Matt Rhule Discusses Preparation for Alma Mater

LINCOLN—Matt Rhule is heading back to his alma mater without the outside noise of potentially taking the Penn State job.

At his Monday press conference, Rhule discussed the matchup, what he wants from TJ Lateef, Emmett Johnson's growing national profile, and more.

Plenty of Familiarity this Week

For those just now meeting Matt Rhule, he played at Penn State in the 1990s. He would become a volunteer assistant there after graduation, beginning a career that eventually landed him with a head coachng gig at Temple.

Temple Owls head coach Matt Rhule gets Gatorade dumped on him by offensive lineman Dion Dawkins during the fourth quarter of the game against the Navy Midshipmen at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Temple Owls defeated Navy Midshipmen 34-10. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

While leading the Owls, he hired Terry Smith as a wide receivers coach. Smith jumped from Temple to Penn State, working his way up from cornerbacks coach to associate head coach to now, the interim head coach.

"Terry was on my first staff," Rhule said. "I hired him out of Gateway High School. I have a lot of respect for him."

As for a return home, Rhule said he doesn't have many emotions about that fact of this week.

"I spoke earlier to you guys about how much I loved my time there," Rhule said. "The only things I feel, to be quite honest, was my grandfather had season tickets at Penn State. He's no longer living; my grandmother's no longer living.

"Just the people that poured into me and meant a lot to me in my life, they won't be there for this."

The 2025 Nittany Lions

Penn State is one loss away from being eliminated from bowl eligibility. That's not something Rhule is looking at when preparing for the Nittany Lions.

"Despite being 4-6, they've outscored their opponents by 93 points this year," Rhule said. "

Michigan State's Wayne Matthews III tackles Penn State's Kaytron Allen at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State's running back combination of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton has combined for 1,336 yards this season. Rhule called the pair "great".

"They got long speed," Rhule said. "They can catch the ball. They pick up blitzes. They can run downhill; they can run outside. They can play them both together. They've been great since they were freshman.

"I can't minimize how good their offensive line is. At their best, they find a way to run the football."

Expectations for Lateef

Freshman quarterback TJ Lateef will be making his second career start this Saturday in Happy Valley. Against UCLA, he completed 13-of-15 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns, adding five carries for 31 yards.

"I just want him to go play," Rhule said. "They've got a ferocious pass rush. They've got good players up and down the defensive line, at all three levels.

"There's going to be times where there's going to be pressure and he's going to have to reverse out and go make a play and run."

Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback TJ Lateef moves out to pass against the UCLA Bruins during the second half at the Rose Bowl. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Rhule said he wants Lateef to play free.

"I want him to go there and let it rip," Rhule said. "Sometimes the second game you start to... no, don't overthink too much. Just go out there and play."

Rhule said the biggest challenge for his signal caller this week will be the crowd noise inside Beaver Stadium.

"It's one of the loudest places I've ever been," Rhule said.

Sets Up a Short Week

With a night game at Penn State, that sets up a short week for the Big Red. Rhule pointed to the positives for his team.

"They want us to play on national TV," Rhule said. "I love it."

Nebraska will play Penn State at 6 p.m. CST Saturday on NBC. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal/USA TODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Rhule noted that the Big Ten Conference has "tolerances" for certain teams, which don't have to play night games late in the year. Nebraska is not one of them.

"So, go play on NBC, on national TV," Rhule said. "Do I love getting back at 3 o'clock in the morning and playing Friday at 11? Yeah. We'll go do something tough."

This Saturday will be the fourth time Nebraska has played at night away from Lincoln. The only road game not to be at night was the 2:40 p.m. CDT kick at Maryland.

Coming Off a Bye Week & Recruiting

Rhule and his staff spent much of the bye week recruiting, looking to build on the 2026 and 2027 classes, as well as preparing for the transfer portal. He said there was a good reception to the Big Red on the road.

"I left Wednesday, got back Saturday morning," Rhule said. "The reaction to seeing Nebraska on the road was significantly different than it had been previously."

2027 four-star quarterback Trae Taylor with Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule before the 2024 Rutgers game. | @Qb6Trae on X

Rhule credited the nationally televised games, the night games, the team's style of play, and the media presence on shows like The Pat McAfee Show.

"But I think mainly it's our players," Rhule said. "A lot of people talked to us about the Blackout. I think we've done a great job of getting kids to come to the games. Really cool to see the respect and the excitement around the program."

On Sunday, the 2026 class shrunk to 10 with the decommitment of inside offensive lineman Leon Noil Jr. Rhule says he's looking for maybe one to two more guys for that class.

