Coach Matt Rhule’s Blueprint to Build Championship Teams | Ep. 40

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show - Episode 40

Title: Coach Matt Rhule’s Blueprint to Build Championship Teams
Release Date: July 30, 2025
Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In Episode 40 of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve deep into the world of college football with special guest, Coach Matt Rhule. Known for his transformative coaching techniques and ability to build championship-winning teams, Coach Rhule shares insights into his leadership philosophy, team-building strategies, and the cultural shifts he's implementing at Nebraska Athletics. This episode is a must-listen for sports enthusiasts, aspiring coaches, and anyone interested in effective leadership and team dynamics.

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Welcoming Coach Matt Rhule

The episode kicks off with host David (Clay Travis) expressing his admiration for Coach Rhule, highlighting the significant impact Rhule has had on his career and his ability to influence young men positively. At [02:58], David warmly welcomes Rhule to the show:

David: "One of the people that has had the greatest impact on me in my life because of how much he cares, because of how much he's dedicated to what it is he does for living. He really transforms people's lives. And so I... I'd love to welcome my friend, coach Matt Rhule to the show."

Rhule reciprocates the gratitude, emphasizing their mutual respect and friendship.

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Building Championship Teams: Yearly Progression

Rhule outlines his three-year plan for transforming a football program, drawing from his experiences at Temple and Baylor. At [04:38], he discusses the progression from introducing a new system to instilling ownership within the team:

Rhule: "In year one, you're kind of teaching it... The second year, they start to live it out... When they make that decision to buy in, then by year three, it's ours. It's our way."

He emphasizes the importance of transitioning from coach-driven rules to a player-owned culture, fostering an environment where players take responsibility and lead initiatives.

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Leadership and Staff Integration

When discussing the integration of new coordinators and the elevation of team expectations, Rhule highlights the importance of selecting staff who embody urgency, intentionality, and selflessness. At [06:59], he remarks:

Rhule: "I have to model what I want from the people that report to me. I have to have that urgency. I have to leave no stone unturned."

Rhule stresses that leadership starts with himself, setting the tone for the entire organization. By demonstrating discipline and dedication, he inspires his staff to mirror these traits, ensuring a cohesive and committed coaching team.

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Cultivating a Listening Leadership Style

Transitioning from traditional authoritative coaching methods, Rhule discusses his evolution towards a more collaborative and inquisitive leadership style. At [09:50], he shares:

Rhule: "The most powerful words in the English language is the word 'us.' It means that you're part of something... we're always trying to build a team. We're trying to build a place where guys can feel safe to challenge themselves."

He believes that by asking the right questions and genuinely listening to his coaches and players, he uncovers valuable insights that drive the program forward. This approach not only fosters mutual respect but also encourages innovation and adaptability within the team.

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Team Culture and Ownership

Rhule delves into the significance of creating a sense of ownership among players and staff. At [05:54], he states:

Rhule: "I'm looking for ownership. It's no longer coach rules way, it's our way."

This shift from a top-down approach to a more inclusive culture empowers individuals to take initiative and contribute meaningfully to the team's success. Rhule believes that when everyone feels a part of the mission, extraordinary achievements become attainable.

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Handling High Expectations and Pressure

With a challenging schedule ahead, Rhule discusses strategies to manage heightened expectations without succumbing to pressure. At [22:48], he articulates:

Rhule: "We're so outcome-driven, which we should be... Execution is everything. We got to live that way every single day."

He emphasizes focusing on daily excellence rather than being overwhelmed by end goals. By maintaining consistent high standards in practices and everyday activities, the team remains prepared and resilient, ready to face any challenge head-on.

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Building a Familial Team Environment

One of the cornerstones of Rhule’s coaching philosophy is fostering a family-like atmosphere within the team. At [33:29], he explains:

Rhule: "We're always trying to build 'us.' We're always trying to build a team. We're trying to build a place where guys can feel safe to challenge themselves, to put themselves out there."

