Memorial Stadium, the home field of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, will soon be home to new head football coach Matt Rhule.
Former North Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule was officially announced as the new head football coach for the Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday, November 26.
The announcement was made by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln athletic director Trev Alberts following the Huskers’ first win against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the past seven years in the teams’ annual Black Friday rivalry game.
Rhule’s eight-year contract with the Huskers is valued at 72 million dollars, including five-and-a-half million dollars annually until the end of 2023 and a one million dollar increase every year up to 12 and a half million dollars in 2029 and 2030. Rhule was dismissed from the North Carolina Panthers at the beginning of the 2022 season after a 1-4 start to his third season with the Panthers and a total record of 15-31 throughout his time in North Carolina. By accepting the coaching position at Nebraska, Rhule forfeited the remaining 40 million dollars promised in his contract with the Panthers if he was fired before the expiration of the contract, however, the promise only held under the condition that Rhule didn’t accept a coaching position with another team. An introductory press conference for the new Nebraska head coach was held at the Hawks Championship Center Monday, November 28.
“I think that’s really important for recruits to hear, and I’ve told every recruit that I’ve talked to that I’m not making more money to work today than I would be if I was playing golf back in Charlotte, like I could be on the golf course making the same money today. So this wasn’t a financial decision, but I thought I could fit here and the people are right,” Rhule said.
According to Alberts, one of the factors in his decision to go with Rhule for the position, outside of Rhule possessing the character traits he was looking for in a head coach, was Rhule’s reputation as a program builder throughout collegiate football. Before his time with the Carolina Panthers from 2020 to early October of 2022, Rhule was the head coach for the Baylor Bears and the Temple Owls, both of which saw major turnarounds in their programs under Rhule’s leadership. Rhule was the Bears’ head coach from 2017 to 2019 during which he achieved an 11-3 record and a number 13 national ranking in his last year with the team, a 10-win increase from his 1-11 record with the Bears in 2017, with eight of the 11 losses being within 14 points. Rhule saw similar success with the Temple Owls from 2013 to 2016 where he finished his first year with the team with a record of 2-10 but attained a 10-4 record as well as a conference title in his final year with the Owls.
Since the end of the Huskers’ search for a head coach, Nebraska has added seven members to the team’s coaching staff under Rhule. As soon as Rhule was accepted for the position, he began the recruiting process for the 2023 team roster. So far, Nebraska has 19 total commits for the 2023 season, including 16 hard commits and three transfers, however, that number is expected to rise with December 21, 2022, marking the first National Letter of Intent signing day for division one football.
“We want to get as much speed as we can get any time we can get it, so we’ve gotten started with that… This week is important, and I’m not sure if I’ll sleep much, but next week and the week after are important, too,” Rhule said.
While Rhule recognizes the importance of getting started with recruiting and the other aspects of his job right away, he also knows that the program’s future isn’t just based on what he does in the first few weeks, but on everything he does throughout his time with Nebraska.
“Here’s what I know. The future of Nebraska football is not hanging on one decision, but is hanging on the accumulation of day-after-day-after-day of great recruiting, great development, great coaching, great teaching and we’ll just try to say what’s next every day.”
