Rhule Stresses Importance of Preparation, Confidence

Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule met with members of the media following Thursday morning's spring practice. The practice was Nebraska's ninth of 15 during spring ball.
 
Heading into an off weekend, Rhule stressed the importance of intentionality in preparation. 
 
"We believe in two types of practice. We believe in deliberate practice and deep practice," he said. "If you can't hit a driver do you go to the golf course and practice putting? No. You work on the things you need to work on. We want guys to be very intentional; very intentional about what they're working on, very intentional about being in the moment. We don't want to waste their time.
 
"You are what you produce. So, I just want the guys to understand. They own the way they practice. I own the way the way that I prepare. I own the result."
 
Rhule also talked about learning about individual jobs and preparation is an emphasis this spring. 
 
"You can't figure out how to do your job until you know what your job is," he said. "We have a lot of guys still at that level one, trying to learn what it is. We can make excuses for them but we're just trying to change expectation levels of our guys. We're not here to try hard. We're not here to lose but thank the fans. We're here to win. Winning happens now, it doesn't happen in the fall."
 
When discussing last Saturday's scrimmage, Rhule praised the quarterback group. 
 
"I thought the quarterbacks, that was best they've played, the absolute best they've played," he said. "I think they needed that. A lot of things for us are just a little bit off, timing wise. What I love about our group is they're not making excuses. You're used to throwing this route with this guy, then all of the sudden this guy's in. You have to figure it out. I thought they played well in the scrimmage."
 
Rhule also talked about the ebb and flow of the offense being better one day and the defense being better the next.
 
"Today was a much better day probably for the defense than the offense. The defense was significantly better today," he said. "I'd like to hopefully keep volleying it back and forth as opposed to one side being more dominant than the other."
 
According to Rhule, one reason the offense has had success has been the play of the offensive line.
 
"That offensive line as talented one as I've ever been around in college football, in terms of as a head coach, but are they going to believe it? Are they going to put it together?" he said. "The narrative is 'the o-line's terrible', 'the o-line's terrible'. They hear that a lot, so I think all those guys on the offensive line just have to play with great confidence."
 
Rhule stressed the importance of this confidence for all players. 
 
"To me, confidence comes from elite preparation," he said. "That's why we go ones-on-ones every day. We don't go ones-on-twos, ones-on-threes. We go ones-on-ones, so that they all just keep saying we're getting better because iron sharpens iron.
 
"We have the coaches we have, we have the players we have. A lot of it will come down to confidence. A lot will come down to at what point do they believe they can really win."
 
The Huskers will continue their spring practice on Tuesday. The annual Red-White Spring Game presented by FNBO is set for April 22, at 1 p.m. (CT). Tickets for the Spring Game can be purchased on Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8-BIG RED.