New Nebraska coach Matt Rhule is certainly trying to put his stamp on the program early, and he seems to be positioning himself very differently to how some other schools are going about business.
Rhule had some very strong remarks about his team during spring practices, downplaying “hype” and asserting that the program needs leaders more than it needs spokespeople.
“I don’t need spokespeople, I need leaders. I don’t need people who are great in front in front of the camera,” Rhule said, via Brad Crawford of 247 Sports. “If you notice in our videos that we post and I’m proud to post those, they’re always of us working, they’re never of us talking. (This) program is built on work, it’s not built on hype.”
In some sense, Rhule seems to be issuing a warning that Nebraska will not have an immediate turnaround, which is fair. He also seems to be carving his own path here in relation to his successor. Though it was not entirely his own fault, Scott Frost’s return to Nebraska generated a lot of hype that the team never made good on. Rhule also might be taking a totally different approach than what Deion Sanders is doing at former Big 12 rival Colorado.
Rhule may not be looking for hype, but he probably would not mind landing a high-profile recruit or two.
