LINCOLN, Neb. — Coach Matt Rhule spent the first 10 minutes of his pre-spring football practice news conference Monday giving a pep talk to a Nebraska fan base reeling from last week’s surprise departure of athletic director Trev Alberts.
Rhule has been at the school only 16 months, watching university president Ted Carter leave for the same position at Ohio State and Alberts take off for the AD job at Texas A&M.
Rhule is entering his second year of an eight-year, $74 million contract after going 5-7 in his first season. He said he was surprised and disappointed the two men who brought him to Nebraska are gone so soon.
But Rhule delivered an upbeat monologue invoking Hall of Fame football coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne and sprinkling in names of top players on the men’s and women’s basketball teams headed to the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m here, and I’m all in, and Julie’s all in,” Rhule said, referring to his wife. “I loved Ted Carter and I loved Trev and I came because of them. But I came to be at the University of Nebraska, and I’ve loved the people I’ve met, and we’re not going anywhere unless you guys kick us out.”
Nebraska will be hiring its fourth athletic director since 2013, and the search is being led by an interim…
