Matt Rhule will be a home-run hire for Nebraska Football

ESPN’s Chris Low is reporting that Matt Rhule is expected to be the next Nebraska Football head coach and if true, it’s a home run for the Huskers. 

There has been rampant speculation about who the next Nebraska football head coach was going to be but on Friday, about 30 minutes before the Huskers kicked off against Iowa, Chris Low of ESPN tweeted that Matt Rhule was expected to be the next head coach.

While the deal isn’t finalized yet, Low reported that Nebraska football is negotiating with Rhule to become the next head coach, which is a little tricky due to the large buyout he got from Carolina.

However, a deal is expected to be done according to Low and ESPN’s Pete Thamel within the next couple of days and could come any time after the Huskers finish playing Iowa.

A lot of Nebraska football fans supported interim head coach Mickey Joseph and while he did an admirable job, the Huskers were just 2-6 under him going into Friday’s game vs Iowa.

That being said, keeping Joseph on staff is of vital importance. Joseph has played a huge role in keeping the 2023 recruiting class together since the firing of Scott Frost and up to this point, only one 2023 recruit has decommitted.

Malachi Coleman, a top-100 recruit according to the 247 sports composite rankings and the top-ranked player in the state of Nebraska, is also tight with Mickey.

My hope is that Huskers give him a big raise, as in pay the man about $1 million dollars a year and keep him as associate head coach.

That’s going to be up to Rhule though. You can’t force him to hire anyone and whether Mickey remains or not, he’ll have to establish his relationship with recruits and get them to believe, just like he’ll have to do with the rest of the roster and the transfer portal.

Nebraska football would be making a great hire

If this proves to be true, it’s huge for Nebraska. Rhule has multiple 10-win seasons at Temple and Baylor and those aren’t college football powerhouses.

Rhule didn’t have success in the NFL but the Panthers never got the quarterback position right and that always makes it really hard to win.

Plus, some coaches are better suited to the college game. That can certainly be said about Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, and others. There are plenty of examples of coaches going to the NFL, struggling, and then finding success back in college.

I know Nebraska has brought in former NFL head coaches before in Bill Callahan and also Mike Riley. Plus, after Scott Frost failed, it’s hard to call anything a sure thing.

But Rhule has strong ties to Texas which could be important for recruiting. He’s also coached offensive line before in the NFL for the Giants, as well as the defensive line, in addition to special teams and being a recruiting coordinator.

Building a staff will be important but if you are a Nebraska football fan, you should feel good about this hire. Not long ago, Rhule was wanted by the SEC and the NFL.

Now, he’s expected to come to Lincoln and that’s a big win for Trev Alberts.