1 week Ago By Sam McKewon World-Herald Sports Editor
LINCOLN — Ten days before Nebraska concluded its spring camp with a mixed bag of Husker Games, NU coach Matt Rhule offered words that, like a good wine, will be memorable for fans. They may pair well with the 2025 season, too. “This is the team I’ve been waiting for,” Rhule said.
And though the praise didn’t come with a win/loss prediction attached, if Rhule’s right, more wins than losses should follow. Pressed to explain, Rhule offered the anecdote of running back Emmett Johnson and receiver Dane Key wanting to run it back on a certain physical portion of practice. While the duo, clear starters heading into the offseason, incurred a tiny greater risk of injury in wanting to be even more physical, Rhule appreciated the hunger.
It’s the kind of team he’s wanted to build. “It’s completely different,” Rhule said. “But it’s Year 3, right? It’s completely different, and it has nothing to do with me.
It’s the guys. They like to compete.” That they like to do so despite the sheer amenities offered to them — a palatial football building with pools and sleep pods and a massive weight room, a training table that may rank as the nation’s best — speaks to care and consistency Rhule and his staff bring to the culture.
He asks them, constantly, if they’re on the same page with him. For Rhule, clarity is king. He’ll overcommunicate so he can get it.
Veteran observers of the program — I’ve been covering it annually since 2007 — have noted coaches struggle with the tricky balance of expectation and pressure players feel while they receive the day-in, day-out perks of a program flush with the money and staff to make life smoother for student-athletes. Nebraska, after all, has rarely struggled to sign top-25 recruiting classes and top transfer portal players. It has, at times, struggled to develop that talent.
Rhule’s task upon arrival was to steadily improve the already-decent level of talent — so far, so good — and instill a lot more mental toughness. Better player leadership. A far better finishing kick to win one-score games.
A 3-10 record in the latter category suggests Rhule’s not quite there yet, although his change in offensive coordinators — from Marcus Satterfield to Dana Holgorsen — may give Nebraska’s offense a major jolt. Ditto for a special teams coordinator change from the affable, conventional Ed Foley to the quirkier, wants-every-edge-possible Mike Ekeler, who will put NU’s toe back in the rugby punting waters after the first dip, with Daniel Cerni, didn’t go so well. But player leadership? Nebraska appears ahead there, especially on offense.
Quarterback Dylan Raiola, relaxed in front of the media clearly took steps forward over the last four months. He reshaped his body, for starters, taking ownership in an area of improvement. He singled out teammates for praise — some quarterbacks are even reluctant to do that — and noted leaders.
And he did it without seeming obligated. He can’t — likely won’t — lose momentum there. The Huskers’ defense may be a little quieter for now.
But that unit warmed to the aggressive nature and scheme of new defensive coordinator John Butler, who coaches like a dervish and focuses on finishing the rep with a victory. “I feel like it’s a great scheme and we’re preparing for the next level already,’” linebacker Vincent Shavers said. “It’s no different — ‘see ball, get ball.
’ We play aggressive and fast football out there.” That’s good to hear. At its best — in the glory years of the 1990s and the still-successful days of Bo Pelini — Nebraska played with its hair on fire, a little reckless, willing to live out on the edge and trade big plays with the best foes.
Pelini’s teams were prone to bizarre collapses that, among other things, hastened his departure. Mike Riley, operator of mom-and-pop Oregon State, was the wrong fit for this stage. Scott Frost never found his footing as the program discovered new ways to lose close games.
The swashbuckling edge Frost developed away from Nebraska eroded quickly with his mismanagement of the 2019 team and COVID in 2020. Rhule put some fiber back in Husker football. His three coordinator hires bring some real flair.
And if the roster, more talented than when Rhule arrived, develops more in the offseason, the schedule is palatable enough for a big step forward. The fire will rise. Even in college, it’s still a player’s sport — a quarterback’s sport — so Nebraska’s prospects, to some degree, boil down to Raiola’s progress.
What kind of leap can he make? What can he will this team to do? Months of preparation boil down to what a young man does in the final two minutes of a game. Raiola’s resume — Rhule’s, too — will be built on it. Spring camp’s in the books.
Here comes a summer of waiting and wondering. On with the Rewind. I see you Quarterback Dylan Raiola: It’s darn hard to put a football through a basketball hoop from 15 feet, much less 120 feet, or 40 yards.
He gave fans a nice sendoff at the event, too. He’s trying, hard, to live up to the responsibility that comes with being the superstar quarterback of the program. Special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler: A man in his 50s, “Ek” put up 225 pounds 13 times on the bench press.
