Matt Rhule Coaching History & Bio

Matt Rhule is entering Year 3 as Nebraska’s head football coach. He is 12-13 overall at Nebraska entering the 2025 season.

Matt Rhule Coaching Record

• Temple (4 seasons): 28-23 (19-13 in AAC play)
• Baylor (3 seasons): 19-20 (13-14 in Big 12 play)
• Carolina Panthers (3 seasons): 11-27
• Nebraska (2 seasons): 12-13 (6-12 in Big Ten play)

Matt Rhule Coaching History

• 1998: Albright [Pa.] College — Linebackers coach
• 1999: Buffalo — Assistant defensive line coach
• 2000: Buffalo — Defensive line coach
• 2001: UCLA — Assistant defensive line coach
• 2002: Western Carolina — Special teams coordinator/linebackers coach
• 2003-04: Western Carolina — Assistant head coach/linebackers coach/special teams coordinator
• 2005: Western Carolina — Assistant head coach/running game coordinator/special teams coordinator
• 2006: Temple — Defensive line coach
• 2007: Temple — Quarterbacks coach/recruiting coordinator
• 2008-10: Temple — Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
• 2011: Temple — Offensive coordinator/tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator
• 2012: New York Giants — Assistant offensive line coach
• 2013-16: Temple — Head coach
• 2017-19: Baylor — Head coach
• 2020-22: Carolina Panthers — Head coach
• 2023-present: Nebraska — Head coach

Matt Rhule Bio

Matt Rhule is a program builder. That’s why he now resides in Lincoln, Nebraska.

When the Cornhuskers announced Rhule as the program’s head coach on Nov. 28, 2022, they made it a spectacle. Rather than introduce a new head coach on the third floor of Memorial Stadium — where they’ve held most other such press conferences, including for the man Rhule replaced, the man who had the room bursting at the seams — Nebraska brought out Rhule inside the much larger indoor practice facility. There was a de facto Unity Walk before the event, and a giant illuminated sign down in front of the stage.

Not a big deal just to make a big deal, but an important point for the program — one NU hoped was an inflection point. At the time Rhule took over, Nebraska had endured 6 consecutive losing seasons.

“Let’s be honest, we’re at a critical juncture in our history as a football program,” Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts said that day.

And Rhule was tabbed as the right man to lead. Because he’d done this sort of thing before.

Don’t be distracted by his unsuccessful 3-year stint in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. Before testing the professional football waters, he was a National Coach of the Year recipient and a proven developer in the college game.

Rhule orchestrated quick rebuilds at both Baylor (2017-19) and Temple (2013-16). Temple won only 2 games in Rhule’s first season. In Year 2, the program earned its first win over an SEC team since 1938 and its first win over a ranked opponent in 16 seasons. In Year 3, the Owls set a school record for victories (10) and played in the conference championship game. After leading Temple to another 10-win campaign and an American conference title the next season, Rhule took over a Baylor program in the doldrums.

The Bears won only 1 game in Rhule’s first season. Then, again in year 3, Baylor won a then-school-record 11 games and played in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Bears also booked a trip to the Sugar Bowl. Rhule was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year and the Sporting News National Coach of the Year for his work that season.

Beyond the wins and losses, Rhule’s rebuild at Baylor drew national acclaim for the cultural turnaround that took place around the football success. At the time Rhule landed in Waco, Texas, the Baylor football program was recovering from a sexual assault scandal under former coach Art Briles that had rocked the sport. Baylor was a toxic program that few would even dare touch.

Rhule brought back respectability.

“We are what we tolerate,” he has said.

Rhule is already well on his way to working his trademark magic with a Nebraska program that has spent the past 2 decades trying unsuccessfully to recapture its past glory. After going 5-7 in his debut season in Lincoln, his Cornhuskers recorded their first winning season since 2016 by beating Boston College in the 2024 Pinstripe Bowl for their first bowl victory in 11 years.