New Nebraska coach Matt Rhule wants to win now, but he promises to take no shortcuts

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Make no mistake, Matt Rhule wants to win and win often in his first season at Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers’ new coach also understands where the team sits in 2023, and he’s taken the program down to the studs with the hope of building it back into the respected national brand it was a generation ago.

“When I think about Nebraska, I just think about that helmet,” Rhule said of the Huskers’ classic white and red headgear. “It’s iconic to me, and it is across college football.”

Rhule said Nebraska — winners of five national championships but none since 1997 — should be in the national discussion year in and year out, and for the right reasons. Talk about Nebraska in recent years has centered on coach Scott Frost’s spectacular failure over four-plus seasons. The Huskers are coming off six straight losing seasons with no bowl appearances. There’s been no Top 25 ranking since 2019, 10 seasons without an appearance in a conference championship game and no league title since 1999.