Matt Rhule Says Nebraska Will Likely Cancel Their Spring Game So Other Coaches Don't Watch And Steal His Good Players

Well this kinda fucking sucks? For the places like Lincoln, Nebraska that revolve not just their calendars but their entire lives around the college football team, the Spring game is not just a time for the coaches to see their new players compete with a little more juice and purpose than in practice, it's also an opportunity for a fan base to lube up and enjoy their favorite pastime in the midst of the longest 8 months of their lives: the offseason. Coming from a similar boat in Columbus, Ohio....I fucking love the spring game. Tailgate it every year (except for this year when I was in Chicago and tried to go to the "Ohio State Bar" to find out they would't even put the audio on the game because it wasn't that important? WRONG). So I genuinely feel bad for the Huskers fans here. Spring Games rock and this sucks. 

But just because it sucks doesn't mean Matt Rhule is not wrong. In fact, I'd say he's probably right. What's the point of hosting + televising a Spring Game in the middle of this Wild Wild West of a transfer portal and NIL world when other schools are then able to poach your dudes? I get what he's saying. Let's state the obvious: Nebraska is not at the top of the College Football World. They're very much in the middle. Once great brand but if their dudes are good enough to go to Alabama and Ohio State and Georgia, they'll want to. On the other hand if they have dudes that want to play and appear that they aren't going to in the Fall, they'll want to go find somewhere that their services will be used. And one great gauge to see your usage is how much you play in the Spring Game. Now obviously it's oftentimes more of a show than an actual game, but the fact remains: Spring Games show who is running with the 1s, who plays with the 2s, and who is running around at the end when everyone else is joking around on the sideline or back at the bars instead of in the stands. So avoiding a Spring Game that could showcase all of those things to other schools that flat out break rules and contact both happy and unhappy players these days.....I see why Rhule would do it. I just hope other schools don't follow suit.....

**And while you can find other times to do things like this, another casualty of canceling a Spring Game means great opportunities for moments like these, that oftentimes happen in a lesser stakes Spring Game in front of a home crowd, could go by the wayside too...

The whole thing stinks. But I do get the point Rhule is making.