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Report: Nebraska Football Defensive Coordinator Tony White to be Hired for Same Position at Florida State

His side of the ball has been the Huskers' strong suit during his two seasons in Lincoln.

Kaleb Henry

Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White looks up at the scoreboard between plays during the second quarter against Rutgers.
Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White looks up at the scoreboard between plays during the second quarter against Rutgers. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN
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Nebraska football's defensive coordinator position is about to be open.

According to a report from WarChant.com in the On3 network, Florida State is expected to hire Tony White to the same position in Tallahassee. Previous DC Adam Fuller was among a slew of firings after the Seminoles began the year 1-9.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that White is in discussions to become Florida State's defensive coordinator.

White came to Lincoln with head coach Matt Rhule and has held the associate head coach/defensive coordinator position each of the past two seasons. There were rumblings of White taking a head coaching position himself last offseason, but he ultimately signed a restructured contract worth $1.6 million per year to stay with the Huskers.

A Broyles Award nominee in 2023, White led an improved unit against the run. The Huskers allowed 92.9 rushing yards per game, the best mark for the program since 1999. They allowed a total of 303.5 yards per game, the best total defense for Nebraska since 2009.

Those numbers were similar in 2024, allowing 105.8 rushing yards and 315.4 total yards per game. The Blackshirts allowed just one rushing touchdown to teams not named Indiana all season.

Prior to Nebraska, White was the defensive coordinator at Syracuse. Before that, he held positions at Arizona State, San Diego State, New Mexico, and UCLA. He played linebacker at UCLA from 1997 to 2000.

Florida State has had a whiplash season under Mike Norvell. The Seminoles went 10-3 in 2022, finishing at No. 10 in the AP. Last year, FSU went 13-1, missing the College Football Playoff and losing to Georgia in the Orange Bowl, 63-3.

After all that success, the Seminoles went 2-10 in 2024. Those wins came against California (6-6) and Charleston Southern (1-11).

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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