Nebraska Football: Matt Rhule makes subtle dig at Deion Sanders by not being a jerk

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule continues to handle recruiting and his team the right way, while ‘Coach Prime’ continues to not.

While it’s far too early to decide which way of running a team is better. When it comes to the way that Matt Rhule has handled the Nebraska football team since taking over compared to how Deion Sanders has handled his situation at Colorado, judgments can be made.

At the moment, the difference between the two coaches is that Matt Rhule has seemingly handled the transition about as well as a head coach can. And Deion Sanders has been chiefly a pompous oaf.

The most recent evidence of this surfaced on Thursday morning when Richard Torres, who is departing the Nebraska football team via the transfer portal, tweeted out some videos of his practice film for prospective coaches.

It’s unclear whether Torres was doing anything other than making sure people got a look at what he can do. But the timing certainly feels like he did it in response to Colorado players littering social media with complaints that Coach Prime and his staff weren’t allowing them to have their practice film.

Since the first players started talking about not being able to use their film, there have been a plethora of excuse-makers for Sanders claiming one thing or another. Some claimed it was the private property of the university. NFL beat writer Clarence Hill tried to slag CU players by quoting an anonymous SEC coach as saying they didn’t want to see practice film anyway.

One Colorado fan even claimed it was a “liability” issue, which is why coaches close practice. Apparently, this fan doesn’t realize that “avoiding lawsuits” is not in the top 20 reasons coaches don’t allow media or fans into practice.

Nebraska football coach continues to be a better person than Prime

It’s not just refusing to allow kids their practice tape that is the issue here. Colorado players also have stories about how they were treated before entering the portal. Many report being ordered back to campus while they were eating with their friends and family, so they could be told they were being “cut.”

Keep in mind this means that players were being told that they were no longer wanted at Colorado, but also Deion’s coaching staff would not assist the players in finding a new team by allowing them access to their film.

I’m not naive enough to think that Nebraska football coaches aren’t doing something similar when it comes to reducing the roster size considering the recent exodus of players.

But we’re also not hearing stories from Logan Smothers or Stephon Wynn about how Rhule is calling them away from meals to tell them they’re no longer wanted. His approach doesn’t appear to leave the same bad taste in Husker players’ mouths.

And Torres’ tweet shows he’s allowing Nebraska football players to show off their film, even if its of practice. The idea that Rhule was making a “subtle dig” at Coach Prime by talking about how much he likes the kids on his roster was always sorta silly.

But by not being a total jerk to players he doesn’t feel are a fit on his current roster, he’s taking a few swipes at Deion Sanders, whether it’s intended or not. And I’m here for it.