Nebraska appears to be in the final stages of hiring Matt Rhule as its next coach, according to ESPN. Rhule, who led turnarounds at Temple and Baylor before trying his hand at the NFL, was fired as coach of the Carolina Panthers earlier this year in his third season with the franchise.
Best known for taking Baylor from 1-11 to an 11-3 campaign and 2020 Sugar Bowl berth, Rhule spearheaded one of the quickest turnarounds in Power Five history. He also led Temple from 2-10 to back-to-back 10-win seasons and an AAC championship in 2016 prior to departing the Owls for the Bears. Temple has not won more than eight games since he left after the 2016 season, posting a 7-23 record.
If Rhule gets the Nebraska job, he would be tasked with resuscitating a Cornhuskers program hoping to rediscover its form after a brutal beginning to its Big Ten tenure. The historically dominant program has faced hard times during conference realignment, failing to win 10 games in a season since 2012, its first year in the league. Nebraska has not made a bowl game since 2016.
Rhule would follow Scott Frost as coach. Frost, a former championship-winning quarterback with the ‘Huskers, was seen as a program savior making his return to Lincoln, Nebraska. Instead, Frost accumulated a 16-31 record during one of the worst tenures by a coach in program history. He was fired three games into the 2022 season after a 1-2 start and loss to Georgia Southern.
Turnaround artist
When Rhule got his previous two jobs — Baylor and Temple — both programs had deep depths to overcome. Baylor was in the aftermath of a massive Title IX scandal and only had one player committed when Rhule took over the program. Temple had a few successful seasons, but fell to 4-7 before Steve Addazio left to take the Boston College job.
In both cases, Rhule tore the program down to the studs and rebuilt them in his image — one of development, toughness and high-IQ football. Rhule won the AAC with Temple, bringing home just the second conference championship in program history. While Rhule did not win the Big 12 Championship Game himself at Baylor, his players were the bulk of Dave Aranda’s Big 12 champions in 2021.
After nearly a decade of atrophy, Nebraska is in need of a refresh. Rhule will have an opportunity to rebuild the Cornhuskers and potentially bring back some of the physicality fans have missed since the heyday of the…
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