You might have read about Matt Rhule. Yep, the guy who was rumored to be Penn State’s top choice to replace James Franklin as head football coach. In fact, you probably read about him every day from Oct. 12, when Franklin was fired, until Oct. 30, when Rhule’s contract extension at the University of Nebraska was announced.
But this isn’t a story about that topic. Rhule loves his job as head coach for the Cornhuskers, and he’s plenty weary of the media bombardment he faced earlier this fall due to Penn State’s coaching situation. That’s why Matt offered only one rhule of engagement when I requested an interview with him: no discussion of his alma mater’s search for a new coach.
I was good with that, preferring to hear Rhule’s thoughts about Saturday’s Beaver Stadium brawl between Nebraska and Penn State. And I also wanted to know more about how his playing days at State College High School and Penn State have influenced his coaching career.
But this particular conversation wouldn’t be limited to Matt and me. I appreciated the double privilege of talking with the 50-year-old coach and his 76-year-old father, Denny, on the same phone line.
Indeed, Denny has always been a key player in Matt’s football saga. He’s the one who started the family’s sports legacy by playing quarterback at State College High School (he broke his collarbone in the 1965 Iron Kettle game with Bellefonte) and at Lock Haven University. Denny also set the pace for Matt’s spiritual orientation by going to seminary and then doing missionary work in New York City. Then, after 11 years in the metropolis, Denny moved his wife, Gloria, their daughter, Dana, and Matt back to Happy Valley so the kids could attend State High. Today, Denny provides a Bible devotional for Matt’s staff each Tuesday night, and he stands near his son during each Husker game.
So here we go with a golden Rhule conversation. Maybe you’re wondering if I was over-rhuled, but I suspect you’ll enjoy hearing from both Matt and his dad.
How do you feel on the personal level about coming back to State College, Penn State and Beaver Stadium? Will you feel an odd mix of emotions?
Matt: No, because I’ve done it a couple times. I came back as an assistant coach at Temple and again when I was the head coach at Temple. Some of the best memories in my life happened on that campus, in that town and in that stadium. So I’ll be really excited for that. And then I love my team, and so I’m excited to take these guys to a big-time environment and it’ll be just really a fun thing all around.
How about the sentimental side of coming home? Who are the people, places or events that will come to your mind?
Matt: I’ll think about John Chuckran who was a Penn State assistant coach who became a volunteer assistant at State College High School when I was a young player. He really, really impacted me. I’ll think of Ron Pavlechko, my high school football coach. And I’ll think of Steve Guthoff who was offensive line coach, who really, really, made me love football and made me love coaching. I’ll think about my grandfather and grandmother who are no longer living, but just amazing memories with them. I’ll think about some of the teammates I had when I was in school. And I’ll think about the equipment managers at Penn State—Spider Caldwell and Tim Shope, may he rest in peace. And John Thomas, the strength coach when I was at Penn State. The impact he had on me was amazing.
The first person you mentioned was Coach Chuckran. Do you have a story to show what he meant to you?
Matt: I had just moved there (State College) for high school. I didn’t have any friends. I was trying to figure out how to get on the field there, and I just remember him saying to me one time, “Hey, you’re going to be a good player.” And that was 34 or 35 years ago, whatever. But that shows me that what I say to my players is really important—good or bad, it can have an impact. And at my senior banquet at Penn State, I can remember Coach Paterno saying, “Hey, Matt, you’ll be a really good coach someday if you want to be a coach.” And so I think great coaches speak life into people. They challenge you and they push you, but they also encourage you. Coach Paterno gave me that encouragement at my senior banquet and getting to come back as the head coach for Nebraska hopefully justifies what he said.
Do you ever quote Joe Paterno when you’re trying to inspire or instruct your current players?
Matt: Oh, all the time. All the time. I’d say most of my ethos as a coach comes from the things I learned from Coach Paterno. I was never going to be a great college football player. I went to Penn State and walked on simply to learn from Coach Paterno and his staff. I had wanted to be a college football coach since I was five. So yeah, all the time.
What are your favorite quotations from Joe?
Matt: I’ll say this once in a while and guys will look at me like, “Huh?” I’ll say, “This game is going to be a real donnybrook.” That’s how he would refer to a big game, a tough game. And I love saying that.
Denny, I know that you grew up in State College as a Penn State fan during the early Paterno era. What parallels do you see between Penn State football in the 1960s and 70s and the Nebraska program of today?
Denny: I think mostly I see it in the enthusiasm of the fans. There’s not a lot of big cities in Nebraska, and Lincoln reminds me of State College in being kind of isolated. So it’s really a football place where people love to go. I also see in Matt a coach with a lot of the qualities that Joe had. He’s very detailed, very firm and yet at the same time, he’s loved by his players.
In a previous story I mentioned something that you just reiterated, that when you were only five years old you told your dad, “I’m going to go to Penn State and play football and become a coach.” Where did that spark come from?
Matt: I think from my dad first. My dad. I always saw the impact that he had on the young people that he worked with, whether he was coaching boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, baseball, junior high football. Whatever he coached, I would say he was probably those kids’ favorite coach. And then I watched my uncle, Chuck Sponsky, who was the head football coach for Bishop Carroll High School (in Ebensburg) and then much later, his son, Craig Sponsky, who eventually took Bishop Carroll to the state championship game. So I watched the impact that my dad, my uncle and then my cousin had on people’s lives. It’s just been with me since I was young.
So, Denny, your son declared a career choice when he was five years old. Did you take it seriously or was this like a group of 10 little boys and nine of them say they want to be firemen?
