Husker fans awoke this morning, stretched, and then suddenly remembered Matt Rhule started his November tradition of losing football games a day early. This of course caused them to spring from their beds thinking, “Dang, it’s only the first and I’m already behind.” Before using the bathroom or even brushing their teeth they ran to their desks and filled out this month’s donation check to the University of Nebraska football program.
Lord knows the poor devils need it. I mean they lost again. It’s a huge problem. What else can you do but throw money at problems like this.
And that ladies and gentlemen is true. Not in the sense that we should all continue to pump money into the Big Red Machine, but in that the University of Nebraska is in a real pickle of a jam. Money is all that will save them at this point.
In that one, they will either need it to buy Matt Rhule’s contract out and send him packing. Or two, keeping things afloat after hanging on to Rhule as they watch fans turn away, making Memorial Stadium a ghost town and watching the money tree feeding Husker football dry up and die. When they last checked, the tree had already lost several leaves and was continuing to wilt.
Fans have had enough. I wrote in my article before the game that Matt Rhule must win the Washington game. The fact he lost the game wasn’t good. How he allowed his team to lose was what lost the fan base.
Yes, as of last night Matt Rhule lost the greater portion of this fan base. They’ll all tell you he’s a nice guy, and maybe even that he’s a great CEO…but he’s no football coach.
And why did we expect anything different. He came to Nebraska with a .500 record. Since he arrived, all he’s done is be who he is.
He was the head coach at Temple for four seasons and had a record of 28-23 with two double digit winning seasons. He was at Baylor for three seasons and had a record of 19-20 with one double digit season and one Matt Rhule Special (7-6). At Nebraska he’s halfway through his fourth season and has a record of 24-22 with two Matt Rhule Specials and very likely headed for his third.
If we’re all lucky, he’ll hit one double digit winning season somewhere along the way so he can be called the great rebuilder and the great savior of Nebraska football. But after that, he’ll likely fade away again and serve up more Matt Rhule Specials.
He is who he is.
So, what now? Does he take the typical head coach on the hotseat approach and ceremonially sacrifice a coordinator? In watching Rhule’s press conference I’m going to guess that’s what we’re all about to witness. It’s the only card he has left. But I’m telling you right now, if he burns the Dana Holgorsen card he’s holding for that hole card of Marcus Saterfield, he’s in a world of hurt.
But wait, before Rhule does anything he’ll need to check with 2027 QB recruit Trae Taylor and make sure that doesn’t affect his eagerness to cash those Nebraska checks. If so, Dana ain’t going anywhere.
And therein lies the problem with today’s college football and why Athletic Director Troy Dannen will hug tattered old Matt Rhule like he’s Linus’s safety blanket. Because today’s football coach must be able to do it all. Which includes assembling coaches, players, and figuring out how they all get paid, win football games, and keep the cash cow flowing.
Today’s new world coaches are scarce, and Dannen doesn’t have a clue what to do. Rhule’s hitting all the key performance indicators except for winning, so Dannen’s letting Rhule learn on the fly. End of story. Sorry Husker fans. It isn’t about Dannen, Rhule and Nebraska football changing.
It’s us and our expectations of what a football coach should be.
I’m a child of the seventies. I lived the 40 plus glorious years of Nebraska football. I’ve been told repeatedly we’ll never see anything like that again. Nebraska football as we remember it is dead.
I’ve argued they are wrong. That we will see it again.
Well, today, I’m admitting I was blind. Me or my children or my grandchildren will never see Nebraska football like that again. The year 2000 was in fact the end of an era. We are left with our memories, our hopes and whatever Nebraska football has become. Follow it. Watch it. Cheer for it. Whatever. But forget all you ever knew about Husker football before NIL and Matt Rhule.
If you are fans who can barely afford tickets, then put your checkbook away, let a little piece of yourself go, embrace what we have left, and move on with me Husker fans.
GO BIG RED!! SIMPLE, FAST, VIOLENT!!
Photos courtesy of the Falls City Journal Home – Falls City Journal – Falls City, NE
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