Matt Rhule spent Monday talking about football, but one story from the weekend hit much closer to home. Nebraska’s head coach revealed that his oldest daughter was verbally abused by a fan after the Cornhuskers lost again, and he did not soften how he described it.
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“A guy walked up to my 13-year-old daughter and was like, ‘F-U and F your dad.’ I’m not going to keep coaching if it means my kids grow up screwed up,” said Rhule, as reported by Mitch Sherman of The Athletic on X.
“I said to my daughter, ‘If daddy’s gotta retire, if I have to retire because I don’t want you guys growing up in that environment…,’” said Rhule.
His younger daughter, 10, asked him not to quit, and Rhule made clear he is staying put through this slide.
“I’m not leaving,” said Rhule. “I’m not quitting. I’m fighting for those people. For the people who are listening to the game while they’re on a combine. We are going to fight for those people. But please don’t ever question how hard these kids are working or how hard these coaches are working or how hard I’m working.”
The incident came after a rough Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. Washington beat Nebraska 17-10, dropping the Cornhuskers to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten. Chris Lawson’s 25-yard catch-and-run put the Huskies ahead with 1:30 left. Nebraska also turned the ball over three times, and Kyle Cunanan missed a 36-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter that would have made it 10-3.
Washington struggled for much of the game, punting on eight of its first nine possessions and finished with a season-low 267 total yards. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. covered for Elijah Brown early in the fourth quarter and led the 12-play, 81-yard drive that ended with Lawson’s score.
It was Nebraska’s third straight loss, all by a combined 13 points. The Cornhuskers fell 20-17 to Indiana after leading 17-6, then 17-14 to Oregon after leading 14-6. Against Washington, another fourth-quarter lead slipped away. In the postgame presser, Rhule took the blame for the slide.
“I certainly understand how frustrated everyone is that this has happened three games in a row. I could just say I feel it, too. I’m responsible for it. It’s my job,” said Rhule.
His players are rallying around him. Center Justin Evans said the locker room has to block out the noise.
“We have to ignore the outside noise no matter what. We have to keep our head coach up; we have to keep him going,” said Evans.
Nebraska has little time to reset, with Illinois up on Friday night on November 6. Rhule said all he can do is get back to work, and the Cornhuskers will have a chance to answer the doubt in a hurry.