Jeremy Pernell: Sizing Up Matt Rhule’s Staff Hires

Nebraska soccer’s teaching search that resulted within the hiring of Matt Rhule was a marathon. Athletic director Trev Alberts started the method by initially vetting upwards of 25 coaches. He spoke of “interacting” with 13 candidates all through the 76-day search.

Throughout that point, Alberts stored a decent lid on (legit) leaks and performed a seemingly flawless search. I imply, when your backup possibility is Luke Fickell, you’ve got knocked it out of the ballpark.

Alberts maintained that Rhule was his “1A” selection and his prime goal from the start. For a quick time, it appeared that a few of the monetary hurdles would show an excessive amount of to beat as a way to attain a deal. You need to give Alberts a ton of credit score for his resolve and dedication in not letting that occur.

You additionally should be inspired by the very fact Alberts was given the inexperienced gentle to do no matter it took financially to get his man.

Should you learn my collection of articles in October overlaying the teaching search and its attainable candidates, then you already know I felt it was crucial Alberts be given the means to pay upwards of $10 million for an elite coach. My prime three candidates for this job have been Rhule, Fickell and Dave Aranda, so out of the gate, you already know I really like this rent. I’ve to confess, nonetheless, that I did not foresee Alberts paying what it could take to get any of these coaches.

The actual fact Nebraska was prepared to shell out $74 million {dollars} over eight years is extremely encouraging. As is the $7 million assistant coach wage pool and the go-ahead that can permit Rhule to construct a big off-field employees. It means this program is set to do no matter it takes to get again to prominence. To get again the place it belongs within the school panorama.

Matt Rhule has been on the job for six weeks, and earlier than I dive into the employees he is put collectively, I needed to acknowledge just a few issues.

Before everything is the sheer focus and group Rhule confirmed proper out of the gates. He has spoken of learning the Nebraska job to find out if it was the correct match for him. You may see that wasn’t simply lip service.

Inside hours of being launched as head coach, Rhule was on the cellphone recruiting and making affords to gamers he had already evaluated in preparation of taking the job. A number of of these gamers ended up on this class. Lower than every week after being employed, he was already internet hosting gamers on recruiting visits.

Rhule and his employees did an incredible job of evaluating and shutting on a number of 2023 recruits, all whereas constructing large pleasure and intrigue from 2024 youngsters. There is a buzz amongst underclassmen concerning Nebraska proper now. Rhule took over a recruiting class that had been caught in impartial and ranked within the 60s. In simply over three weeks, he put within the work that can doubtless lead to Nebraska ending up with a prime 25 class.

What’s so spectacular is that they’ve performed it undermanned. Rhule spent most of December with mainly half of his employees available. He additionally nonetheless has some off-field staffers and recruiting personnel positions to fill.

Nebraska coaches have spent the final couple days in Charlotte, North Carolina, attending the annual AFCA teaching conference. That is the place coaches rub elbows and do a ton of networking. I would not be stunned if Matt Rhule wasn’t vetting just a few coaches to fill analyst or high quality management positions.

Final week, we realized who the ultimate items could be on Matt Rhule’s teaching employees. With the image now clear, let’s have a look:

• Marcus Satterfield, Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks
• Tony White, Defensive Coordinator
• Ed Foley, Particular Groups Coordinator
• E.J. Barthel, Operating Backs
• Garret McGuire, Extensive Receivers
• Bob Wager, Tight Ends and Assistant Particular Groups
• Donovan Raiola, Offensive Line
• Terrance Knighton, Defensive Line
• Rob Dvoracek, Linebackers
• Evan Cooper, Secondary

Lengthy-tenured relationships might be discovered all over the place on Rhule’s employees. That does not come as a shock. Rhule has stated from the start he likes to work with individuals he’s labored with earlier than. Outdoors of Raiola and Wager, each assistant coach on employees has both performed for Rhule, or coached for him at Temple, Baylor or Carolina. In some instances, they’ve performed each. Nearly all of them have been with him at a number of stops.

It actually has the texture of placing the band again collectively, and that has induced some consternation with some followers. I get why. We simply watched four-plus years of Scott Frost hiring a employees of his buddies that have been in over their heads.

With Rhule, he is grabbing guys he is labored with at numerous factors, however in lots of instances, these coaches have branched out and been at completely different locations and coached in several conferences. They’re going to reunite with Rhule figuring out how he needs to run issues, and still have just a few extra instruments of their toolbox from engaged on different staffs.

With Frost, there was a hive thoughts really feel to his employees they usually struggled to search out solutions going through adversity. Then, when Frost added completely different items final offseason, he did not present the singular imaginative and prescient to coalesce the employees. That will not be a problem with Matt Rhule.

You may see the technique Rhule has placing his employees collectively. When he was at Carolina, he assembled a employees made up of a mix of men he’d labored with and different veteran coaches, and that did not go very nicely. Returning to the school sport, he correctly went again to the blueprint that had labored for him at each Temple and Baylor.

It has been mirrored in his hirings. He’s made most of the similar strikes he made – significantly when arrived at Baylor. With this Husker employees, Rhule has employed skilled coordinators and crammed the remainder of his employees with younger, hungry, energetic coaches. That is by design. Like at his different stops, he is giving large alternatives to guys like McGuire, Wager, Knighton, Dvoracek and Raiola.

Rhule will very a lot be a CEO and supply the imaginative and prescient and set the tradition for this system. He is surrounded himself with coaches that he is aware of will echo the identical message all through the group. Everybody shall be pulling in the identical route. There shall be a objective in every little thing they do – from how they practice, to what they eat, to how they conduct conferences, to how they follow. It is going to be a unified message. The offensive and defensive programs and sport plans shall be symbiotic.

At his core, Matt Rhule is a coach who firmly believes within the Course of. His course of. And he’ll confer with it all through his tenure. In its most simple type, the Course of is Rhule’s time period for concentrating on the steps to success relatively than worrying in regards to the finish end result. The phrase has morphed into the mission assertion for Rhule’s program-building philosophy. It is labored all over the place he is been and he is banking on it working in Lincoln.

Over the subsequent couple days, I am going to spotlight just a few issues that stood out to me along with his employees picks – each good and … questionable.

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