Denny: I thought it was just like the fireman thing. I didn’t take it very seriously, but I knew that he loved football and he loved Penn State football. So then he played high school ball, went to Penn State and then paid his dues as an assistant coach at places like Albright College, UCLA and Western Carolina.
Matt, what is your ultimate career goal?
Matt: Just what I’m doing. I mean, at the end of the day, I want the players who play for me when they’re 25, 35, 40 or 50 years old to say that their life was a little bit better because they played for me. I’m in my 13th year of being a head coach now, so I’m seeing guys that I coached having kids, changing jobs and just seeing the good people that they are. So I think I’ll do this for as long as I can do it.
Of course, you are a product of Joe Paterno’s “Grand Experiment,” the idea that college athletes could excel in sports and academics while becoming responsible people. How do you measure your own success as a coach based on that?
Matt: I think you look at it all. You look at the academic component; you look at who they are socially as people. I think the biggest way that the Grand Experiment affected me was not to treat people based upon their talent. You treat people based upon their character and who they are. And so you don’t only love the kids who make plays for you and treat the other ones like dirt. If you have a team full of people, there’s only 11 guys on the field but you might have 120 on the team. If you have a team full of people who feel like they’ve been cared for and poured into and developed, then you’ll have a grateful group. We take that very, very seriously.
I wanted to ask you about your turnaround success—how you took struggling programs at Temple, Baylor and Nebraska and turned them into winners. And I suspect you would have done the same with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers if you had been given enough time…
Matt: I think it’s happenstance that the jobs we’ve taken were all at programs that were down when we took them. So that puts you in a position for a turnaround. And going back to what we said earlier, we try to do things the right way. We try to develop the players. We don’t take quick fixes. It’s really all the things I learned at Penn State: academics, weight room, nutrition. We just try to make sure that we are investing in the players.
When I was at Baylor, my dad said something to me that was powerful. He said, “You’re going to turn around Baylor football one relationship at a time.” So that’s the mentality of investing in players in a day and age where everybody wants to just get rid of their players and go buy new ones. And it’s certainly not just me. I’ve got guys (assistant coaches and other staff members) that have been with me at every stop. We want to be the people who run headfirst into the fire and try to fix things.
Matt, I know there’s a strong thread of faith in your family that goes back several generations at least. How has your faith made a difference in your coaching?
Matt: I think my dad said to me one time and this is what I truly believe, “Coaching is my mission work.” And so I think the Lord gave me the ability to connect with young people and to coach young people. So that leads to my purpose, that I can help them have better lives and impact them both now and eternally. In this job, there’s a lot of pressure and a lot of expectations, but if you don’t have purpose, it’s all hollow and empty. I think that doing this for a much higher calling is really, really, really important.
How do each of you detect a spiritual dimension within the team?
Denny: Matthew…Gloria and I call him Matthew but everyone else calls him Matt…wants to see his players and his staff have an opportunity to grow as men and leave the program a little bit better spiritually. The best thing that I see is players who lead the prayer before they go out onto the field or who are involved in ministries on campus or who serve in the food kitchens in the neighborhoods around Lincoln. I see a lot of that, which is good.
Matt: I think a great example of that would be Luke Lindenmeyer, one of our tight ends. He’s one of the spiritual leaders on the team, and he’s done a great job of helping to unite players. He’s a former walk-on turned scholarship player who actually proposed to his girlfriend after one of our games this year. And I think he plays in a special way because he’s playing without fear, without fear of judgment because he’s playing to honor God. He’s verbalized that, and I think you see him playing with joy and playing really good football.
By the way, did Lindenmeyer’s girlfriend say yes?
Matt: Yes, she did.
Tell me just briefly what it means to have your dad involved in this program. I don’t know of any other major college team where the father of a head coach is actually involved.
Matt: It’s been one of the joys of my career. He was with me at Temple, he was with me at Baylor, he was with me at Carolina and he’s with me here. Dad’s been on the sidelines with me for some great wins, and he was on the sidelines with me in Carolina during really tough times. And also my son Bryant. So when I’m on the field at State College, I’ll have my dad on one side of the sideline, and my son on the other side. To be able to have that is really one of the most joyful parts of it. And if I ever start getting too upset with the officials, Dad usually walks over and gets in my line of sight, so I calm down.
Speaking of family members, I’m sure Julie is a key player in everything you’re doing…
Matt: Yeah, right after I signed my (contract) extension, she came to practice and we were able to tell the guys, “Hey, we love you guys and we’re excited to be here with you guys.” And it was cool to be able to share that with Julie because she does so much, she sacrifices so much and she’s moved so many times.
Denny: In this profession, you need a wife who’s a hard worker and very understanding and patient. And Julie is exactly that person; she’s wonderful.
Matt, do you think your players were surprised that you stayed rather than returning home?
Matt: I don’t know. You’d have to ask them. I have told them from day one how much I love it here (in Lincoln) and how much I love them and this team and what we’re building. So I think a lot of them trusted that I would be here.
As you sit here with the Penn State game right around the corner, how do you feel about the game from purely an athletic standpoint?
Matt: I’m excited about it. Obviously, they played a great game against Indiana. They took one of the top teams in the country down to the wire. They’ve got great players. I think the defensive line was really outstanding. And the quarterback did a great job—he made some big-time throws and the run game got going. So, I mean, they were really clicking.
What do you see on video that you wouldn’t have seen earlier in the season?
Matt: I think every team evolves as the year goes on. I hired Terry Smith out of Gateway High School in Pittsburgh to be my receiver coach at Temple, so I gave him his first college job in my first year as a head coach. So certainly I’m rooting for him, and I think he and the staff had a great game plan (for Indiana), and I thought the players played really hard. He’s a good man in every sense.
But you’re going to go against him with all you’ve got.
Rhule: That’s right.
