Matt Rhule has Nebraska football on track for a revival in 2024

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule walked up to the podium and knocked his opening statement clear out of Lucas Oil Stadium.

Rhule spoke for two minutes without a stitch of notes and said all the right things. Just like always.

He welcomed the four new Big Ten teams. He expressed gratitude to Isaac Gifford, Ben Scott, Ty Robinson and other seniors who returned this year. Rhule gave a shoutout to new AD Troy Dannen. He lauded the five Husker teams that won conference championships this year. He celebrated his team's cumulative GPA.

The Preacher was in his pulpit, sharing the good news of Nebraska Cornhusker football.

As a Nebraska football fan, you had to be proud.

How could you not be?

Matt Rhule has a singular calling in his coaching life right now: to bring revival to the Big Red. He wants to usher Nebraska back into the college football spotlight.

It's even more than that, though. Rhule is the CEO...no wait, he's the CBA--Chief Brand Ambassador--not only for Husker football but all of Nebraska athletics.

It's refreshing, isn't it? When was the last time Nebraska's football coach was that guy? You'd have to go back to Osborne.

But to be honest, I don't know if Osborne was that kind of ambassador. Or at least how Rhule is. In a way, Osbrone didn't need to be that.

Rhule does. And he embraces it.

People joke about Nebraska winning the offseason and the press conference (Trev Alberts, anyone?). But losing either or both doesn't help you rebuild a once-proud program.

Every time Rhule steps in front of a microphone, we know we are going to be blown away. How can someone say the perfect thing every single time? Even to media questions?

Are we living in a movie here? Does Matt Rhule have a scriptwriter? Is he really a bizarro world Ted Lasso?

No, no, and no. Yet, Nebraska has won yet another off-season national title (going on 26 years in a row).

Now, it needs to happen on the field.

Rhule knows this. Culture and the process are important. But he's in this to win. He said it himself: "We're doing it in the classroom. We're doing it in the weight room. Now it's time to do it on Saturdays."

Then the real zinger, "When we go to a bowl game..."

It wasn't a prediction. It was an expectation.

Nebraska football goes to bowl games. Period. The first step back to relevance.

Here's the thing. Rhule says these things with the utmost confidence and humility. It's a rare combination in coaches these days. Or ever. Heck, it's rare for humans.

It's never, "We will do this or that" or "I can guarantee you..." Instead, it's always, "I think A, B, and C give us a chance to be a really good team."

He said that a few times on Wednesday. He said it last season. We'll hear it in fall camp.

Rhule is talking to us, sure. Yes, he's answering the media's questions.

But the Preacher's first congregation isn't the media, the fans, or opposing teams. It's the players in his lockerroom who put his message into practice on the field.

His message?

Nebraska football head coach delivers important message

Humble confidence. Never given. Always earned. Never overpromise. Always outwork and outhustle. Never a victim. Always the victor.

It's the sermon Nebraska football has desperately needed for several years. Finally, it's embedded in the program. There are no more excuses.

Nebraska won, again, on Wednesday, thanks to its Preacher-Head Coach.

The win felt good. But it's just a random Wednesday in July.

That fifth Saturday in August is a-comin' fast. The sermon needs to be lived out between the lines.

Will we see finally it in the Nebraska football team?