Matt Rhule has made headlines in recent weeks for reconfiguring his approach to roster building and staff deployment amid the rapidly evolving landscape of college football. As the sport undergoes seismic shifts – driven by transfers, expanded postseasons, and skyrocketing finances – speculation has followed on where Nebraska can carve out a niche and how the Huskers can thrive in this new era.
It first begs the question as to how much of what has worked historically at Nebraska can work in 2025.
“There’s a formula that worked at Nebraska for 30 years,” former head coach Scott Frost said upon his hire in 2017. “You’re stupid if you don’t look back and say, ‘What made our [program] the best?’”
The formula Frost referenced is common knowledge among Big Red faithful. For decades, coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne recruited heavily from a 500-mile radius, giving particular focus to their home state, where success rates were high. The strategy combined securing top recruits with identifying lesser-known talent. If a player had a high ceiling, Nebraska’s renowned developmental program—pioneering strength & conditioning, training tables, and cutting-edge supplements like creatine—would bring out their full potential.
Part of that development came from the added practice reps afforded to a roster so big that it could operate with four independent practice stations, doubling the repetitions for its first and second string. Blue chip receivers didn’t want to play in a power run system in flyover country? That’s okay because Nebraska ran the ball and prioritized a system that was difficult for the opposition to prepare for. Come into our house with your prized pass catchers and watch the wind from the south dismantle your game plan in short order.
But how much of that formula is still viable in the 21st century? Frost himself failed to adhere to much of it and was ousted after four-plus years of dysfunction and frustration. Rhule has cited components of it as elements of his plan, but emphasized this offseason that Nebraska must effectively evolve or be left behind.
So many key components of that old formula – the very elements that once set Nebraska apart – have disintegrated. With the implementation of a 105-man roster limit, the advantage in practice reps and unearthing hidden gems are now gone. Everyone invests heavily in strength and conditioning. A monopoly on televised games that brought exposure to national prospects has been gone for decades now. Coaching continuity? Not in this day and age. Nebraska had a well-liked coordinator they paid well depart for the same role in Tallahassee. There are few loyal lieutenants now. And of course, reeling in talent has always been an uphill battle.
So where can Nebraska find an edge now? What does the formula look like in 2025 and how much of it can be drawn from the blueprint that once made Nebraska a powerhouse? Here’s what Matt Rhule and his staff can do to make the Huskers relevant in today’s era of college football.
Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different
Rhule and the University took flak last month for cancelling the Tennessee game, a move that was done to shore up revenue dollars for the ever-growing arms race. Rhule defended the move in his March 11 press conference. “If every decision you make is popular, then you’re probably not making the right decisions.”
Nebraska is no stranger to derision. They often endured mockery in the 90’s when they persisted with the option offense, long after schools like Oklahoma abandoned it. Dr. Tom kept with it even through the lean years of the late 80s and early 90s that brought humiliating bowl defeats, the Huskers amassing hardly any points in blowout losses to Miami and Florida State each January.
In turn, Nebraska wasn’t afraid to recruit JUCO players and other academic risks to beat those teams, in spite of pointed criticism from national commentators. Long before that, in the 1960s, Devaney was considered a pioneer for aggressively recruiting African-American athletes at a time when many schools were slow to integrate.
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