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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule.
AP Photos
Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule made an appearance on Huskers Radio Network on Tuesday night. Here's a quick rundown:
What's the schedule like for June with the current Husker players?
Rhule said the month of June will be busy with camps, but also for improving the current players.
"We're trying to work with them in a very deliberate manner," said Rhule, who also mentioned most guys have one or two things they're focused on improving. "We obviously want to go out there and have fun, have some competition when we're allowed to, but it's also still a strength, it's also still a conditioning time of year. So we have to be really smart that we're giving them football in doses."
After three or four weeks, Rhule said, he'll turn the team over to the players who have emerged as leaders. That part is crucial, Rhule said, because it's the players who will decide how far the team goes in the fall.
"They have to decide as a group — who do we want to be? How good do we want to be?" Rhule said. "And then do the things that are un-required. Do the extra things. I think that's a step that we have to take. I can't be the one doing that. The coaches can't be the ones doing that. It's got to come from the player. So summer, to me, really determines the type of year that you have."
During his hiring process, Rhule was looking for assistant coaches he'd want in his foxhole
Rhule said the new assistant coach hires he made in the offseason are working well together. When he set out to replace those who left, Rhule wanted to take more time and interview more people. That's something he's come to learn over time.
There were more second interviews. More phone calls with references. More Zoom calls. More instances of bringing in candidates and spending more time with them than before.
"We're in this building so much during the season. You have to be with people, and it's not about liking, it's about who's like-minded?" Rhule said. "Who believes in the same things you believe in? Who do you want to sit in the foxhole with? And it's really hard when you don't know somebody. So I think spending enough time with people to really trust it and then just hoping that we have enough discernment to make the right decisions. And I'm fired up by the group that we have."
The hire of Dana Holgorsen was easy, Rhule said. He didn't have to worry about that one because he knew Holgorsen when he was head coach of Houston while Rhule was head coach at Carolina in the NFL.
"That one was easy in terms of, hey, I know he'll fit," Rhule said.
Nebraska will host a 7-on-7 camp this summer, and Rhule hopes it will pay off with Nebraska's brand growing
Nebraska teamed up with Adidas to create The Battle in the Boneyard, a 7-on-7 tournament that will take place in Memorial Stadium on June 6.
Several of the country's top 7-on-7 teams are set to compete, including Fast 7v7, Miami Raw, Texas Threat and Team TOA.
The reason for hosting an event like this is simple: Rhule wants to get as many people and athletes on Nebraska's campus as possible to to show them everything the Huskers provide.
Rhule said he thinks the event will be open to the public, and people will show up to watch the athletes play a sport that's growing each year.
"Imagine the top 2028, 2027 kids in the country coming, learning from our staff, building relationships, competing with their friends and teammates against great players across the country," Rhule said. "But also, imagine them staying here in Lincoln, coming over to the facilities, walking through these buildings, seeing what we have, going out and maybe playing a game in Memorial Stadium, looking up and seeing a crowd there to watch a seven-on-seven camp.
"I mean, you won't find that anywhere else. So that's how we, as a city, as a state, as a fan base, as athletic department, that's how we help bring the swagger that we want, the attention that we want, to the to the brand nationally. So I think it's be a pivotal moment for us."
Rhule was reminded of a Bill Gates' quote: Information is the reduction of uncertainty. So the head coach wants the top quarterbacks and skill players in the country coming to Lincoln for this tournament so he can get eyes on them, evaluate them and let the kids see for their own eyes what Lincoln has to offer.
"We want to see how big, how fast, how explosive, how coachable, how everything the guys are," Rhule said. "We want them to have information about us. Like, hey, what's it like to play for E.J. (Barthel)? What's it like to play for Donnie (Raiola)?"
Like it did last summer, Nebraska will also host another She's Got Game Girls Camp on June 10.
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