This environment encourages players to support one another, take collective responsibility, and strive for mutual success. Rhule believes that a strong, unified team can overcome any obstacle, turning individual talents into a powerhouse of collaborative achievement.

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Notable Quotes

• Rhule on Urgency and Discipline ([02:46]):
  "I truly, truly believe, like, for me, as the head coach, I have to have that urgency. I have to leave no stone unturned. I have to have the same discipline in my life that I want them to have."

• Rhule on Listening as Leadership ([09:50]):
  "If I'm asking them, I start with 'why?' Sometimes it illuminates for me, like, oh, my gosh, they're right, I'm wrong, and hey, let's go this path."

• Rhule on Ownership Culture ([05:54]):
  "I'm looking for ownership. It's no longer coach rules way, it's our way."

• Rhule on Daily Excellence ([22:48]):
  "We got to live that way every single day. Everything we do is marked by excellence."

• Rhule on Building 'Us' ([33:29]):
  "We're always trying to build 'us.' We're always trying to build a team. We're trying to build a place where guys can feel safe to challenge themselves, to put themselves out there."

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Conclusion

Coach Matt Rhule's approach to building championship teams is a blend of relentless discipline, empathetic leadership, and fostering a culture of ownership and excellence. His emphasis on listening, collaboration, and creating a familial team environment sets a benchmark for effective coaching. This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show offers valuable lessons not only for those in sports but for anyone striving to lead and inspire teams toward collective success. Rhule's strategies underscore the importance of leadership that empowers, listens, and cultivates a sense of belonging, proving that behind every great team is a great leader.

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Final Thoughts

Coach Rhule’s insights resonate beyond the football field, offering a blueprint for leadership and team-building applicable in various domains. By prioritizing communication, ownership, and daily excellence, Rhule illustrates how to transform potential into unparalleled success. As Nebraska Athletics continues its ascent under his guidance, the principles discussed in this episode serve as a testament to the power of intentional and compassionate leadership.

Transcript

[Host]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[David]

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[Host]

I truly, truly believe, like, for me, for me as the head coach, like, I have to have that urgency. I have to leave no stone unturned. I have to have the same discipline in my life that I want them to have.

[David]

All right, everybody. It's not often that you get to bring on a person that's not only a friend, but somebody that you admire in a very significant way. Now, over my career, I've. I've been exposed to so many different coaches and instructors and. And people that really spend a lot of time influencing other people, in particular, young men. And one of the people that has had the greatest impact on me in my life because of how much he cares, because of how much he's dedicated to what it is he does for living. He really transforms people's lives. And so I. Without further ado, I'd love to welcome my friend, coach Matt Rule to the show. Thank you, Matt, for coming on.

[Host]

No, thank you, brother. And for what? I think you know this, but the. The feeling is beyond, beyond mutual in terms of how I feel about you. So thanks for having me here.

[David]

Absolutely. Let's get right in. I know you're coming off Big Ten press week and doing five gazillion interviews about specifics and, you know, what's coming up in the season. So I thought we'd just get started with, you know, I mean, you go to. Through a week like that, and obviously everybody wants you to give the details of your expectation of performance, what you think is going to be good or bad, what. How do you look at the season and terms of. Not verse wins or losses, but in terms of your players and what you want your players to really lean into this year in terms of their development and their cohesion as a team.

[Host]

Well, I mean, it's year three for us, you know, so, you know, year one, you come in, you know, the guys don't even know what to expect. You know, the way we do things is. Is different, you know, maybe than what they had done before. It's. It's hard. And so the first year, you're kind of teaching it. You know, what you want them to sort of learn the process that. That second year, they start to live it out. You know, they. They kind of know what to do now. They have to make a decision like, am I gonna. Am I gonna do it? Am I not gonna do it? You know, sometimes you're. You're working harder than you ever have in your life, and you're getting some results, but not what you wanted. And so there's, there's kind of almost like a decision that has to be made by everybody. And, and when they make that decision, if they, if they decide to buy in, then, then you're three here for us, I mean, I'm looking for ownership. I'm looking for guys that, like, it's no longer coach rules way, it's our way, you know, and we reported today. It's like I told our coaches, like, I don't, I want you to walk in this building every day as a coach and be like, I'm so grateful to be here. I love the food, I love, I love the gear, I love the clothing. I don't want you to complain like, this is ours, you know, and I think when you have ownership, anything's possible. You know, they're gonna, they're gonna take it and run with it. And that's why. Or, you know, my other college stops, we always, you know, played for a championship in year three because it was no longer me, it was them.

