The performance of the special teams units for Nebraska football under former coordinator Ed Foley over the past two seasons were, in a word, underwhelming.

So, Huskers coach Matt Rhule has been in search of a viable replacement for Foley, whose contract expired on Dec. 31, 2024 following his two-year stint in charge.

That search, evidently, remains ongoing as Rhule provided a brief update on Saturday regarding his search for a new special teams coordinator.

"Yeah, it's not filled yet," Rhule said succinctly and matter-of-factly before adding a tad more. "That position probably won't be a recruiting position, so we're doing some interviews and taking our time."

Improving the Huskers' special teams performance across all units will be, without a doubt, right at the top of the to-do list throughout the duration of spring ball and the entire offseason leading up to the Aug. 28 season opener against Cincinnati inside Arrowhead Stadium.

Failures on the field-goal unit, kick and punt return, kick and punt coverage, and the breakdowns in blocking for Brian Buschini on his own punts all played pivotal, game-changing momentum swings for Nebraska throughout the 2024 season. For a program like Nebraska, the margins are as razor-thin as they could get. Losing in those margins has meant a significant difference (not the significant difference but a significant difference) between securing those always-elusive one-score victories and failing to close them out.

"I'm always very protective of our players, but I'll be quite honest, even in the interviews," Rhule said on Saturday. "I don't think anything we did wrong was wrong schematically last year. I think a lot of our problems stemmed from the (long) snapper position. Once that happens, you're trying to compensate for things. And I love those guys, but it was just not a good year from that perspective. You think about scheme, you think about all these (other) things, but really at the end of the day, it comes down to technique and fundamentals. When something at the very core is not right, then the elements all around it aren't right."

Rhule was honest and blunt in the postgame press conference following the Huskers' bowl game win over Boston College in December when asked what the program needs to do in order to improve special teams play.

"Special teams, we need a complete and total overhaul of that," Rhule said that day. "We have to be better at that. I always put those things on my shoulders, we'll get it done. But it has not been good enough this year."

So, beyond the obvious need to fill the vacant special teams coordinator opening, what else is Rhule trying (or hoping) to accomplish on special teams before training camp hits?

"I would love to go from being – you know, I look at special teams like you're either net neutral where you're not winning or losing the game on it, or you're losing the game on it or winning it," Rhule said. "You think back to Wisconsin, which was a great game for us, we played really well on special teams. Opening kickoff (returned for) 60 yards, we made some plays on special teams, and all of a sudden it opened the game up."

"I don't think we can put any more time in it in terms of practice, I don't think we can put in any more time in terms of meetings, I think our roster this year will be better than our roster last year. That's just the building of the program, so I think you'll see some of that. But, really, whoever's gonna lead it (special teams) is a main focus (in the offseason). And then the decision that we did to go out and get a punter and a snapper, and then Aidan (Flege) coming back should hopefully correct the problem that was there last year."

Rhule wrapped up the special teams talk by sharing his thoughts on the personnel in place – from the return men and the kickers to the punters and the snappers.

"I think we have a lot of guys who can probably return. I think the big thing is probably the battery (on the field-goal unit)," Rhule said. "Tristan (Alvano) getting healthy, John (Hohl) when given the opportunity with a good snap-hold he was excellent as the year went on. So I think we'll have two excellent kickers. Kamdyn (Koch) is here as a punter, who we think is a really, really talented young player. Then, you bring in two players with experience (Washington punter transfer Jack McCallister and New Hampshire long snapper transfer Kevin Gallic), they have reps. And while snapping at New Hampshire might be a little different than snapping it at Nebraska, really at the core of it is the same – the ball's going back the same distance, the same speed. We erred on the side of production, and we went out and found guys that we thought would be really reliable. Again, just trying to address it with players, trying to address it with leadership in the room, trying to address it with emphasis and having a fresh new lens, new set of eyes.

"A lot of the guys we've interviewed I've just asked, 'Hey, what do you see?' and just trying to see a different perspective. Phil Snow, as we've gone through these interviews, has really led a lot of the interviews for me. I'm in the room, but he's asking things from maybe a different perspective than I have. You guys will find that I trust Phil immensely because it always goes back to the same core values of technique, fundamentals, efforts and preparation. So we're just looking at everything from that perspective."

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