How a pair of former pros are working to send Nebraska linemen to the NFL

Head coach Matt Rhule believes so.

Reestablishing Nebraska as a “premier development program” has been on Rhule’s mind since his first day on the job, and it also mattered in his coaching hires. In the last 15 years, over half of Nebraska’s 48 NFL draft picks have been defensive backs and linemen.

It’s no coincidence that Rhule’s assistants at those positions — Evan Cooper, Donovan Raiola and Terrance Knighton — have all coached in the NFL. Cooper’s energetic nature and status as a fervent film-watcher make him unique among that group.

Raiola and Knighton are both former NFL players — and they share a desire to keep Nebraska’s tradition of pro-bound linemen going.

“All the kids have aspirations of playing in the NFL and being a guy who’s played in the NFL and played with a lot of Hall of Famers, they always ask about those experiences,” Knighton said earlier this spring. “It’s an easy conversation because I’ve been in their shoes.”

Considering Knighton last played professionally in 2015, many of Nebraska’s players and recruits may not remember his playing days. However, Knighton’s status still garners respect both on the recruiting trail and within the halls of Nebraska’s practice facility.

When Knighton speaks in meetings or offers instruction during practices, his players listen. Perhaps due to his soft-spoken nature and upbeat personality, Knighton isn’t your typical assistant coach in the trenches. The high-intensity, physical nature of the position is often manifested within defensive line coaches — but Knighton sees things differently than most.

“Everyone lifts weights, everyone runs and everyone takes care of their bodies the right way for the most part,” Knighton said after joining Rhule with the Carolina Panthers in 2021. “The great players in this game, they always talk about their mental approach, not their physical approach.”

That insight has already shown in Knighton’s preliminary coaching sessions this spring. Forming bonds with his group of linemen has been an important goal, as has developing trust. During open portions of Nebraska’s spring practices, it was common to see Knighton demonstrating technique and grappling with players in a low-pressure environment.

That approach has resonated with players and recruits alike.

“I have aspirations to be a big-time college player and aspirations beyond that to play after college, and a guy like Coach Knighton, he’s been there,” sophomore defensive lineman Kai Wallin told the Journal Star in the fall. “That helps me build trust in what he’s saying, teaching and preaching, and just having that good connection will allow him to really be honest with me, coaching me as hard as he can.”

Nebraska’s situation on the other side of the ball is also intriguing. NU’s reputation for producing All-Americans and NFL-bound offensive linemen goes back decades — but does it hold up in recent years?

Seven Husker offensive linemen became NFL Draft picks in a nine-year period from 2008-16, only for NU to go four straight years (2017-20) without producing an NFL-bound offensive lineman. With three Husker linemen — Brenden Jaimes, Matt Farniok and Cam Jurgens — drafted in the last three years, things don’t look so dire for Nebraska’s development program.

But what can Raiola achieve with the players he’s now working with for the second season in a row? Starting with a player like right tackle Bryce Benhart, Raiola’s boss believes there’s plenty of talent to work with.

“I look at him (Benhart) and I see an NFL player, I see an all-conference caliber player, but the question is, what does he see?” Rhule said in April. “That offensive line’s as talented as one I’ve been around in college football as a head coach — but are they going to believe it and put it together?”

There’s a key reason why Rhule believes Raiola will be able to bring Nebraska’s offensive line to new heights in the fall. Rhule and Raiola are both believers in the specific fundamentals that offensive linemen should display on every snap — balanced feet, bent knees, tucked-in elbows, eyes up and flat backs.

Working to install those fundamentals this spring, Raiola has a keen eye for identifying and working on specific areas of that technique during practices. After all, he learned from one of the best in nationally respected offensive line coach Harry Hiestand.

Raiola was a player when he first crossed paths with Hiestand during his time with the Chicago Bears in 2009. The real learning came when Raiola began working under Hiestand, first as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame for two years, then as an assistant line coach for the Bears from 2018-21.

The fundamentals that Raiola learned from Hiestand are the same that Rhule has held true for years — making it an easy decision for the head coach to keep Raiola on staff.

“Most important to me, he had been trained in the same system that I’m trained in and I want us to play that way,” Rhule said of Raiola in February. “It was just a natural fit.”

Rhule understands the importance of having strong line play in physical Big Ten games. And given his success in improving players at Temple and Baylor, it isn’t all about recruiting top linemen — Rhule knows it’s about developing them once on campus.

If Nebraska can reignite its status as a top producer of NFL-bound linemen, the residual success could elevate the players and positions around them.

In Raiola and Knighton, Rhule believes he has the coaches who can make that goal a reality.