhule. He's more concerned with how he looks than how the team looks.

About a week ago I decided to stop piling on the criticism of Rhule and let things play out. I can't any longer. They actually looked worse yesterday than they did the last two weeks of the season. The podcasts, the weekly engagement with the idiot McAfee, the backwards hat, everything is about bringing attention to himself. The one decent hire he's made while at Nebraska was Eckler, and I understand he was concerned Eck's bombastic style wouldn't fit with the program. The reality is he was concerned Eckler might steal some of his camera time on the sideline during games.

Rhule's schtick is quickly wearing on me to a Frost like level. Did the extension he negotiated two months ago add to his buyout, and what is that amount? Counting the days before we start all over again.

 

[Husker99]

Since John Butler was fired: If he did say that the problem with Nebraska's run defense was that the players weren't good enough, he's absolutely right. I mean it sucks to say, but Matt Rhule isn't recruiting at a high enough level especially in the trenches. Go to recruiting sites and look at the grades of players going to Georgia, Oregon, Ohio State, etc and you'll see most of their recruits are graded 90 or higher. Nebraska is recruiting players graded ~83. I don't care how great an 83 rated player is regarding technique and/or playing style, he's rarely if ever going to beat a 90 rated player. The math simply doesn't match.