Another Future Nebraska Opponent Fires Coach, This One Stirring Matt Rhule Discussions

The Matt Rhule to Penn State chatter heated up last year, when Nebraska started 5-1 and eventually earned a bowl win for the first time in several years. It became more of a topic as the Huskers kept winning this season, while the Nittany Lions were suffering worse defeats week after week.

On Sunday, Penn State officially fired James Franklin. Here we go.

James Franklin is gone from Penn State after three straight losses to fall to 3-3 on the year. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Rhule played at Penn State from 1994-97. On his latest House Rhules podcast, during a discussion on weekly polls, he brought up the fact that his 1994 team went undefeated but lost out on the national title to Nebraska because of votes.

Now, he is likely to among the most-talked about candidates for the open position at his alma mater.

Franklin ends his time in Happy Valley with a 104-45 record, including five top-10 finishes, three straight double-digit win seasons going into 2025, and a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance last year. With all of that momentum, his team began this campaign 3-0.

But then the Nittany Lions fell to then-No. 6 Oregon in overtime at home. A week later, Penn State lost at UCLA, which had fired its coach earlier this season. This weekend, the losing continued with a 22-21 debacle at the hands of Northwestern.

Penn State's loss to Oregon turned out to be the beginning of the end for the James Franklin era. | James Lang-Imagn Images

With Fiesta, Cotton, and Rose Bowl wins on his resume, Franklin is out at the halfway point.

Penn State isn't the only opponent on the schedule for Nebraska that will be, or was, missing its head coach at the time of the game.

The Huskers take on UCLA in Los Angeles on Nov. 8. The Bruins fired DeShaun Foster after an 0-3 start. Nebraska's only loss of the year came against Michigan, which featured associate head coach Biff Poggi in charge with Sherrone Moore on suspension.

Nebraska heads to Penn State on Nov. 22. Between now and then, you can expect the chatter around Rhule and his connection to Happy Valley to only increase.

Matt Rhule's Temple Owls upended James Franklin's Nittany Lions to open the 2015 season. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Besides playing for Penn State, going 41-8 in his four years, Rhule also coached in Pennsylvania. He took Temple from a 2-10 start in 2013 to 6-6, then 10-4 and 10-3. During his third season, he and the Owls opened the season with a 27-10 win over Franklin and the Nittany Lions.

Rhule parlayed that success into a rebuild at Baylor, which became his ticket to an NFL job with the Carolina Panthers. His time in the pros last five games into his third season, but that opened him up as the eventual successor for Scott Frost in Lincoln.

Will Matt Rhule take the job at Penn State? Does Penn State want Matt Rhule, or other high-profile coaches that may want an increase in pay and exposure, like Indiana's Curt Cignetti or Iowa State's Matt Campbell? Only halfway through the season, the answers to those questions are still to be determined.

What is known, though, is that Rhule has Nebraska sitting at 5-1 and ranked in October for the first time since 2016. Nebraska has a chance to hit bowl eligibility with five games left after a trip to Minnesota on Friday. Even if a return to Happy Valley is of interest to Rhule, you can bet his focus is on Minneapolis and the rest of this 2025 Husker campaign.

Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.

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