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Does Matt Rhule Fit the Bill for Nebraska Football?
Since the firing of Scott Frost on Sept. 11, there have been a lot of candidates mentioned as possible successors to Scott Frost as the permanent head football coach at Nebraska.
Matt Campbell, Dave Aranda, Bill O'Brien, Luke Fickell, Lance Leipold, Kyle Whittingham and Chris Klieman are some of the better-known names.
Add another to the list. His name is Matt Rhule. Yes, he's the same Matt Rhule who was fired earlier this fall as head coach of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. So why do people think he might be a good hire for the Nebraska job?
Let's look at his profile.
Matt Rhule
Age: 47
Hometown: NY, NY
Alma Mater: Penn State University (walk-on LB)
Conference: Last coached at Baylor in the Big 12
Collegiate HC Experience:
Temple University (2013-2016)
2013 (2-10), '14 (6-6), '15 (10-4), '16 (10-3) Overall record (28-23)
Baylor (2017-2019) 2017 (1-11), '18 (7-6), '19 (11-3) Overall record (19-20)
NFL HC Experience: Carolina Panthers (2020-2022) 2020 (5-11). '21 (5-12) '22 (1-4) Overall record: (11-27) Was fired this fall.
Why he’d be a good pick to coach at Nebraska
Matt took over a Temple program that in the prior 10 years had only three winning seasons. The other seven years, the Owls had records of 0-11 (one), 1-11 (two), 2-10 (one), 2-9 (one), 4-8 (one) and one 5-7 season. Rhule then led the Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons his last two years at Temple.
His next move was to Baylor University, where he replaced Jim Grobe who had taken over for Art Briles. Briles was fired after his apparent cover-up of a sexual assault scandal that hit the Baylor football program.
Unlike the Owl program, Baylor had enjoyed seven winning seasons out of the prior 10. Will the magic Rhule used to resurrect a moribund Temple team be enough reason for Trev Alberts to hire him as the next Husker head coach?
Why he wouldn’t be a good candidate for Nebraska
His career records as a college head coach are not impressive. He has no experience in coaching and recruiting in the Big Ten Conference. Going 28-23 at Temple and 19-20 at Baylor put him at .522 - just a click above Mike Riley's career record at Nebraska. Add that total to his record at the Carolina Panthers and you have a less-than-impressive résumé.
Correction
Last week I wrote that Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh once had been the head coach at the San Diego Chargers. That was incorrect. He was the HC at San Diego University and not the Chargers. However, he did play for the Chargers from 1999-2000. Sorry for the mixup!
Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers
On Sunday morning, Johnny Rodgers was the featured speaker at the Husker Fans Salute the Troops (huskersalute.org) honors brunch. The audience consisted of military veterans and their families. At the conclusion, "The Jet" was given a much deserved standing ovation.
Johnny also wants everyone to know that through his Jet Award Foundation, military people are eligible to earn scholarships to attend Metro Community College to learn trades. Here's the link.
How Bout Them Huskers
In this week's podcast, Will and I review Saturday's loss to Michigan and talk about the No. 1-ranked Husker volleyball recruiting class. We also look at the Husker football commit list and take a peek at the Huskers' next opponent, the Wisconsin Badgers.
Get your Huskers tickets from SI Tickets here.
