Nebraska Football: Setting Expectations for Matt Rhule's First Three Years

Fresh off the rounding out of Matt Rhule's first Nebraska football staff, those very coaches continue working tirelessly on signing impact transfers and recruits to a rapidly changing roster. As a result, excitement brews in the Cornhusker State. That said, if there's one thing Big Red fans are extraordinarily good at, it's raising sky-high expectations only to have them dashed expertly in Sisyphean fashion.

Related: 5 Easily Kept 2023 New Year's Resolutions for the Cornhuskers

Despite this, hope is quickly flooding back thanks to the changes in Lincoln. But let's pause the extreme hype for a moment and examine what legitimately may be for the first few years of Nebraska's own Rhule Era.

We can build these metrics by combining the information we have with the resources available.

As a college head coach, Rhule has carried out immediate hard resets. The roster, culture, all of it got torn down to the soil itself. There was no foundation left, nor could there be. Not for these revival projects. Temple wanted more than the middling successes of Al Golden and Steve Addazio while Baylor wanted the nation to see a college football program, not a den of sexual assault enablers.

Because of those overhauls, the Owls saw a 2-10 record in 2013 while the Bears won a single game of their 2017 campaign.

Then we saw a respectable rebound as both teams became bowl eligible, followed by the inevitable fruits of Rhule's labors. Temple and Baylor followed up with six and seven-win years, respectively. The Owls boasted back-to-back 10-win seasons as AAC champions while the Bears catapulted from a win over Vanderbilt in the 2018 Texas Bowl to a Big 12 championship and Sugar Bowl appearance.

Now, we get to resources and see a mammoth gap. Nebraska may not have had success for a hot minute, but the war chest overflows thanks to boosters of all sizes and being in one of the nation's richest conferences. The final – and crucial – element to this rebuild is Rhule and his staff being part of A Brand.

"(We said) if we ever get a logo on our chest that speaks for itself, it could get ugly," Rhule said during last year's Early National Signing Day press conference. "That’s how we feel. We feel like when we walk out there and we're wearing this (the scarlet N), they know what it means."

The Big Red is certainly acting like it has weight to throw around, even if they need to put on a few pounds courtesy of less dusty hardware.

247Sports' composite index currently ranks Nebraska's transition recruiting class 25th nationally with a transfer class ranked 26th. It wouldn't be a shock to see the Huskers crack the top 20 in both come February.

Additions such as Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims, Arizona State center Ben Scott, Virginia wide receiver Billy Kemp, and Georgia outside linebacker/edge MJ Sherman add immediate infusions of talent to the current depth chart, all probable starters. And the Big Red's not done.

While the Huskers have plenty of challenges on the 2023 schedule, such as defending Big Ten champion Michigan visiting Lincoln and Luke Fickell's Wisconsin Badgers welcoming them to Camp Randall, they still play in the Big Ten West. For now, anyway.

Thanks to a division in a constant state of flux and navigable out of conference schedule, six wins isn't a stretch. And if Nebraska becomes bowl eligible, you'd best believe that some bowl game will scramble for the dollars of a fan base starved for a post-Black Friday date.

Next season's (2024) waters are muddier considering, as of this writing, we don't know the fate of Big Ten football divisions or schedule when USC and UCLA join. However, there's more smoke surrounding the division-less model, so we'll assume that eventuality.

In a 16-team battle royale for two spots in the conference championship game, Michigan and Ohio State have the obvious inside track. Continuing with Rhule's success model, seeing Nebraska slug it out with former Big Ten West foes to jockey for a finish within the conference's top six looks probable. And again, the Huskers would be bowl-bound.

True to form, 2025 is ripe for "Is Nebraska Back?" covers of preseason publications going from regional to national. With the Huskers immersed in Rhule's development, a shot at the Big Ten Championship Game shouldn't be ruled out with an occasional favorable ball bounce. Regardless, a regular season finish that places Nebraska in the Big Ten's top trifecta could see them eligible for a now-expanded playoff appearance.

On a college football timeline where money talks louder than ever (at least in the light of day), the 2025 College Football Playoff wants Matt Rhule and the Huskers to be part of the festivities. Better yet is the Big Red hosting a game either in Lincoln or at a nearby neutral site with ample seats. Think Arrowhead Stadium.

Certainly, past performance doesn't always project future results, but Rhule has more tools available to him at this level than ever before. And, to be fair, when checks for $70 million-plus get written, expecting an effort worthy of that price tag is nothing but realistic.

— Written by Brandon Cavanaugh, part of the Athlon Contributor Network. Be sure to follow him on Twitter (@Bcav402). To contact him, click here.