[David]

And that's one of my favorite components about your past is, you know, you look at what you were able to do at Temple in that three year turnaround and then at Baylor. Probably my favorite stories that you talk about was when you went over to the Carolina Panthers and how you learned. You really understand, hey, that wasn't the right job for me. And I learned a tremendous amount. You have two essentially, new head coach, you know, head, new defensive coordinator, and then obviously Dan Dana came in at the end of last season. How do you get them to come in and recognize, hey, this is year three, this is the year that the expectations have rise not only for our players because they're bought in. How do you get them to speed up and get on, on par? I mean, they're both incredible professionals. They have wonderful backgrounds, whether in the NFL or, or when they were at Houston or West Virginia. So how do you look to them and what do you say to them about their buy in?

[Host]

You know, I think it's a great question. I think it's, it's really one of the, as you're going through the recruiting, not the recruiting, but the hiring process, I think you're looking at them and saying, like, are they going to have the urgency, are they going to have the intentionality? Are they going to have the selflessness, you know, required to get this thing done? It's not just, you know, hey, what are my stats? It's what does it take to win this game? So I hope the first part is just in the selection of people. But I truly, truly believe, like, for me, for me as, as the head coach, like, I have to model. I have to model what I want from the people, you know, that report to me. And so I have to have that urgency. I have to leave no stone unturned. I have to have the same discipline in my life that I want them to have. So if I have that, then I hope it's pervasive. It starts to catch on to, you know, the coordinators, and then I hope that then it catches on to the staff and everybody and it catches all the way to the players and every single player. It's really hard, in my opinion, to tell people what to do if you're not doing it. And so if I have, if I have that urgency of like, hey, it's time for us to win now, it's time for us to perform, I then can hold, like, I can hold people accountable. You know, I can help them if they need help. I can challenge them when they need challenged, but they can't, I can't allow it. When they turn around to me, they say, like, well, you're not doing X, Y and Z. And so for me, this year, I, I, I've taken, you know, since the end of last season, I've taken tremendous personal ownership over what happens this, this, this season. And as you know, sometimes that means you have to let go. I got to let Dana go do what Dana does, and he's great at it. I have to let John do what he does. I can't hold everything together. I've got to just trust them. But at the same time have a standard. And that standard, you know, we won't, we won't compromise that standard.

[David]

For me, one of the things that I love most is every year there's the game where you give the badass speech and it goes viral on the Internet, or you do some post game interview where you just deliver the right words that generate this familial atmosphere at Nebraska. And you said something during the Big Ten media day that it was like, well, as a head, what do great coaches do? Right? Great coaches listen, great coaches ask questions. Can you describe a little bit more about that in terms of that relationship between your new offensive defensive coordinator? They're coming in, they're implementing the air raid offense. You know, you're looking for that really to beef up your secondary and you know, in the defense, how does that, that mindset of listening and then asking and answering the right questions not only with your players, but your coaches work, too. Can you describe that a little bit more?

