Nebraska appears to be in the final stages of hiring Matt Rhule as its next coach, according to ESPN. Rhlue, 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 since.
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 with Nebraska 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.
