Nebraska’s practice shift is a working theory
Matt Rhule’s move away from morning practices is less about a championship formula and more about how the Huskers are trying to solve travel, recovery and November football.
Coach Matt Rhule and Nebraska football are moving away from morning practices. That’s not new news, of course. Rhule made that change heading into the Huskers’ 2026 spring football practices.
“There’s a large part of us that likes morning practices, but this league is a lot different now,” Rhule said about the change at the time. “There was twice last year we went to the East Coast and played a Friday game after. That takes a toll on your body certainly that week, and the weeks after.”
Rhule presented the reasoning as more than just a preference. Would players rather sleep in? Sure, but Rhule always framed the move as something bigger.
How does Nebraska stay fresher at the end of the season?
That question has followed the program for a while, even if it has taken different forms. Finish. Depth. Development. November. Winning time. Those words have all been used around Nebraska football and for good reason too. The Huskers have had too many seasons where the final stretch felt heavier than it should have.
On Adam Breneman’s Next Up show, Rhule talked through why Nebraska made the move back to afternoon practices. He mentioned a conversation with Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire, who had also made a practice-time change. He mentioned Nebraska’s travel in the Big Ten. He mentioned late returns, short weeks and the physical toll that starts to add up.
“I was talking to my good friend Joey McGuire, and they had made the change to afternoon practices,” he said. “And just the travel in this league. We went to Maryland and played a 3:30 game. I got back at whatever time and played the following Friday at Minnesota and got whooped. Went to Penn State and played a night game, came back and played the following Friday morning and got whooped. It was like, there’s a lot to this league. There’s a lot more travel than we realized.
“So, how do we do a better job of being fresher at the end of the year while still also being good? Do we have to practice differently? Do we have to monitor things differently? So we moved to afternoon practices. In November, it can be 10 degrees in the morning. It can be 35 in the afternoon, and we’re gonna go outside.”
That is a lot packed into one answer.
