Rhule Talks Staff Structure, Spring Practice Overall

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule met with members of the media following the team’s spring practice on Saturday. He talked about spring practice overall, pass rushing and staff structure. 

“We practiced in the indoor early on, so we did pre-practice run throughs, pre-practice special teams, warmed up, stretched, all those things, special teams, tackling, a little bit of live stuff. We went to the stadium, we got about 90 plays. The goal was to get three groups at least 30 plays live. We were probably somewhere around there. We might’ve gotten 32 or 29 for a group. We keep track as we go. We did everything from open field to red zone to low red zone to goal lines to two point’s plays, to end of games to needing a yard to kicking field goals. We had a couple punts and had overall pretty general work. You can probably tell it’s early on we’ve been doing so much teaching, 7 on 7, 9 on 7, team run, team pass, those types of generic scripted things. I thought it was really good. We came out of it healthy. A lot of guys got work to look for when watching the tape.”

He spoke about the team’s pass rushing. 

“We have some guys I know can rush. We have some really athletic guys. I think we’re also pass protecting at a really high level, which is really good. I wouldn’t say we’re absolutely dominant, like we’re destroying them defensively. I think we’re having an iron sharpens iron type of back-and-forth. I like where the D-line is, I think Phil (Simpson) is doing a great job with those edge guys. Terry (Bradden) is doing a great job with those other guys and they’re working together where I see kind of a comprehensive rush plan start to come together.”

Rhule discussed the staff structure in the spring season. 

“Every year you enter with a new team, a new coaching staff. Even if the coaches are coming back, they’re all probably different. I think they’re making an impact, I think they’re providing a lot of input, all doing a nice job, a bunch of guys who work really hard. I’ve been really pleased. Like I said last week, the strain on me is less because they handle their business. In general, those guys are just really professional. I think I had to walk into the defense and be like ‘Enough, get out of here.’ We have a lot of recruits in on Friday so they were getting ready for that which is different, they were getting prepared for that. I really like the staff, like the job they’re doing. They’re teaching, coaching, you see a lot of guys getting better.” 

The Husker Games, presented by FNBO, are set for Saturday, April 26. Fans will have the opportunity to get a preview of the 2025 Husker football, volleyball and soccer teams as part of the Husker Games events.