As spring camp starts, Matt Rhule sees talented, coachable Nebraska quarterbacks

Matt Rhule got three hours of sleep before his first spring practice at Nebraska. He picked Monday, 6 a.m., as a camp kickoff, and had quarterbacks throwing the ball in the pre-dawn wind.

Rhule doesn’t know if his team is any good but he does know they’re pretty coachable. Punctual, too — all players made it to the football building by 5:15 a.m. and dressed to practice appropriately. These are early standards Rhule hopes to set months before the first game of his Husker tenure.

“We want to be a team that doesn’t beat itself,” Rhule said. Especially at quarterback, where Rhule takes a personal interest and has a close friend, offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, managing the room.

The four scholarship quarterbacks available in spring camp — Casey Thompson and Logan Smothers are nursing shoulder injuries — “threw the ball well,” Rhule said Monday. They also threw the ball outside during individual drills. Rhule said Husker quarterbacks won’t spend much time throwing inside, given the need to execute in difficult weather conditions during the season.

“That’s as talented a quarterback room as I’ve ever been a part of,” Rhule said of the two injured players, plus Jeff Sims, Chubba Purdy, Heinrich Haarberg and Richard Torres.

Haarberg, a Kearney Catholic graduate, got picked to speak Monday — a notable choice given he was buried so far on the depth chart last season that the interim head coach openly smirked at the idea of Haarberg playing and a walk-on no longer with the program got garbage time snaps at Michigan instead. The 6-foot-5, 210-pounder described last season under offensive coordinator Mark Whipple as “hard” and quite different from his first year, when Matt Lubick called plays and Mario Verduzco coached QBs.

Satterfield, Haarberg said, is more like those two than Whipple. More individual drills. More focus on footwork and throwing mechanics. More positive.

“I got a sense that this is a place, with this staff, where I could thrive,” Haarberg said. “… This staff gave me more confidence to come back and keep me here in Lincoln.”

If Haarberg considered leaving the program last winter, he’s all-in like many of the returning players. The quarterback room, he said, is back to the way it was two years ago, when Adrian Martinez led teammates. A family atmosphere. No butting heads. Quarterbacks of different ages and experiences making helpful pointers instead of staying quiet.

Sims, a three-year starter at Georgia Tech, has fit in well, Haarberg said.

“I love being around Jeff,” Haarberg said. “Energetic. Just thrives in every scenario, I feel like. Doesn’t matter what situation you’ve put him. Just a good guy.”

Nebraska recruited Sims out of the transfer portal for his dual-threat skills, as Sims rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his career with the Yellow Jackets. Haarberg is the Husker closest to Sims on the roster in frame and athleticism — traits that could potentially translate to a different spot on the field.

Haarberg said he’s open to moving positions if that’s what coaches think he should do. He thinks he could play “most positions” on the field, including defense, if necessary.

“If that’s something where, we get to the season, and that’s what’s best, I’m comfortable playing whatever I feel like I have the athleticism and intelligence to play,” Haarberg said. “Right now, I’m just going to focus on quarterback development.”

Rhule specializes in projecting players to different positions, then convincing them to give a try. Already in camp, receiver Janiran Bonner has moved to hybrid tight end role, Brodie Tagaloa has moved from offensive line to defensive end, and Jake Appelget, previously an edge rusher, has been working at tight end, as well.

The Huskers need more tight ends in part because Chris Hickman and James Carnie left the program. So did defensive back Tyreke Johnson. Cornerback Tommi Hill didn’t practice, Rhule said, and running back Anthony Grant is suspended as he works out off-the-field issues.

Besides that roster churn, Monday appeared calm — a first building block in the program’s journey to improvement. Rhule said today’s college athlete tends to lack confidence and is thus outwardly defensive in the face of mistakes. Rhule’s trying to “reduce the idea of good and bad” within the program, removing the stigma of messing up in practice — and the frustration that can come with it.

“Getting rid of ‘good and bad’ all of these emotional “Oh My God!’ (moments),” Rhule said. “Just, calm down guys, we’re going to get better.”