Matt Rhule on Nebraska’s spring game (it’s on, sort of), punting shuffle and roster crunch

LINCOLN, Neb. — Matt Rhule woke up rested Thursday morning. It helped him bring extra energy into football practice, the 12th of 15 at Nebraska this spring.

Why the good night of sleep?

It’s in part, he said, because Rhule sees a team on the field full of players who love to play the game.

“This is the team I’ve been waiting for,” the third-year coach said in a post-practice interview session.

For example, Rhule said, to punish these players after the offense fumbled in a competitive period Thursday, he removed them from the field. Instead of making them run the drill again, he took the game away.

“It’s completely different,” Rhule said. “And it has nothing to do with me. It’s the guys. They like to compete. They love to practice. And they’re competing at a high level.”

Rhule provided an update Thursday on the spring as Nebraska enters the final stretch of this chapter in the offseason. Here are four observations:

1. Remember two months ago when Nebraska canceled its spring game? Well, it’s back.

“I’m going to put the ball down and play some live football.” 👀🏈🏟️@CoachMattRhule is giving the guys their shot next Saturday at The Husker Games.

Be there to witness what makes Nebraska Football so special. 🎟️ → https://t.co/1DuYssPLAl pic.twitter.com/uGoSLFXfgZ

— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) April 17, 2025

The traditional Red-White format, pitting the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense, remains off the table. Rhule nixed the end-of-spring scrimmage in part because he didn’t want to create a showcase for rival programs to scout the Nebraska roster.

The school instead devised the Husker Games as an end-of-spring event, featuring skill competitions, a garage sale of apparel and memorabilia, facility tours and other sporting events. As of late this week, it will also include live football.

Rhule cleared the idea Wednesday, he said, with athletic director Troy Dannen. The scrimmage will involve players mostly outside of the top 53 to 57 on the roster.

“We have a bunch of guys that, this could be their last time playing in that stadium,” Rhule said. “We have a bunch of guys that are fighting to make the 105. We have a bunch of guys that, if they can’t play here, they need tape to go somewhere else.”

With the House settlement and details on a roster limit unresolved, Rhule said he believes that current players will not receive relief in the way of a grandfather clause that allows programs to carry more than 105 when the season opens in August.

Nebraska’s roster stands at 131 players.

Any reserve who “still has meat on the bone,” Rhule said, will be given a shot in the scrimmage.

“We’ve got guys who do this schedule after being told, ‘You’re not going to make the 105,’” Rhule said. “So I’m going to put them out there and tell my wife and kids to come watch them play.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the kids that are still here, knowing ‘my odds aren’t that high.’”

2. Nebraska has entered the market for a punter after Jack McCallister announced on opening day of the spring transfer portal window that he would leave the Huskers.

I’d like to thank Coach Rhule, Coach Foley, Coach Ekeler, Coach Maher and many others for the opportunity to play at Nebraska. However, due to a change in circumstances I have entered the transfer portal with one season of eligibility remaining

— Jack McCallister (@jmccallister38) April 16, 2025

McCallister arrived at Nebraska in January upon his transfer from Washington. The circumstances of his portal departure differ perhaps from any at Nebraska — and underscore the reality in this NIL era that college programs are managed more than ever like NFL organizations.

Rhule and special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler, hired in February from Tennessee, met last week with McCallister to inform the punter that the Huskers planned to employ a rugby-style punting scheme in 2025. Ekekler used the system with the Vols to achieve success behind Australian punter Jackson Ross for the past two seasons.

“Schematically, it’s a no-brainer,” Rhule said, citing rule differences between the college and NFL games that permit players in coverage to release from the line of scrimmage before the ball is kicked.

The Huskers offered McCallister an opportunity to stay.

“He asked if he could continue to stay at practice (through the spring) and finish what he started,” Rhule said. “I just want to be very clear, I feel terrible about the circumstances. When I met with him, he was so professional, (though) obviously deeply disappointed.

“I don’t feel good about how it happened. I don’t feel good about the situation. I don’t feel good about it, but it is what’s in the best interest of us.”

The coach said he hoped that his three children would “grow up to have the type of character in the face of adversity that (McCallister) showed.”

Nebraska has practiced covering punts in a rugby-style system this spring. It plans to add a punter in the summer. After the spring ends next week, players will break from team activities until June 2.

3. Last week, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen pulled the curtain back on several rising performers this spring on his side of the ball.

Rhule added a defensive player to the list: sophomore linebacker Jacob Bower. A walk-on from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., Bower, after a redshirt season in 2023, did not earn an invite to preseason camp last August. But he embarked on a steady climb after his arrival when the fall semester began.

He is not among the Huskers fighting at the end of spring for a roster spot. Bower, at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, is fighting for a starting spot.

“I can’t run him with the twos anymore, because he plays like a starter,” Rhule said. “He pays for school. Doesn’t have an NIL deal. And he just plays and plays and plays and plays and plays.”

He won’t pay for school after this spring. Whether through NIL or a scholarship, Rhule said, Bower has earned his spot and then some.

4. Camp season at Nebraska is about a month away. The Huskers have acted more selectively, because of roster limits and the rising level of competition in the Big Ten, as they distribute scholarship offers close to home.

Of the top 10 prospects in the state of Nebraska in the Class of 2026, according to 247Sports, just two have received Nebraska offers — Omaha North defensive back Darion Jones and Millard South tight end Isaac Jensen. None are committed to the Huskers.

Five of the top 10 are committed to Iowa State.

Want an offer? Come to camp, Rhule said.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong at the University of Nebraska that we carry ourselves like one of the top 20 programs in the country,” Rhule said. “There’s lots of kids I would like to recruit. If they’ve committed to a Big 12 school or somewhere else like that, come to camp.

“If you want to play in the Big 12 over the Big Ten, oh, I got it. But make no mistake, there’s a big difference.”

It’s a reality, Rhule said, that the Big Ten and SEC play at a higher level than teams in other conferences.

“I have to worry about, ‘What’s Ohio State doing? What’s Michigan doing?’” Rhule said. “I love the state (of Nebraska). I love the players.”

The Huskers will take in-state players, he said.

“I just have to be sure that they’re good enough.”

(Photo: Dylan Widger / Imagn Images)

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