Matt Rhule shed light on the similarities between the recruiting approach of Nebraska and Ohio State, specifically when it comes to evaluating prospects. Although both programs are considered college football blue bloods, their on-field successes have diverged significantly this century. As Rhule tries to resurrect the Huskers back into a winning program, the Nebraska head coach says the evaluation skills of his staff matches the best in the country.
“Ohio State brings in their top recruits to camp when they’re a sophomore or junior, but Ohio State sees those kids run fast and do whatever, and then those kids nationally become like a four- or five-star (recruit), and it’s like they’re vouched,” Rhule said, via Husker247. “When they come to Nebraska it’s the same thing, I want to see them too. When we offer them it’s like, ‘Well, Matt’s recruiting diamonds in the rough.’ No, we’re recruiting future NFL players. So Ohio State does it, we just kind of say, ‘Well, that’s what it is.’ We do it, it’s like ‘Oh, they’re diamonds in the rough.’ No. We evaluate just as well as anybody in the country.”
Nebraska produced a top-20 national recruiting class in the 2024 cycle. The Huskers ranked 18th nationally and sixth in the expanded Big Ten. It is the second-highest national recruiting ranking for Nebraska since 2012.
Rhule continued his answer by saying the Huskers are often on of, if not the first to offer a rising recruit before other programs follow up shortly after.
“I think what you’re starting to see — you guys who talk to recruits, some of you guys I know that’s your world — they get an offer from us and then they get a bunch of phone calls the next couple days,” Rhule said. “People are starting to get offers the next day after we offer them because people know we know how to evaluate. So, I think the fact that we’re willing to offer people, the belief our coaches have in our evaluation, it’s just a really good way to do business in my mind.”
Matt Rhule earned a reputation as a top evaluator of talent in recruiting high school prospects, a skill that has been a cornerstone of his coaching success. He transformed a struggled Temple program into a conference championship contender before moving on to Baylor where he again identified and developed players at a high success rate. The Bears won just one game during his first season as head coach in 2017, but finished with 11 wins as the Big 12 runner-up soon after in 2019.
Nebraska finished with a 5-7 record in its first season under Rhule. However, the Huskers are projected to return to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016.
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Nebraska faces Ohio State Oct. 26 in Columbus.
