Matt Rhule in pregame speech: "If we die, we die."

I recall hearing earlier on in my coaching journey that if pregame speeches matter really mattered there would be a lot of motivational speakers trying their hand at coaching, and there's some truth to that.

However, when a head coach stands in front of young men he's been tasked to lead, there's something different about the passion and the place in his soul where his message comes from. It hits different.

The message may not have a direct impact to what happens on the field, but the words do have staying power, as I'm sure I'm not the only one who can remember messages coaches sent in big games twenty years ago.

With that said, if pregame speeches could win a game by themselves, this one from Matt Rhule before a Huskers home game would have done exactly that.

After asking them to lock in and be present in the moment, Rhule starts with, "Let me tell you what's going to happen today."

"We're putting away childish things. We're putting away fear because there's no reason for us to be afraid. We're putting away expectation. We are going to go out there today, and we are going to play the way we play."

"I don't want anybody on that field hoping, or waiting. I want guys out there demanding it from themselves and believing in it. I want to see your personalities come out tonight."

"Play like brothers. Pick each other up. Help each other out tonight. That's why we've gone through what we have gone through. The camp you went through. The first two weeks. But there ain't any victims here."

Then came a line from a place deep within Rhule, that he certainly didn't mean literally (but some will still choose to take offense to it).

"If we die, we die. IF WE DIE, WE DIE." 

The way he delivers that phrase, you can tell it wasn't planned. It wasn't meant for the cameras, and it certainly came from a place of deep passion.

Listen for yourself.