Matt Rhule praises Nebraska's NIL investment, explains importance of spending 'CFP money'

As he gets ready for Year 4 at Nebraska, Matt Rhule isn’t shying away from the expectations in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers are coming off back-to-back bowl game appearances after ending their postseason drought.

In the process, Rhule said the school has also made the “most investment we’ve had” in the football program. As Nebraska looks to compete both in the Big Ten and on the national stage, he acknowledged how important that is, especially as other programs in the conference also put resources into the roster.

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Since his arrival in 2023, Rhule watched Nebraska’s NIL investment improve. But teams across the country have also been aggressive while getting back to the national stage. He said that’s not a coincidence, though.

“When we got here, it was certainly behind,” Rhule said of Nebraska’s investment on Next Up with Adam Breneman. “Some great people. The Peed family opened up a collective, 1890, and have worked to get us to where we want to be.

“But as we’re doing that, other people are being aggressive, too. And you can see the impact. Miami goes 15 or so years without a 10-win season – I think maybe one from whatever was a 2004. And they invest heavily in NIL and they’ve had back-to-back double-digit win seasons. The University of 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. So to your point, if you want to play at that level – if you want to play at the CFP level – you have to invest CFP money.”

When he took the Nebraska job, Rhule recalled conversations with former athletics director Trev Alberts about where college athletics was heading. At the time, the House v. NCAA lawsuit was still going through the process. The suit, of course, resulted in the landmark settlement which ushered in the rev-share era in college athletics.

At the same time, Nebraska did not have any athletics-related debt during the 2022 fiscal year. That, Rhule said, was also important to ensure there were resources available as the arms race in college football picked up steam. Of course, others in the Big Ten were also starting to ramp up their own investments.

“We looked at the University of Nebraska and our fan base, we looked at, at the time, we were the only Big Ten school with no debt,” Rhule said. “[Alberts] was like, ‘Matt, there’s gonna come a time when we can really capitalize on this.’ So I’m excited for these next years where we we have resources coming in.

“At the same time, as we invest more, so does the Ohio States, the Indianas, the Michigans. We have to continue to chase that. We have to continue to chase the ways in which we can retain our best players and get the best players here.”

Matt Rhule: ‘We have the ability to be at the top level’

As Nebraska gets ready for the 2026 season, Matt Rhule said conversations continued with current athletics director Troy Dannen and university president Jeff Gold about investing in the roster. He also issued a call to action for local businesses to get involved by signing Huskers athletes to NIL deals. In fact, Rhule’s wife runs a hair business in Lincoln and has partnered with multiple Nebraska female athletes.

“When we went through this year, Troy Dannen, our AD, really made a commitment, along with Jeff Gold, to [say], ‘Hey, let’s invest the resources to get Nebraska to that level,'” Rhule said. “But I’ll say this, the market continues to move. Part of my job, that was not my job in other places, is to continually go outside and find ways to gain resources.

“And I think that’s what’s really cool about Nebraska is, Jacory Barney’s one of the best punt returners in the Big Ten, if not the country. People should want him to represent their business. … My wife has a business here in town, a hair business. She has NIL deals with female athletes not to support me, but because they move the needle. We have the ability to be at the top level, and we’re chasing that right now.”