Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule has started a new trend in college football. We have seen a lot of changes to the game in recent years, and in order to adapt, Rhule decided to cancel the Cornhuskers’ spring game. In the past, Nebraska’s televised spring game has given other coaches a chance to look at the talent on the field, and it has led to Rhule having some tampering concerns. This year, he isn’t giving anyone else a chance to poach his talent.
Tampering is a huge problem in college football, and Matt Rhule has experienced it. That is the biggest reason why the Nebraska football team isn’t having a spring game, but Rhule is still going to do something to make the fans happy.
“I was kind of the first guy that said it,” Rhule said regarding the cancelled spring game on the Pat McAfee Show. “I took a little bit of heat and then all of a sudden everybody starts coming in behind, hey that’s a good idea. I think it was two things, last year we had our spring game, Big Ten Network, everyone is watching and it’s re-aired, re-aired, re-aired and all of a sudden I’ve got a line outside my door on Monday.
Coach so and so called me from here, so and so called me from there. What advantage is it for me? I love our fans and we’re going to do something for the fans, but what’s the advantage of showing all my young talent and letting other coaches come in and tamper with them?”
Rhule has a point. Tampering is a problem as it is, and giving other coaches a look at your talent right before the spring transfer portal window opens isn’t going to help anything. Nebraska isn’t having a spring game, and we are now seeing other teams follow suit. This could end up being the next big change in this new era of college football.
Matt Rhule has a very important season coming up as he is entering his third year as the head coach of the Nebraska football team. The Cornhuskers haven’t seen a lot of success under Rhule yet, but they did make it to a bowl game for the first time since the 2016 season this past year.
That’s a step in the right direction, but Nebraska fans want to compete for championships. Rhule has to find a way to get his program there, and he isn’t going to risk losing players to the transfer portal because of a spring game that is on TV for everyone to see.
Scotty White serves as ClutchPoints’ Chicago Bulls and Michigan Football reporter, in addition to covering NCAA Football and Basketball as an associate editor. Scotty is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has been in the sports journalism industry since 2020.
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