You know about Matt Rhule’s third-year charm, right? The one where he does a full 180? Well, imagine this: You’ve spent two grueling years rebuilding a program that had lost its shine. You’ve dealt with setbacks, skepticism, and seasons full of question marks. But now it’s the year 3—a number that means something if your name is Matt Rhule. Because when it comes to rebuilding football programs, year 3 is his sweet spot. But why?

From Temple to Baylor, he raised the programs from the bottom of the pit to 10+ winning streaks, all within three years. But he is far from being done yet. Rhule hit the gravel at Lincoln in November 2022, determined to flip the Huskers’ script. Rhule concluded last season with a 7-6 record and a bowl appearance. A sight that the Husker fans hadn’t seen for a few years. Now, heading to the upcoming season, he is betting big—$1.2 million big—on his newest offensive coordinator, Dana Holgorsen.

“I think we’re going to have one of the best offenses for many reasons,” Matt Rhule said in an interview with NBC Sports’ Nicole Auerbach. “We have good players. We talk a lot about Dylan, but we’ve got explosive wideouts. We got great backs. We have a plethora of tight ends, and we have a powerful, physical offensive line.” So, Rhule’s got all the chess pieces aligned. So, what’s missing? Nothing, he wanted Dana, and he got Dana at the Memorial Stadium—onboarding him with a two-year contract at $1.2 million.

“What I needed was, you know, someone like Dana that can pull all that together; He’s a grinder; He works at it. He demands execution.” I mean, you could see the confidence Rhule has in Dana. Though Holgorsen was hired in November to serve as the offensive coordinator for the final four games, he made significant strides. The head coach further says that he (Matt) is more of a defensive coach. And Dana’s offensive playbook has the perfect ingredients needed at Lincoln.

But not just the HC, Dana’s got the players’ confidence as well. Rhule recalls one incident when they were playing Wisconsin last year. A crucial do-or-die game for their bowl finish. “We had a lead, and I probably would run the ball five straight times, and he calls a pass, and I’m almost having a heart attack on the sideline. But it worked. And it worked because the players feed off of his confidence, and the confidence comes from attention to detail.” So, there it is. Why Rhule is so confident about Dana heading to the 2025 season. Now, coming on to what makes Matt Rhule’s three-year charm such a success? Is it just mere luck, or is it Matt Rhule’s genius?

How Matt Rhule engineers his success with the three-year charm

Now, Baylor and Temple’s success is what’s keeping the Cornhuskers on the edge of their seat. They have been waiting patiently for the last two years, their faith intact in Rhule, even amid the countless question marks and the 7-6 record. They kept their faith and saw to Matt Rhule’s promise of the third year being the game-changer. But it’s no luck. There’s a process to the madness, one that sees to the loyalty to the program.

“You’ve had a lot of success in your past in year three at places that you’ve coached. What is it about that jump or having set a foundation for two years that makes you so confident about what’s about to come for Nebraska?” Nicole Auerbach posed the question.

“I think all the jobs we took, we were kind of taking over a place that was struggling. You know, we took over Temple coming off like a 4-7-year; We took over Baylor coming off of a terrible scandal,” Rhule said. So, how was the situation at Nebraska, and what kind of engineering did Matt Rhule employ to set the gear?

“We came into, you know, Nebraska, which hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2016. So, the first thing is, you know, we just had to improve the team.” But there’s another ingredient to the success sauce. The second thing is “what we do is hard,” Matt Rhule added. “Like, we believe in work. We believe in practice. We believe in doing hard things.”

There it is; he laid out his third-year charm rule. The takeaway? Practice, consistency, and loyalty to the program. “The first year we kind of teach it. And the second year, there’s still a little pushback. And then finally by the third year, if they’re still with us, like they’ve bought into it. They own it. It’s their thing.” So, with the ‘Dear Old Nebraska You,’ the Huskers hold their breath for when the 26-year-old championship trophy comes back home.