Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule met with members of the media following day six of fall camp. Rhule spoke on Saturday’s practice and the team’s progress during fall camp.
“I’m pleased with the first week,” Rhule said. “It’s been a real challenge in terms of what we’ve asked them to do. I think we’re getting a lot of reps, and the guys are working really hard. I’m really pleased with our toughness and mindset.”
Rhule spoke on the importance of his coaches not focusing on the depth chart and the defensive line as a whole.
“I told all the coaches that I don’t need GMs,” he said. “Now’s not the time to be a GM, it’s the time to be a coach, and coach them like they are their own sons. Don’t worry about the depth chart and just coach everybody.”
“On the defensive line, injuries usually happen. Ty Robinson is obviously an established player. Blaise (Gunnerson) is a guy who is competitive and has played a lot of football, and he has his best days ahead. Nash (Hutmacher) is a guy we trust. It’s just a testament to not seeing people for who they are, see them for what they could be. We have a lot of really good young players who are going to come on, and I we will end up having six, seven, eight guys who will play for us on the defensive line.
He also commented on the freshmen receivers and how their fall camp is going.
“They are really fast. Our young guys are unbelievably fast,” Rhule said. “There is a lot of volume in our offense to learn so they are learning that quickly. They are a tough group, and they’re physical. Really proud of a lot of them today. They are learning to adjust to this. I think a couple of those guys might help us. They are going to push to help us.”
“We have some older established guys that have played a lot of football, but we are going to count on some of those young players. We are going to have an unbelievable receiving core with those guys at some point. It’s just how fast they can learn this and handle the bumps and bruises of camp. They are trending in the right direction.”
Lastly, he discussed what it’s been like living in the dorms and how it will help his team develop.
“We aren’t trying to win the propaganda. We are trying to act like winners before we’re winners,” he said. “We were doing scout special teams yesterday. Nick Henrich is a multi-year starter at linebacker coming off a torn ACL, and he’s running on scout kickoff. Luke Reimer, an All-Big Ten player, is running on scout kickoff to give the twos a look, and I’m sitting there thinking, ‘These guys sure deserve to win.’ We just have to maintain that, so the dorms have been really good. I feel like it’s bringing our team closer. I don’t know if it will show up, to be honest with you, until you have some adversity. When everything is going well, you don’t really need a lot of leadership. It’s really going to be when things get hard. You will see it in tough moments.”
Nebraska continues fall camp with practice on Monday. The Huskers open the season on Thursday, Aug. 31 at Minnesota.