Matt Rhule's meeting with the media on Friday was full of interesting tidbits, including official announcements of the new staff. However, it was when the Nebraska football head coach talked about his progress after Year 3 that Husker fans took notice for the wrong reasons.
"I’ve had to do a lot of that stuff because someone else didn’t do it," Rhule said. "I shouldn’t have had to do it. Some people take over programs; they don’t have to do that. We had to do a lot of stuff."
In refuting talks that Nebraska has hit the "reset" button this offseason with the firing of several staff members, as well as Dylan Raiola and a starting defensive back, Rhule continued laying out the mess he inherited. "If anyone ever understood what we walked into, they'd be amazed at what we've done."
Nebraska football fans push back on Matt Rhule’s Year 3 narrative
Rhule isn't wrong about the idea that he walked into a mess of a Husker program. At the same time, most NU fans think far too much of the "progress" is the coach firing his own staff members.
Of the members of his first coaching staff, only EJ Barthel and Rob Dvoracek are still in their original positions. Marcus Satterfield is still around as well, but he went through a relatively high-profile demotion.
Rhule is also on his third defensive coordinator and third defensive line coach. Player turnover is part of the new era of college football; fans are already used to it, even if they don't like it. Rhule's staff having constant churn is something that's less acceptable among a large portion of the fans.
When Rhule's comments hit social media, the backlash was almost immediate.
"With the resources & facilities Nebraska gave Rhule on Day 1, if Rhule is hinting that the measuring stick has anything to do with Scott Frost in Year 3, then he is conning the fanbase. It's Year 3 not week 3," wrote one Nebraska fan.
"It took coach Rhule 3 years to start blaming the Frost era on a program that has not gotten better under his watch. Do better coach," another wrote.
"It was the last administration's fault," wrote a third fan. "Rinse and repeat."
What makes all of this more frustrating is that Nebraska's 2026 Big Ten schedule is quite a bit tougher than 2025. There's very little chance the record in Year 4 will be much better than Year 3. If and when NU doesn't take significant steps forward, it will be even harder to accept those kinds of comments next winter.