Nebraska’s Matt Rhule Describes Stint As Panthers Coach As ’Purifying Fire’

Nebraska’s new leader has seen much more success in college than in the pros.

The gulf between Nebraska coach Matt Rhule’s résumés in the collegiate and professional ranks is miles wide.

On campus, Rhule is 47–43—a record that belies two wholesale turnarounds at Temple and Baylor. In the NFL, Rhule went a pedestrian 11–27 and was dismissed during his third season with the Panthers.

The difference in his experiences has given Rhule perspective as he prepares for his first season with the Cornhuskers, which he outlined in dramatic terms in a June 30 profile written by Pete Thamel of ESPN.

“Going through the fire in Carolina was a purifying fire that melts away all the impurities, all the hubris, all the worrying about stuff that doesn’t matter,” Rhule said. “I learned very much to worry about what matters. I have a focus and a desire in me. I watched what my kids had to go through in Carolina, and we're not going to let ‘em go through that here.”

At Nebraska, Rhule will have a tall task ahead of him. The Cornhuskers haven’t made a bowl game since 2016, a stunning fall for a once-proud program that didn’t have a losing season between 1961 and 2004.

Rhule’s purification will be put to the test for the first time on Aug. 31, when Nebraska opens its season against Minnesota.