"We came in early on and felt like we had to re-flip over everything," Rhule said. "So, now we've got a lot of freshmen and sophomores. Now we can be very select in '26, get difference makers. I think the guys we have committed and the guys we're trying to get are difference makers."

Rhule added that they'll also have to be active in the transfer portal in January while looking to build up the 2027 and 2028 classes.

Emmett Johnson's Growing National Profile

Emmett Johnson has moved up to No. 2 in the Heisman Fan Vote leaderboard. That comes as Nebraska has ramped up the Heisman Trophy campaign for the running back, who is a Maxwell Award semifinalist and expected to be in the running for the Doak Walker Award.

"One thing about Emmett is he's one of the most humble, humble people you'll ever be around," Rhule said.

Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Emmett Johnson celebrates his touchdown scored against the UCLA Bruins during the first half at the Rose Bowl. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

With two games to play, Johnson leads the Power Four in all-purpose yards. He's No. 5 nationally in rushing yards. Only three Power Four running backs have more receiving yards than he does.

"What's important to me in terms of the long-term vision is that you can be here at Nebraska and you can lead the nation in rushing, you can be on the Heisman watch list, you can come out of nowhere," Rhule said. "So many of our players, at the end of this year, I want them to look to next year and say, 'Hey, I want to have that type of a breakout season.'"

The Coaching Bug

Rhule knew he wanted to be a coach way before suiting up for Joe Paterno at Penn State.

"At five years old I knew I wanted to be a head coach in college," Rhule said. "I wanted to coach, really my whole life."

Rhule added that even though he climbed the ladder and made a jump to the NFL after his time at Baylor, his dream "has always been to be a college football coach."

That bug could be continuing with some current Husker players. Rhule said guys like Jalyn Gramstad and Derek Branch would make good coaches.

"I'm going to try to hire (Gramstad)," Rhule said. "I'm not going to pay him a lot, but I'm going to try to hire him at some point because he just has that gift."

Local Love

Rhule also made sure to shout out a pair of retiring coaches in the state: Nebraska Wesleyan's Brian Keller and Kearney High School's Brandon Cool. Keller spent 30 years leading the Prairie Wolves while Cool led the Bearcats for 25 years.

"I respect what they've done," Rhule said. "Just want to tip my hat to them. I'd love to be here 10 years, let alone 30."

Brian Keller led Nebraska Wesleyan to 133 wins during his time as the head coach. | Katie Goodale / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Rhule noted that the impact of Keller and Cool extends beyond the gridiron.

"I think the one thing that really hits you is how many people's lives they probably affected," Rhule said.

Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.

You can watch the full media session from Monday below. Continue scrolling for more coverage.

Coverage

Nebraska On SI | Matt Rhule Details What He Wants From TJ Lateef Against Penn State
Husker247 | Limited spots remain in Huskers' 2026 class with early signing period approaching
Nebraska Athletics | Rhule quotes
Omaha World-Herald* | Rhule would 'love' to someday hire injured O-lineman Teddy Prochazka
Omaha World-Herald* | Rhule explains why 2026 recruiting class is small, what's left to add
Lincoln Journal Star* | Rhule leans into tough schedule as Nebraska faces night-game duties others in Big Ten avoid
Lincoln Journal Star* | Emmett Johnson handling Heisman hype with humility, Matt Rhule says
HuskerOnline* | Rhule report
HuskerOnline* | What we learned from Nebraska's Penn State week press conference
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From the Other Side

Penn State Athletics | Terry Smith's Monday presser: Video and quotes
Penn State Athletics | Allen, Dennis-Sutton earn Big Ten weekly honors
Daily Collegian | An emotional Terry Smith delivers Monday press conference after return to win column
Daily Collegian | True freshman CB trending up after win
Penn State On SI | Kaytron Allen Can Make Penn State History Against Nebraska
Morning Call | Penn State gains relief after win, wonders what might have been
Patriot-News* | Penn State’s ‘old-school’ effort in Michigan State win was how this was supposed to look all year

More Info

Nebraska Football 2025 Schedule

Aug. 28 Nebraska 20, Cincinnati 17
Sep. 6 Nebraska 68, Akron 0
Sep. 13 Nebraska 59, Houston Christian 7
Sep. 20 Michigan 30, Nebraska 27
Oct. 4 Nebraska 38, Michigan State 27
Oct. 11 Nebraska 34, Maryland 31
Oct. 17 Minnesota 24, Nebraska 6
Oct. 25 vs. Northwestern 11 a.m. FS1
Nov. 1 USC 21, Nebraska 17
Nov. 8 Nebraska 28, UCLA 21
Nov. 22 at Penn State 6 p.m. NBC
Nov. 28 (Black Friday) vs. Iowa 11 a.m. CBS

Home games are bolded. All times central.

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