Matt Rhule already made one program-changing decision at Nebraska

Matt Rhule, Nebraska Cornhuskers. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
Matt Rhule, Nebraska Cornhuskers. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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Matt Rhule wants his Nebraska football team to play on natural grass because it is much safer.

What if I told you both Jim Harbaugh and Matt Rhule were most distinguished Big Ten grass men?

Together, they’d make one helluva partnership. Rhule would grow it and Harbaugh would cut it. Keep in mind that Rhule played for noted Big Ten grass man Joe Paterno at Penn State back in the day. Something about letting the grass doing the talking to help slow down the pace of what is already a slower-paced brand of football in Big Ten Country would make Tony Elliott is so jealous…

As FanSided‘s self-proclaimed playing surface expert, I like the fact that Rhule likes the fact that playing on natural grass is probably the preferable way to play some college football anyhow.

This just goes to show that his predecessor Scott Frost was beyond clueless about everything.

Matt Rhule is all about the grass man as the Big Ten West’s new grass man!

A lot has gone wrong for Nebraska football since I hit puberty. Perhaps kicking noted Tom Osborne disciple Frank Solich to the curb was a bad idea? What if I told you his favorite Ohio coordinator’s son would become the freaking Geauxt, dude?! Joe Burrow would have been the best thing to happen to Nebraska football since Tommie Frazier was plowing over dudes running that wishbone.

Unfortunately, we are dealing with the harsh reality that Nebraska football may never get back to what it once was. As it turns out, bailing on the Big 12 absolutely ruined their recruiting plans of investing heavily in Texas. The good news is Rhule and his staff can recruit California much easier now with USC and UCLA coming aboard next year. Of course, you can’t win if your field beats you.

Fate would have it, the other program many college football fans doubted would ever get back to esteemed national relevance is doing that over at Tennessee. The Vols punting on Phillip Fulmer wrecked their national recruiting plans before Lane Kiffin set them on fire prior to Butch Jones adding gasoline to them, one painfully redundant cliche at a time. Then, the Vols fixed their field…

Not to say Nebraska needs to run a gimmicky Air Raid offense that in no way translates to the NFL, but Rhule isn’t stupid. He won a ton of games at Baylor and Temple before that. Who cares if it went to hell in a hand basket when he was coaching the Carolina Panthers? It goes poorly for most coaches in Charlotte not named Ron Rivera anyway, so Rhule was just another dude, man…

Ultimately, pivoting back to natural grass isn’t going to make Nebraska football light years better, but perhaps one or two more games better each season. If you don’t think that’s a big deal, then you don’t understand the importance of bowl game practices. The last time Nebraska played in a bowl game, I wasn’t a full-time employee at FanSided. A lot has changed since way back in 2016…

Whether it is about growing grass or cutting grass, I am all in favor of Big Ten football kicking ass!

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