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Matt Rhule 'Doubts' Nebraska Will Play a Traditional Spring Game; Still Searching for Special Teams Coordinator

The Husker head coach met with the media for the first time since the bowl game in December.

Kaleb Henry

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule at his mid-winter press conference on Feb. 1, 2025.
Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule at his mid-winter press conference on Feb. 1, 2025. / Nebraska Athletics
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After Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen said he wasn't going to call it a spring game earlier this week, coach Matt Rhule went a step further.

"I highly doubt (there will be a spring game)," Rhule said at his mid-winter press conference Saturday. "I hate to say it like this, it's really because last year we were one of the more televised spring games and I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that."

Rhule, like many coaches in this new age of college football, is apprehension about showcasing his returning and new players to other programs with another transfer portal window after the spring.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense to me," Rhule said. "The word 'tampering' doesn't exist anymore. It's just absolute free, open market and so I don't necessarily want to open up to the outside world."

Rhule added that nothing has been decided yet but the likelihood of the spring game the way it has been known being simply a relic of the past is upon us.

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule walks into the stadium before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Nov 23, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule walks into the stadium before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Special Teams Still in Flux

Rhule is still looking for a new special teams coordinator after having Ed Foley in that role for the past two seasons.

"I don't think anything we did wrong was wrong schematically last year," Rhule said. "A lot of our problems stem at the snapper position and once that happens you're trying to compensate for things. It was not a good year from that perspective."

Rhule said "technique and fundamentals" are what need improved. That said, he doesn't expect an overhaul in how that phase of the game is approached.

"I don't think we can put any more time into it in terms of practice. I don't think we can put any more time in terms of meetings," Rhule said.

Nebraska did add a punter and a long snapper through the transfer portal. Rhule is hopeful those additions "correct the problem that was there last year."

Rhule also talked more about special teams, John Cook's retirement, building with the new roster limit, revenue sharing, and more.

Watch the entire press conference below.

Coverage

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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