The former Husker continues to put up solid numbers in the NFL. He has a new team in 2025.
Brian Christopherson
Former Husker defensive lineman Maliek Collins has a new team.
Collins has reached an agreement with the Cleveland Browns for a two-year deal worth $20 million, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The agreement came right after he was released from the San Francisco 49ers.
According to Brandon Thorn of Bleacher Report, Collins was one of 11 pass rushers in the NFL who had 27 or more high-quality pressures in 2024.
The 29-year-old Collins finished his Husker career in 2016. A third-round pick of the Cowboys, he spent four years in Dallas, one with the Raiders, three with the Houston Texans and last season with the San Francisco 49ers.
Collins had lots of tread on the tires when he opted for the pros prior to his senior season at Nebraska and was drafted at the age of 21. The Kansas City native had eight sacks and 23 tackles for loss as a Husker.
Rundown from Rhule: On production over potential, Holgorsen's approach, Husker pro in the building
A few takeout quotes from the Husker head coach's press conference this week.
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Matt Rhule wasn't going to select a name or two to highlight as leading the way coming out of mat drills and driving toward spring ball.
Because the Husker head coach thinks there's enough candidates to not just isolate anyone in that category.
And if you come at it from the other angle?
"In good news, there's not one person that's not doing a good job," Rhule said Tuesday. "There's no one that's sort of in the doghouse, per se, as there have been in years past. I think everyone understands what's at stake. I think the guys we brought in from the portal, they've been excellent additions. But the great news is they don't stand out so much. It's not like, 'Oh wow, they're so much better than everyone else we have.'"
Here five more quotes to note from Rhule.
On Dana Holgorsen and the offense moving forward
"I stand on record as having said that I think sometimes we just did too much, and tried to serve too many masters. And I think he's kind of come in and been like, 'Hey, these are the things that we're going to do.' He hasn't changed the terminology. It's still the same offense. It's still the same things that we were doing before. It's just kind of dialed down into what he feels like, and the staff feels like, we're going to be good at."
Takeaway: Less is more, sometimes. Oftentimes, actually. We even saw that in how Holgorsen locked someone like Jacory Barney into one spot at the end of last year instead of complicating it by working him at all the receiver positions. It felt like Nebraska had a faster rhythm those last few games, I'd suspect, in large part to that simplification.
Rhule also said Holgorsen is also really "a unifying force" who involves the whole staff, then they take it to the players and he holds the standard high.
Rhule on hiring Pat Stewart as GM
"We're moved into a space in personnel where no one really knows what lies ahead so you just need really smart, smart people ... If you're in the NFL, there's really two grading scales: the Patriots/Belichick scale being one, which really takes into account how you value different positions as they relate to others. Pat's always been really a difference maker I think in thinking about that."
Takeaway: One of the most massive hires Rhule has made toward Nebraska's mission. Rhule's seen Stewart's way of operating up close. Not only was Stewart part of two Super Bowl teams in New England, but he fairly recently worked with Rhule in Carolina in 2020-22.
He also shares a similar vision of the head coach, it seems, on how Nebraska Athletics has the opportunity to emerge as one of the leaders amid the shifting grounds of college athletics. Said Stewart upon being officially announced in his role Tuesday, "There are few, if any, institutions as capable of transitioning to this new era of roster construction as Nebraska."
A big part of everything that's going on with college sports it seems to me is positioning yourself with people who can see opportunity while others might be distracted by the obstacles.
On production over potential
"We have to make decisions based upon production and professionalism – really not potential. That was a big thing for us at the bowl game we talked a lot about. We're past the point of potential now. Who produces? Who's a professional and earning what you get?"
Takeaway: Those young players should be bouncing off the walls for this spring. Mike Ekeler called on youth a lot for special teams at Tennessee and there are position groups – SEE the O-line, with four key guys rehabbing – where there will be plenty of reps to try to make a move. And older players should be able to match urgency because this roster has quite a few of those second- and third-year guys who might be thinking it's their turn to step up. The secondary comes to mind in that regard.
Even with some guys out with injury, competition should run pretty hot, as Rhule thinks is the most talent he’s had on roster. Some will just want to cement a spot on the 105. Some have developed enough over the last year or two to have the confidence now to enter the two-deep fray or a lead job. It's a good camp to come if no one is resting easy.
On non-conference scheduling
"I love the fans, so this is going to be taken the wrong way: But the only teams that win are the teams that put the program 100 percent first. And winning comes first. So the last two national two champions came out of the Big Ten and neither one played a power five opponent (in non conference). ... If the system changes, and there's been a lot of talk about it changing ... and across college football we all play nine conference games and then the 10th game is a crossover game with the SEC, I'd be the first person to say that'd be great for college football."
Takeaway: I understand the disappointment from fans in not seeing more games like Nebraska-Tennessee, but Rhule's point is hard to argue too. The league schedule, and especially how a team plays in November, is what is going to settle who is part of the playoff enchilada. The griping from SEC country about it shouldn't exist until that conference actually, finally, locks down a nine-game league slate. And then, yes, please give us that annual crossover. That's my ideal world. Nine B1G games, one crossover, two non-cons to set it up. But both conferences need to be on a similar platform since they're both chasing the same thing.
Rhule also hit on how the "financial game" matters big-time right now. "We have to be unabashed about investing in athletics and we have to be unabashed about doing the right thing for right now."
On the dedication to player development
"The investment we've made into player development – food, nutrition, athletic medicine, training – that's paying off when you see guys at the combine. It's also paying off on our own team. When I say improving the roster, I don't just mean going and getting different players ... I'm talking about getting guys to be the fastest and most explosive they've been at their lives."
Takeaway: It should be obvious by now some of the most critical people in the Husker football operation are nutritionist Kristin Coggin, strength coach Corey Campbell and Mitch Cholewinski, who is the coordinator of football sports science. Rhule mentioned that Campbell had two NFL teams after him this offseason and Cholewinski had one pro club after him as well. This is a year you hope some of those players in their second and third years with those strength, conditioning and nutrition services are now ready to move the needle between the lines.
The combine success by Huskers this year sure doesn't hurt. Either does currently having a guy fresh off a Super Bowl championship working out in the building.
"It signals to our players, 'Buy into what we're doing.' Sometimes players think like, 'Well, I need to go train with this one guy way over there (across the country).' What's happening right now is Cam Jurgens is in there every day, who is one of the best players in football," Rhule said. "He chose to come back and use this facility. Ty is in here right now, Fidone's in here right now..."
It'd be a big bonus if Nebraska can keep that rolling. The more past players having pro success come back to work out, the more fuel for the current crew.
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