[Host]

Yeah, no doubt. And I think that's. That's probably the place of most growth for me, you know, since I was a head coach at temple, you know, 13 years ago, 12 years ago, whatever. It was like, no, just do this, and, no, just do that. And, you know, I think, you know, when you think about people, I think the best thing you can do is ask questions and get them. Especially now, where people don't want to talk, they want to text, right? Like, asking questions and getting people to talk. And even if I know what I want the answer to be or what I believe the answer should be, if I'm asking them, I start with. Always start with, why? Why would we do this? And why do you want to do that? And sometimes it illuminates for me, like, oh, my gosh, they're right, I'm wrong, and, hey, let's go this path. Like, I. I could care less about being right or wrong. I just want to end up afterwards saying, hey, we did the right thing. So I try to ask the right questions, but at the same time, if. If. If that's not the best path that they want to do, and I'm asking the right questions, it's leading them, it's guiding them towards, oh, you know, maybe we should do this over here. And so I have no problem, David. I have no problem sometimes staying like, no, guys, this is what we're doing. I have no problem saying, hey, no, this is the direction we're going to go. And they're loyal. I know they'll always. They'll always buy into that. But I think when they feel a part of it, I think when they feel ownership, too, it's. It's when they feel like they can talk to you, I think it's. It's just a game changer, right? So, you know, great organizations, great teams have great discourse. You know, they challenge each other, they talk about. And that's what I want. And if I'm not willing to listen, then no one's going to ever talk. And so I've had to grow in terms of listening better than also asking the right questions. And when you do that, you get great information. And Dana's been a head coach, so we were in the meeting earlier. We were talking about walkthroughs and the pace and tempo, and I was kind of stuck on what we should do, and I was like, what do you think? And he gave a direct answer, and I said, great. Let's move in that direction. And what it's done for me is things that you should take me. I got to make these eight decisions. That's going to take me all this time to do it. Maybe now it's five, maybe three things like John say, hey, I think we should do this. So being willing to, not so often as leaders, we think we have to have all the answers. No, you just have to end up making the right decision in the end. And so asking people what they would do, getting their buy in, I think it creates a great dynamic and you get the right answer. Usually.

[David]

I, you know, I've always loved the way you, you provide that environment for your, you know, the people that work with you, your coaches and your players. But even goes beyond that, I mean, I, you know, I just think the entire community of Nebraska football, Nebraska athletics, has really evolved since you've been there. You know, with all the new changes that have taken place, all the new facilities and the new, you know, just Nebraska athletics as a, as a whole has just seems like it's on this, this, this ascension towards becoming a more dominant athletic program in a country, you know, do you find that it's really bringing a greater sensation of, of pride to these new players coming in? I know you got a tremendous amount of new players in this year. And do you, do you sense that it's having the impact that you had wanted?

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[Host]

Absolutely. I mean, I think it takes on various forms, right? Like, you know, when we, when we, when we have two guys on our wrestling team, you know, win national championships and we have Jordy Balls, the best softball player in the country. When our men's and women's teams, you know, make it, you know, the postseason, when, when our volleyball team, you, Harper Murray and you know, Andy Jackson and you know, all these great players, Bergen, Riley, they're, they're dominating. You know, you walk, you walk around Campus. And you're like, hey, I'm part of something that's bigger than me. I'm part of an elite athletic department that, you know, we win championships at the highest level. And to your point, we're ascending, we're getting better and better and better. So I want them to feel tremendous pride in that. Then I want them to feel the investment being made, you know, by. By us as a staff, by the athletic department. Like, hey, you're important, man. We're gonna. We're gonna. We're gonna bring you the best facilities. We're gonna bring you the best food. We're go. Best coaches. And then to your point, just like the state. I mean, people all across the state, like, we. We are. We are the NFL team here. Like, we are the. The. The. The show in town. And so there's a lot of people that are counting on us to play well. There's a lot of people that are counting on us. And so that can sometimes feel like pressure, like, oh, man, everyone's counting on. But no, like, I want them to say to themselves, like, man, how lucky am I that I'm at a place where everything I do matters and my performance matters? And so it's not pressure. It's. It's. It's a. It's a. It's a privilege that people care that much about what you do. So, yeah, from where we were to where we are right now, it's. It's. It's light years ahead. And then, you know, we'll just keep taking the same path with getting a little bit better every day. And. And as we do that, though, as you know, the pressure will mount, but we love that pressure. That's why we came to Nebraska, to be a part of that. That's.

