Matt Rhule is loving low-key, early spring camp: 'Float under the radar'
Nebraska's Danny Odem III (16) and Jeremiah Charles (25) run a drill during a football practice at the Hawks Championship Center in Lincoln on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
LINCOLN — Matt Rhule had a three-word answer for Nebraska football's progress and process through nearly three weeks of offseason camp.Â
"Spring's been great," Rhule said.Â
Rhule noted that coach Fred Hoiberg and the Nebraska men's basketball team has been "crushing it" this season. Ditto for NU wrestling. That's made for a "quiet" camp for Nebraska football, although there were still 25 media members at camp Wednesday. Â
"Just kind of float under the radar, just get better at football," Rhule said. "It's really what I wanted from our guys, an industrious, show-up-every-day (camp). We started earlier. I don't know if I'll ever go back. I've loved starting earlier."
NU began its camp earlier than any team in the Big Ten back in February.Â
"A lot of these guys, football's their love, they want to do it," Rhule said. "Getting them into football has been really good. I think we're getting better and better."Â
Defensive backs coach Addison Williams has seen the quiet spring have a positive effect on the team.Â
"As much as we get these guys to try and block out the outside noise, they're all human, and they see the different things," Williams said. "With it being more quiet, it's less for them to look at and more for them to just lock in and focus on the task at hand."Â
In Saturday's first scrimmage, the offense was slightly ahead of the defense, Rhule said, and did so with just "12-and-a-half" offensive linemen, since Paul Mubenga could only take half of the snaps during camp. The defense was a little ahead of the offense, Rhule said, on Tuesday.Â
On Thursday night, the Huskers will go through a rigorous practice full of situational football, including red zone series. After that, NU will have what Rhule calls a "bye week" that coincides with spring break. When the team returns, it'll have four practices, followed by the spring game, that simulates a game week.Â
Rhule compared NU's spring camp structure to what NU will go through when it plays at Oregon, has a bye week, then returns to play at Washington.
More quick notes:
»Elijah Pritchett has grown, Rhule said, into a leader inside the offensive line room who pairs well with the "alpha," center Justin Evans. Pritchett made a wise decision to return for another year, Rhule said, and will be rewarded with a lucrative NFL contract down the road.Â
»Quarterback Anthony Colandrea is "confident" without being cocky and has had a strong spring camp.
»Rhule said he appreciates the transparency and innovation that new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich for focusing on what's "the best way" to stop an offense and maximize the players on hand.Â
Aurich is still learning, Rhule quipped, how to be circumspect in a media market that reports every last detail about players, like some of the defensive linemen in the "Cheetah" package. Aurich is the kind of coach Rhule would have wanted to play for.Â
"Rob’s an open book," Rhule said. "I love being around him. There’s no agendas. He calls it like he sees it."
»Owen Chambliss has practiced through a toe injury is going to be "really good," Rhule said. Freshman cornerback Danny Odem is 198 pounds, which Rhule said is "big for a freshman," and is competing to play.Â
"He's certainly in the mix," Rhule said.Â
»Wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts had praise for freshmen receivers Larry Miles and Nalin Scott. Miles, a high-volume player from Orlando, got the nickname "Disney World" from Shorts early in camp. After stacking some good blocking sessions in camp, Miles requested the nickname be removed.Â
Take a look at photos from a Nebraska football practice on March 10, 2026
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