Matt Rhule made an appearance on The Triple Option podcast with Urban Meyer and Rob Stone this week.

Nebraska's head coach dove deep on several topics, including why he doesn't want to play power opponents in the non-conference, the future of spring games and what it might look like in Lincoln, and much more.

Here's a quick rundown:

Rhule was asked about where Nebraska was focusing its high school recruiting efforts. As Husker fans know, the 500-mile radius is important, so places like Kansas City and St. Louis are two areas where Rhule wants Nebraska to have a major presence in.

But then Rhule dove in deeper.

"Going up to Chicago, battling for guys in Chicago. Then it's Nebraska up through the Dakotas," Rhule said.

When Rhule was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, he visited programs like North Dakota State and Northern Iowa. He noticed the strong quality of offensive and defensive linemen. He just happened to never go to Nebraska.

"I was like, why are all the best linemen coming out of these FCS schools and they're not coming out of here," said Rhule, who has since made states like North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana more of a priority than in the past.

Rhule also mentioned Nebraska's success in the Denver area. And of course, the four big ones that Huskers fans already know — Texas, Florida, Georgia and California.

With the Big Ten now being expanded to 18 teams and programs like USC and UCLA now members of the conference, California has risen in Nebraska's recruiting priority, too.

"It's a quick flight to Nebraska, it's not too far. Your NIL goes a little farther here than it does in California because of taxes," Rhule said of California. "If you want to leave the state, it's a good place to come. And then you'll probably have a chance to come back and play a game in your home state."

There has been so much change these days in recruiting, and Rhule is trying to keep up and adapt the best he can. He called this year's portal experience "unlike anything I've ever been a part of."

In some ways, Rhule said he enjoyed the process. He would get to the office early and grind through film of transfer portal candidates, seeing if they would fit the program both on and off the field.

But at the end of the day, Rhule is trying to build Nebraska's program. Part of his plan includes always taking high school recruits and having them be the foundation.

"I would still like to bring in 15 high school guys a year," Rhule said. "I would still like to be 65-70 percent high school. It's just gotta be the right guys."

And there's always going to be a mix of what Rhule is looking for in this new 105-man roster era that will begin this summer. Of course Rhule will go after the elite recruits in the country, the 5-star guys you see at places like Ohio State and Texas and Georgia. But he also wants to give scholarships to the guys he grew to love and appreciate way back at Temple, the place that helped mold who he is as a coach — the "trait" recruits who have tools, but need to be taught how to be football players.

In other words, the Jeremiah Charles types.

"The guys who came in for me there that were big and fast and could run that just needed to develop. They're the new walk-on," Rhule said of those Temple-ish recruits. "They're the guys who show up and, if they're willing to stay for three years, they might develop into really good players."

As expected, Dylan Raiola had his ups and downs as a true freshman quarterback in the Big Ten. But at the end of the day, the Huskers played in a bowl game in 2024 for the first time since 2016 with him at the helm.

The right kind of progress was made at Nebraska in 2024.

The way Rhule sees it, the arrow is pointing up for the young signal caller. But like every quarterback, he needs to keep working, keep improving, so he can do his part in helping Nebraska take that next step.

What's Raiola's role in Nebraska taking the next step? Mastering offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen's offense is a big one, Rhule said.

"For us, it's him doing that while at the same time becoming dominant in the little things," Rhule said. "His weight — making sure he's a guy who can extend plays, making sure he's a guy who's nimble, making sure he's a guy who can run. He's a much different quarterback at 225 (pounds) than he will be at 245. So him buying into that — he comes in every morning and does cardio before he throws, so he understands he's a big man and wants to keep his movement skills."

Rhule said, at this time last year, Raiola was a new face just trying to win the job. Now, in year two, he's become more of a leader and gets the receivers together to throw routes and do the extra things needed when the coaches aren't around.

"Leading my example, but by also demanding the guys come be there with him," Rhule said.

As mentioned earlier, times are changing. College football does not look like it once did, and it continues to get further and further away from what everyone grew up with, which can understandably be hard for many to accept and follow.

Part of that change includes major programs not holding televised spring games. Nebraska won't have one, and neither will Texas, USC, Florida State and Missouri.

Rhule understands how that would upset folks, but in a constantly-evolving sport, the coach is doing what he thinks is best to protect his roster and program so it has the best chance to win football games in the fall.

"Our game last year was televised, a ton of people watched it. And then on Monday, it was, 'Hey, coach, I got a call from so-and-so,'" Rhule said. "You think about the risk-reward when we're paying players already, and with the portal, I just don't know if I want to showcase for people what's out there. Plus, two new coordinators, why let them see it?"

Instead of a spring game, Nebraska will do something like the NFL's Pro Bowl.

"We'll go out there and have 7-on-7 competitions, we'll probably bring back some former players, we'll do some skills challenges," Rhule said. "We'll do all those things because I do want all those kids across the state of Nebraska, who maybe can't get to a game, to be able to come sit in Memorial Stadium and watch their players."

Rhule said what he did like about the Pro Bowl competitions is everyone got to see the players' faces. No helmets. You got to see them as people with unique personalities.

"The day we get contracts, the day we get some rules, I'll back off," said Rhule. "But I saw it firsthand last year how it put us at risk, and I'm not willing to do that. We want to keep as many guys as we can for the fall."

Since Rhule has been around and is on his fourth job after being fired in the NFL, he feels he can let loose every once in a while when it comes to his own opinion.

And there was plenty of opinion when it came to scheduling power opponents in the non-conference slate, like, say, Tennessee. Rhule doesn't see the benefit of those games,not anymore that is.

Not when the ultimate goal is to win a national championship. Not when that goal means you must qualify for the College Football Playoff.

"Why would you ever play one of those games?" Rhule said. "...Why in the world would a Big Ten team who's already playing nine conference games, why would you ever play one of those games?"

Rhule said there are some SEC teams who last year only played three away games at another team's stadium. That's not the case in the Big Ten, and definitely not the case at Nebraska.

Again, Rhule is looking out for his team and doing what he thinks is right in order to help Nebraska get to the CFP.

"We're in a league where some years you have five home Big Ten games, some years you have five road — you have go on the road five times in the Big Ten with no Florida-Georgia at a neutral site," Rhule said. "They (selection committee) proved to us this year when they did all the seeding and all that stuff, that early-season wins doesn't mean a thing. That, really, at the end of the day, what you looked like in the last month of the season. That's what it all proved to us.

"And I say what it looks like, it's really how good your offense is. If you're scoring points and blowing people out late in the year, you're going to make it into the playoff."

Now with the expanded Big Ten, Rhule said Nebraska already has marquee games built into the schedule. They played USC and UCLA. They'll play Washington and Oregon. There will be no shortage of games that get fans excited about.

"We've already added in those big games," Rhule said. "So I don't see much cause for it. ...I don't know what the point is, in terms of if you're a Big Ten team getting to the playoff."

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