[David]

That's my favorite aspect of it. It's like the. The. The ambition of it, right? The ambition of. Of matching the expectations from, you know, all. All the different Heisman winners, you know, the storied pass of Nebraska football. And it's. It's like you have that weight on your shoulders, but now it's. It's. You're almost in a new place. It's. You're independent of it. And I think that's the beautiful aspect of your leadership style and your leadership. I remember when you first got the job, you know, you told me that the AD at the time was like, you know, they're. The two most important people in Nebraska are the governor, the head football coach. And, you know, that's a tremendous. That's a tremendous Burden. But the thing that I've, I've always seen with you, wherever you go, is like, you never look at it as a burden. It's. It goes back to that sensational pride. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, playing in that stadium that's been sold out for, you know, what, 50 plus years. The, the crowd, the people that support Nebraska football? Can you describe that a little bit?

[Host]

Yeah, it's, it's humbling. I mean, it's amazing. It's, you know, it's, it's, it's humbling because, you know, we haven't been really successful since like 2000, you know, at a high, high, high level. Right now. There was some BO. Pelini had some wonderful years. 10, 10 wins, 11 such. I'd be careful how I say that, but really till last year, it's been since 2016 that, till we won a bowl game. Yet the fans come every week. And they come because it's their state, it's their team. Those players are their players. They have tremendous ownership in the program. And last year I remember thanking the fans, like, thanks for coming for all this time, even though it hasn't been at the level that we want, you know, until now. And so. But that makes the game special. The, the traditions here, the white shows when we can do the balloons, the balloons, you know, just, I mean, it's a passionate crowd. And David, they don't just love football, they also know football. Like, I'll go to speak at different places and, you know, I'll get, I'll get questions from people, I'll get questions from men, women, young, old, and they're all smart football questions because they understand the game. They mean they come early, we come out for warm ups and everyone's there. They stay till the end. And so to be able to last year, give them some moments, you know, beating Colorado, which is obviously a bitter rivalry, you know, beating Wisconsin for the first time in 12 years, going, you know, which let us go to a bowl game and seeing the people in the stands, right? Seeing, seeing how excited they were, you know, when it's me, you know, the game's over, I'm thinking about next week. I'm thinking about what do I say in the locker room to get ready for next week. But when you make it about not just you, but other people, when it's, you know, it's when you're having joy for them, it's really pretty special because they, they've shown up all these years and only asking for Nebraska's best In return and to be able to make a step and go to a bowl, win a bowl, it was, it was really, really awesome because they, they gave us a great atmosphere each and every week. That's.

[David]

That's phenomenal. I think, you know, when you play and anytime you're a part of a. Something, that, that's not just transactional, right? I think, you know, that's the, the thing I learned a little bit when you were at Carolina, there's the, you know, that, you know, pro football is a little bit more transactional, right? Within, within college football. It's, it's. It's. There's a legacy involved that you're always up against. You're always trying to cultivate it and, and morph, you know, your own personality to kind of keep lifting it up and taking it to the next level. Well, anybody that takes five seconds and looks at your upcoming season and what your schedule looks like, there is no doubt that you are upping, you know, that, that pressure and upping that, that level of performance. You know, I think that obviously for me and I think everybody else, you know, every question that seemed to kind of press you on, on this season is, you know, centers around September 20, November 1 and November 22 in terms of Michigan, Penn State alma mater, you know, Michigan, usc, and then your alma mater, Penn State. I know you don't look at, at a season in that capacity. You look at one game at a time. But when you set a schedule like that and you pull your, your coaches and your team together, you know, how do you get them to. To one, respect the magnitude of what's in front of them, but also stay focused on, on showing up and doing the work each and every day.

