Nebraska DT Riley Van Poppel Talks New Position Coach, Raising His Standard and More

Spring ball is a vital time in the college football calendar for players to take the next step, and a single-digit jersey earner from 2025 is looking to take more than one of them before the start of his junior season.

After three years in the Nebraska football program, Riley Van Poppel is now an upperclassman on Matt Rhule's team, and that comes with expectations that are sure to rise this fall. While many hoped it would have taken place last fall, the time to improve is never too late. And Van Poppel's first media availability in 2026 reflected on lessons learned, his new position coach, and what it will take to succeed in the Big Red's new defensive scheme.

The Huskers saw a quick turnaround in terms of offseason strength and conditioning and have already started spring football practices. Van Poppel was made available to the media Wednesday to talk about headlines surrounding the upcoming year. The conversation quickly turned toward the expedited practice period, and Van Poppel offered his thoughts without raising concern.

"It was quick," he said. "It allowed everyone to focus more on the football. Keeping football the main component, it's been really fun to be back on the field." After the way the season ended in 2025, players like Van Poppel should be itching to play some ball, and from his accounts, the entire team was looking forward to getting back to work.

With several new assistant coaches on the staff as head coach Matt Rhule prepares for his fourth season in Lincoln, the Big Red have an opportunity to raise their level of effort and intensity. The veteran defender from Argyle, Texas, dived into his growing relationship with new defensive line coach Corey Brown.

Coming to Nebraska after his most recent stop at Miami (OH), Brown was the leader of a RedHawks defensive line that totaled 11.5 sacks last fall. In total, the Miami defense recorded 41 on the year, and a big part of creating that pressure was from its players up front. For Van Poppel, his immediate reaction to his new position coach is positive to say the least.

"He's an unbelievable guy," Van Poppel noted. "Also, he played Big Ten football, [and] he played the defensive tackle position. He has a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience, and he's been in the exact seats were in." Though Brown was welcomed to the staff late and then was asked to immediately hit the recruiting trail, his presumed starting defensive tackle has set his foot on the right path. Now, as that relationship continues to grow over the coming months, the two will look to drastically overhaul Nebraska's trench play on the defensive side of the ball.

Van Poppel also noted his need to perform at a higher level in 2026. In part, he'll take the lessons learned from a season ago in combination with the new techniques he'll learn this spring to become the player he wants to be, along with the leader he's expected to be.

"When I look back at what I did last year, I didn't play up to the standard I set for myself," he said. "I know that. I've been attacking this offseason with a big chip on my shoulder, trying to be the best me I can be". For Husker fans, that's not only expected, but required, and something that has the potential to change the outlook of NU's 2026 season as a whole.

Still, he appears to be meeting that challenge head-on by putting pressure on himself to grow. Through the first three seasons of his career, Van Poppel has now played in 29 career games, and the production he has managed to obtain has been streaky at best. Though the defensive tackle position is rarely one that makes the stat sheet pop, his mentality is beginning to change as the years go by, hopefully leading to an equally aggressive and productive end to his college career.

The good news is, he won't be asked to do it alone. Instead, the Huskers supplied themselves with a trio of offseason additions that will look to provide much-needed reinforcements to Brown's new group. Notably, perhaps the player with the highest ceiling is 2026 four-star prospect Dylan Berymon, who chose to call Lincoln home on National Signing Day back in early February. Though he won't be on campus until graduating from high school later this spring, the Louisiana native was the highest-rated uncommitted prospect in his class before he ultimately chose Nebraska.

Brown, and really the rest of NU's staff, managed to add two transfer portal prospects to the room as well. The first came from will-be sophomore Jahsear Whittington, formerly of Pitt. In two seasons playing in the ACC, the former four-star recruit played in 16 games collegiately. Now, in his third season of college football, the 6-foot, 270-pound defensive tackle will presumably add some noticeable weight to his frame before earning reps for the Big Red.

Late in the transfer portal window, the Huskers managed to quickly secure a visit and sign Owen Stoudmire, formerly of Boston College. The will-be senior played five seasons for the Eagles before joining Rhule's roster in Lincoln and is likely the frontrunner to start opposite Van Poppel in game one. To this point in his career, the 6-foot-2, 290-pounder has seen action in 35 games while earning five starts.

Corey Brown's defensive tackle room is composed of 11 scholarship players heading into the 2026 season. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In combination with the additions and Van Poppel appearing to lead the charge, Brown's position group has several players who could earn the biggest roles of their respective careers to date. Heading into a season in which improvements need to be made, the pressure is on for the group closest to the line of scrimmage in Aurich's 4-2-5 scheme.

With many of these players untested against the Big Ten, a physical spring practice period will do well to help them adjust. That is assuming the Huskers' offensive line took a step forward as well, which on several occasions during Wednesday's media availability was stated to be the case. Still, both groups will need to prove their worth, and Van Poppel seems ready to accept the challenge of leading the defensive tackles on their path to doing so.

If that happens, the Big Red can get back to doing what the program has historically done best, which is dominating opponents through superior physicality up front. It remains to be seen under Rhule's guidance, at least on both sides of the ball at the same time, so 2026 will offer Nebraska a chance to put everything together in the same calendar year. With plenty of new coaches welcomed to the staff, a reemphasized aggression at the line of scrimmage appears to be their biggest task, and this group will have the rest of February and much of March to gauge exactly where they are. Expect the topic of trench play to continue to steal the show during that time, but if Van Poppel's comments are any indication, his room is getting things started the right way.