Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule is embracing the pressure as he enters his fourth season with the Cornhuskers, and he's making it clear that the program's financial commitment to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) is no longer an afterthought—it's a necessity.
After snapping a lengthy postseason drought with back-to-back bowl appearances, Rhule says the university has made its "most investment we’ve had" in the football program. But in the cutthroat world of the Big Ten and national college football, he knows that keeping pace requires more than just tradition.
"When we got here, it was certainly behind," Rhule admitted during an appearance on Next Up with Adam Breneman. He credited the Peed family and the 1890 collective for stepping up to help close the gap. But as Nebraska has ramped up its NIL efforts, so have the heavyweights around them—and the results are impossible to ignore.
Rhule pointed to a handful of programs that have turned their fortunes around thanks to aggressive NIL investment. "Miami goes 15 or so years without a 10-win season... They invest heavily in NIL and they’ve had back-to-back double-digit win seasons. Texas has one 10-win season since Mack Brown in 2009. They invest heavily in NIL and now, you see what they’re doing. Texas A&M, one 10-win season since Johnny Manziel... They invested and they’re there last year."
The message from Rhule is clear: if you want to compete at the College Football Playoff level, you have to spend like it. "You have to invest CFP money," he said bluntly.
When Rhule first took the Nebraska job, he and former athletics director Trev Alberts discussed the shifting landscape of college athletics, including the then-ongoing House v. NCAA lawsuit. That case eventually led to the landmark settlement that ushered in the revenue-sharing era. Fortunately for Nebraska, the athletic department carried no athletics-related debt during the 2022 fiscal year—a financial cushion that Rhule says is critical for staying competitive in the new arms race.
As the Cornhuskers gear up for a pivotal season, Rhule's words serve as a rallying cry: investment isn't just about keeping up—it's about catching up and, eventually, breaking through.