[Host]

Yeah, you're exactly right like that. That, that is the job, right? Because, you know, we're so, obviously we're so outcome driven, which we should be, but, you know, to me, you know, like, okay, well, we want to go. We want to go to cfp. We want to be. Want to big win the Big Ten. We want to win the national championship, but like, shoot, so does everybody else. You know, every, every team in the country says that. So, you know, goals are easy. Execution is everything. And so how do you execute? You come out every single day. And my point to our guys is always, however, whatever the intensity we're going to have for the last game of the season, whether that's the national championship game, a bowl game, a playoff game, or the last game, whatever the last game of the year is, whatever that intensity we're going to play with is, well, then we got to practice that way tomorrow, and we probably will tomorrow. But like 10 days in when you're sore and beat up, get practice that way 10 days from now. And there has to be that same intensity. There has to be that same message about every single day, like, going out there and just being great. Because to me, the wins are fun because they're achievement. It's fun to go out and achieve, but it's just a measure showing your greatness. Like, I want to play good teams so that we can show that we're great, but then I also have a chance to just be great in everything that we do. We can be great in the way we work out in the mornings. We can be great in the way that we meet, the way that we do everything. And really, when I think about my goal, it's. I want to run an elite great. Oh, really? The best college football program in the country. Like, and that's not just on game days. Like, I want that to be every single day. Everything we do is marked by excellence. And so if excellence starts being your running partner, then you got a pretty good chance. If you wait for three or four games and like, okay, let's be great today. Oh, we got the top team in the country. And you're. And you're not living in excellence each and every day. You're not straining, you're not. You're not making yourself miserable each day so that you can say, hey, I did something really hard that it's hard to do something hard later. We've got to live that way every single day. And so, you know, it started last year at the end of last year. And I remember putting up the schedule, David, Like, I was like, hey, look how many teams are like, five and seven, six and six, seven, seven, five like us. Who's, who's gonna, who's gonna, who's gonna be. Who's gonna be pushing themselves? Who's gonna be. Who's gonna embrace hard things? Who's going to have the courage to do things they're afraid to do for the next six months to get to the season? And our guys have done it. So I look forward to those games, but I also look forward to, to everyone that we play because it's a chance for our guys to go out there and show greatness, show excellence, show mastery, show the love they have for each other in the game. And that's, that's, that's what I got into this whole thing for.

[David]

Yeah. And, you know, I think that's always the, the component as a, as a coach that you want, you want to, you want to inspire these people to go up against those giant hurdles, right? You, you know, to look at that as the aspiration. That's the ambition, right? And that's, if I'm not going against Penn State, at Penn State, then why am I even playing this damn game, right? And, and I want it, you know, and for Dylan to go against Drew, like, that's, that's his dream coming true. And so for me, it's just like, wow. I mean, these young people, young kids are always, you're always putting the opportunity in front of them to develop those leadership traits through their, their work ethic, their play, and then really to, to lift other people around them up. Who are some of the, the guys and the young men on your team right now that are really exemplifying and meeting that challenge in, in their development as young leaders.

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[Host]

Yeah, that's a, that's a great. Another great question. But we have, you know, you always have like the guys that like, when I think about leadership, I'm always, there's always the guys that love to get up and give a speech. There's always the guys that like. And that's great, right? I mean, we want those things, but it's convenient sometimes, right? Like, things are going well and hey, I'm going to rally the boys and let's go out there. To me, I'm always looking at, hey, when things are really hard, when things are, you know, the chips are stacked against us, like, who's going to, who's going to lead us then? Like, who's going to lead us in tough, tough, tough times? Who's going to put the team above themselves when need be? And you know, you mentioned Dylan. I think Dylan's done a great job of it. Marquis Buford's a senior for us. Two torn ACLs, all kinds of adversity. But he's one of those rare guys in today's society who he's not afraid to speak up, he's not afraid to talk to people, yet he has great relationships with them. So they know where he's coming from. I think that's really important. We had a young man, Dane, key transfer in from Kentucky, and he's been very verse, I mean, very, very, very accomplished. Played really well in the sec and you know, those guys could come in if they wanted to and be like, well, I do it this way and I do it that way. And just the humility that Dane has had, the presence he's had to come in to lead the group. We have a tremendously talented young group and just come in with that veteran experience and it's something as simple as, like, every day I go down, I do this silly little like sauna, cold plunge challenge thing that I do. And about four o' clock in the afternoons and a couple coaches will come with me and Dane is usually there and next thing I know, I just noticed every, every week he had a couple more recept receivers with them and, you know, walk in the sauna one day there's 14 receivers sitting in the sauna, which I was mad because I couldn't get my normal seat. But I just think there's something to that. Like you can say you're a leader based upon your position or you can say that you're a leader because you're moving people outside of their comfort zone and they're doing things that they normally don't do. And so I see that from Dan. I see him as being one of the guys who's really come in and help transform a position that really needed that leadership. And I'm real grateful for him for that.

