One of the major talking points about Nebraska’s loss to Illinois last Friday was the kicking game. Kicker John Hohl missed a potential 39-yard game-winner late in the fourth quarter. The miss, combined with starting kicker Tristan Alvano being banged up, has caused plenty of questions for head coach Matt Rhule.
During his Monday press conference, Rhule was asked about the kicking game and what the Huskers have been doing with the position group this season.
“We hired Brett Maher. He’s on staff. Brett’s coaching for us. Working with those guys,” Rhule said, the first time the second-year head coach acknowledged the addition of the former Husker kicker to the program’s coaching staff. “He’s here for the meetings and practices,” Rhule added.
When asked to expand on Maher’s role, Rhule told the media, “Brett’s just kind of consulted for (special teams coordinator) Ed (Foley) for a while. Brett, his life has shifted right before the first game. Ed would kind of use him as a sounding board, show him some video.”
“We have our specials camp, we had five or six NFL kickers and we’d use them as a sounding board. With the new rule, we went to Troy (Dannen) and all those guys and asked if we could add him to the staff. He’s been with us since training camp and going into the first game,” he added.
Maher, a Fremont, Nebraska native, played for the Cornhuskers from 2008 to 2012 before playing professionally in the NFL and CFL from 2013 through 2023, playing with 12 different teams during his career.
For the Huskers, Maher was 39-for-50, a 78% career field goal percentage. All of his kicks came in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. He also served as the program’s starting punter in both seasons, averaging 43.2 yards per punt over 120 career punts.
During his NFL career, Maher was 111-for-139 on kicks and holds the NFL record for most career 60+ yard field goals with four.
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