Next up: Scaling Everest? Quarterback TJ Lateef: Very incomplete picture in a very limited scrimmage, but the true freshman quarterback has good enough size and excellent mobility outside of the pocket. He hit a few passes, too. Defensive end Mason Goldman: The Gretna graduate could be a factor in NU’s pass rush this season as a sophomore, and is absolutely the kind of five-year guy who peaks in 2026 and 2027.
He put heat on every offensive tackle he faced. Defensive tackle David Hoffken: The 22-year-old redshirt freshman from Kiel, Germany has great size — 6-7, 255 pounds — and potential for future years. He’s still learning the finer techniques of line play, but Saturday’s showing stood out.
Offensive tackle Grant Brix: He’s coming along at that right tackle spot. Don’t forget: Brix was a top-100 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class. Cornerback Kahmir Prescott: In what has become a crowded defensive back room, Prescott consistently showed well in his reps at corner — Nebraska quarterbacks kept throwing his way.
Let’s see if that spring scrimmage is a springboard to staying on the roster or tape that helps him find the right spot. Linebacker Gage Stenger: The Millard South graduate appears to have sealed a spot in the 105-man roster as a key team leader. At linebacker, he’ll be battling for time in a crowded room that includes two super seniors (Marques Watson-Trent and Javin Wright).
Stenger had a few good moments in Saturday’s scrimmage. Midland women’s flag football quarterback Angel Ioane Kaio: She dealt from the pocket and on the run in the Warriors’ 61-0 win over Nebraska. Midland mostly plays teams in Kansas, where the best team, by far is Ottawa University, 18-0 entering the women’s flag football finals in a week.
Fun stuff. Nebraska volleyball fans: Packing newly-christened John Cook Arena for a spring exhibition match win over Kansas. The Huskers looked pretty dominant, too, in coach Dani Busboom Kelly’s unofficial debut.
Five stats 44: Combined offensive linemen (24) and defensive linemen (20) on the roster right now, including long snappers and those true freshmen who have yet to enroll in classes. Can Nebraska protect that number? Linemen comprise 33% of the roster total at the moment and become crucial for good practice habits; offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen marveled at NU’s ability to pull off so many inside run plays because the line depth existed to do it. Given Nebraska does best in the NFL draft with linemen — see below — health and depth in the trenches are the quickest way to Big Ten contention.
Several weeks from now, we’ll break down the Big Ten rosters and see where Nebraska stacks up. Iowa has 32 combined offensive and defensive linemen. 11,000: That’s the number of tickets distributed for the Husker Games, according to a NU official.
At least some of the folks who bought tickets probably did so for the garage sale, since 11,000 fans, pretty clearly, didn’t make it into Memorial Stadium. As a previous Rewind noted, the fanatical spring game era has likely come to an end around the country, and a lot of it has to do with younger head coaches who aren’t as enthralled with the tradition. But should Nebraska want to double its attendance for the 2026 event, billing the scrimmage as an uninterrupted, one-hour-long underclassmen showcase would help.
The Husker Games portion could follow in uninterrupted fashion, as well. 13: NFL draft picks out of Nebraska since 2017. That includes four defensive linemen, three offensive linemen, two defensive backs, two wideouts, one tight end and one quarterback.
Out of those 13 players, four were transfers (Tanner Lee, Samori Toure, Ochaun Mathis, Trey Palmer) and the other nine were high school recruits. 14: The number of NFL draft picks for Ohio State in 2025. In case you want to know the talent gap between the national champions and NU.
That disparity may help explain Rhule’s long postgame media speech after the Huskers fell four points short of upsetting the Buckeyes. He understood the significance of the effort. OSU had an all-star team.
Four first-round picks! Two top-40 running backs! Four defensive limemen! And none of them were the 2025 team’s best player — receiver Jeremiah Smith, who was just a freshman last year. Four: Big Ten teams with just one NFL draft pick, which typically means the team is young and bound for improvement in the year ahead. Illinois, which won 10 games last season, had just one draft pick, which speaks to the Illini’s potential in 2025.
Washington, Michigan State and Purdue each had just one draft pick, as well. For different reasons, the Huskies and Spartans hit a reset button last season; MSU visits Memorial Stadium Oct. 4.
I expect both teams to be 3-1 at kickoff. On the flip side of the coin, Maryland had six draft picks off of a 4-8 team. The Terrapins may well improve on that record in 2025, but they may be the least talented Big Ten team Nebraska faces.
Forecast A four-month wait that’s going to feel long, given the stakes of the 2025 season and what will be the most anticipated season-opener (for fans) in years. In due time, Nebraska fans will take Arrowhead Stadium by storm..
