Huskers Hope Tight-Knit Locker Room Translates into Victories

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule believes something is building within his football team that goes beyond X’s and O’s and sis-boom-bah.

Rhule sees his team growing closer with each other. He sees a bond developing, a brotherhood among the players.

There’s no guarantee, or evidence, that supports the notion that a close-knit team translates into victories, and, face it, in college football the bottom line is the bottom line. But if you have players who want to play for each other, maybe Rhule is on to something.

That something can’t be bought or borrowed. Chemistry isn’t a transaction. Players can develop into teams when they are willing to sacrifice as much for their teammates as they do themselves. When they’re willing to go the extra mile for the team because of their brothers in the locker room.

Matt Rhule speaks to the media Tuesday in Las Vegas. | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Rhule was asked at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas earlier this week how he's reaching his 2025 squad.

“I think each and every day it’s really our players,” Rhule said. “Players talk to players more than we can. I get up in front of the team. I speak; I think they listen.

“I try to have tremendous relationships. Our coaches are great. People in the building are great.

“At the end of the day, the program moves forward when players are talking to players about the right things, when they take the program from coach Rhule’s program to their program. Right now it’s their program.

“We went to dinner last night with the fellows, and they were this kind of joking, like, ‘Coach, you don’t have to come [to Media Days] tomorrow, we’ll handle it for you,’ which I almost took them up on.

“You could put Dylan [Raiola], you could put Henry [Lutovsky], you could put any of them up here, and I think we would all speak the same way because we believe in what we believe.”

Looking for an edge in the Big Ten

In the competitive Big Ten, you never know what intangibles might make the difference between a close victory or a heartbreaking defeat. Once you get past the B1G powers such as Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon and Michigan, there are plenty of teams like Nebraska looking for an edge, looking for a formula to get that season-making, one-score win. To build momentum within a season and move forward with a singular purpose.

“Good organizations win because everyone owns the product,” Rhule said. “Like very rarely on a bad team when you take over a bad team, do you hear people say, you know what, ‘I’ve got to do better.’

“The reason why I believe that we’re about to make the jump that we’re going to make is because each and every day, whether it’s our administration, whether it’s the people around us, no one is saying, it’s this person’s fault, it’s that person’s fault.”

Huskers: We are family

Raiola talked about the family atmosphere at Media Days. “Coach [Rhule] really cares about his players as much as he does on the field, more off the field,” Raiola said.

“When you have a coach that does that, when he’s pouring into his guys in team meetings and on the practice field, it’s something that you can’t miss and he wants to see everyone succeed and he loves his players.”

DeShon Singleton was advised by Rhule about whether the defensive back should declare for the NFL Draft in the spring. They developed a strong bond along the way.

“He really cares for his players,” Singleton said “Knowing that you have a coach who cares for you off the field, it makes you want to go out and play your heart out for him.

“I’ve been knowing coach Rhule for going on three years now. He’s done so much for me that I can’t repay him back. I’m just thankful for him. Knowing he trusts me on the field, it means a lot.”

No one is naive enough to believe you can go through an entire football season without problems. You have dozens of competitive young men with egos the size of the Cornhusker State and even larger ambitions. They are at Nebraska to succeed and to win.

Emmett Johnson (21) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown in the 2024 Pinstripe Bowl. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Nebraska will face adversity; every team does. How the Huskers handle the inevitable difficulty, and how they get through it, could help determine the success, or lack of success, in this pivotal season.

“Everyone is owning the product,” Rhule said. “Yes, we have to win more. That’s the deal, but we came into a program that we knew was going to take a little bit of time to fix. I think we’re close to fixed.”

If Rhule has a locker room full of players all on the same page, willing to sacrifice that personal ambition for the team, that’s a mighty strong weapon in the Huskers’ arsenal.

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