[David]

I agree, man. I'm so looking forward to watching that young man play and you know, just, you know, with Dana's new offense and just what could take place, I mean, I, you know, I go back and, you know, anybody that can, can average 563.4 yards per game in an offense is mind blowing to me. And the fact that now you have this, you know, this, this receiver staff that's, that's, that's coming together, these kids that really are buying in. You've got the quarterback in his second year and really maturing. You know, it seems like the things that you always preach, which is the family of the team.

[Host]

Right.

[David]

And that relationship aspect, can you describe kind of that for maybe, you know, younger Coaches, maybe some high school coaches out there that are trying to figure out how to get these kids that, you know, it seems like as I evaluate high school football or, you know, younger football, wherever I go, whether I'm looking at img, you know, or I'm looking at, you know, some teeny little podunk football team in the panhandle in Florida, you know, can you describe why you think it's so important to that, that familial attitude that the family mentality in raising young men as well as young players is so critical to developing great programs?

[Host]

Well, you know, I think the, you know, I think the most powerful one, most powerful words in the English language is the word us. You know, it means that you're part of something. Like, it means you're part of a family or part of a group or, you know, part of. Part of a team that. That. That leads to belonging. I think as humans, we all want to belong. We all want to have. We all want to have a group that we protect, and we know they'll protect us, right? So. So we're trying to always build us. We're always trying to build a team. We're trying to build a place where guys can feel safe, to challenge themselves, to put themselves out there. Because if you're just playing for yourself in crucial moments, like when you could take that chance to go make that play, they could win the game, but the pressure's on. You might not do it. You might be afraid of making a mistake and getting crushed on social media and all the things that people will say, but when you know that you're part of a group and you know that when you fall, they're going to be there to catch you or pick you up when. When you know that, like, hey, it's not about me. It's about. It's about my brothers and the brotherhood that we built, man. Then you're gonna. They're gonna lay it all on the line. And, you know, we live in a day and age now where, you know, people are. You're transferring, moving around. It's kind of like everyone's their own corporation, their own brand, as they say, and. And there's some good things that come along with that, probably, but you'll. You'll never, ever have that sense of, hey, I'm a part of something. That sense of belonging and the safety that comes with that. Yeah, you're missing out. Like, you know, the locker room's the greatest place in the world, man. So we're just always trying to build a great locker room with people who care about each other. And you have to be willing sometimes to walk away from toxic people. Like toxic people kill that. And so if you can walk, you know, if you're willing to do that, you'll make tough decisions. You protect the locker room. They'll come together and then they'll do things that no one thought they could do because they're doing it for each other.

[David]

That's beautiful. Well, Coach, again, man, I can't thank you enough for taking time out today, giving me a little bit of your time. As you know, I'm one of your biggest fans in the world. I just have so much faith in who you are as a leader and a coach, but more importantly as a man and how you influence these young men. So good luck. This season. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get up to the Penn State Nebraska game. I know I'm going to be torn and who to root for. But right now, I might actually lean towards you right now though. Although Pat would kill me if he heard me say that. So God bless you. Thank you so much, coach. Appreciate it.

[Host]

Nah, thank you, my friend. You're the best.

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[David]

Ah, come on.

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[Host]

This thing is ancient.

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