Coming off a bye week in which Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule let his players rest up a bit while he and his coaches went back to the drawing board, he wanted to clarify one aspect of last week’s post-Oregon press conference.
Rhule met with the media on Monday afternoon and spent much of the meeting talking about accountability and leadership. As the Huskers’ head coach put it, some of his assistants spoke with him about his PC last week, and how some members of the media and fanbase took his comments to mean he was throwing his players under the bus.
To explain himself, Rhule pointed to an injured Nebraska defender who had surgery one day and was giving a speech to the team the next. The Huskers coach said Anthony Jones got up, went through some clips of the Oregon game, and pointed out where he should have forced a turnover.
“I mean, Anthony Jones, we had a Thursday morning meeting, and Anthony Jones got up there and put on for the team, the day after having surgery, put on the last play of the game and was like, I should have knocked that ball out of the quarterback's hands.”
Anthony Jones illustrates Matt Rhule’s accountability standard for Nebraska football
Rhule then added that as soon as everyone starts doing what Jones did, Nebraska will be able to take things to the next level.
“I simply said last week, everybody. Everybody, Dana has to be better, I have to be better, the players have to be better, all of us have to be better, all of us.”
Rhule said he understood some people spun that as him dodging blame for two aggravating losses, but he sees it differently. He believes that when players and his assistants are reminded that while he’s not doing his job, neither are they, they have more control over everything.
It’s an interesting approach if it works. Certainly, some players hear the coaches take the blame and are happy to let them. Instead, Rhule wants them to understand that while the coaches teach the techniques and make the play calls, the players still need to make the plays.
It’s the best way any coach has explained that telling players they need to do their job isn't “blaming” them. Football is a game. It’s also their job, and like any other job, even if your boss taught you something a certain way that isn’t working, you can fix it yourself if you take the initiative.
Nebraska needs to take the initiative as a whole on Saturday against Washington. A win not only makes the Huskers bowl-eligible, but it also restarts talks about being a dark-horse playoff team in earnest.
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