Matt Rhule opposes settlement threatening Nebraska football walk-on program
It didn't take long for Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule to come out against the possible settlement in NCAA vs House. Or at least he came out against part of the proposed settlement.
NCAA vs House is a lawsuit that is getting ready to hit the college sports organization with the power of a couple of megaton warheads this winter. It appears even the NCAA knows that if the lawsuit officially goes to court, it has a pretty good chance of losing.
The settlement in question has two main factors that are going to hit Nebraska as hard as any program in the country. The first is that every school is going to be on the hook for about $20 million a year in revenue sharing funds. The other is a potential loss of all walk-ons.
The money is bad, but Nebraska football has long prided itself for its walk-on tradition. This new settlement could mean that college football teams can only have 85 players total. Rather than 85 scholarship players and then up to about 35 walk-ons.
Rhule knows how big a blow that loss would be and said so when he appeared on Sirius XM College Sports Radio earlier this week.
Nebraska football head coach decries potential loss of walk-on program
“I think it’d be awful. I think a lot of things are being kind of said right now, I think there’s the kind of wait and see how it ends up because you know that might not happen. But if it does, I think it would be just an awful thing."
Rhule went on to say explain that while Nebraska football would lose a beloved tradition, the players are the ones who would get punished.
"For every player that ends up with a high end commercial, there’s 100 players that are, you know, becoming better people by having played college football and being part of a team and those are the people that usually end up running our country, running our corporations, running our businesses."
It's hardly a surprise to hear Rhule making these kinds of comments. But it's refreshing. The Nebraska football head coach has bought in completely on what makes NU great. But he's also someone who genuinely looks out for the guys who play for him.