Matt Rhule Is 'Probably The Number One Realistic Candidate' For Penn State According To One National CFB Writer

On this week's edition of the I-80 Football Show, CBSsports.com's Shehan Jeyarajah joined Josh Peterson for a wide-ranging look at the sport of college football, but the majority of it was spent on Penn State's coaching search. What does this mean for Matt Rhule and Nebraska?

They unpack why James Franklin was fired, Matt Rhule's candidacy, and why he could ultimately leave Nebraska. Below is a lightly edited transcript of their discussion on the current Cornhuskers head coach.

Josh: You and your colleague, Cody Nagel, you took a look earlier this week on CBSsports.com at the pros and cons of a Rhule hiring. I want to ask an inside baseball media question first: How much of this, from your perspective, was written because he seems to be like not just an early favorite, but the early favorite. Is that why you guys decided, “let's attack the Matt Rhule perspective first and foremost?”

Shehan: 100%. You know, I think that talking to people around the industry, some of my colleagues have done some reporting on this; Matt Rhule is sort of the no-brainer early target. That doesn't mean he's going to be the target. Doesn't mean he's going to take the job, even if he's offered it, obviously. But I think that was immediately the most obvious connection, both with people inside and outside of the industry.

So it becomes a conversation, of one, “What should Rhule’s thought process be beyond this?” And two, “What should Penn State's?” Because, again, there's a lot of pros of Matt Rhule. I think I mentioned to you, I'm a Baylor grad. So I got to see it up close and personal for a couple of years. I don't wanna call them limitations, because I don't think that's fair, but we haven't also seen [Nebraska] break through the ceiling necessarily either. I think that's what makes it such an interesting discussion.

But yeah, it's very much because that was the immediate, in the industry, “no-brainer” target that coaches, agents, everybody seems to think; that's probably where they're going first.

Josh: So let's then look at one of the cons. And this is the first one that was brought up by your colleague. For the record, my co-host [Jack Mitchell] here on the I-80 Club debated this and the first thing that I brought up was, “Why would they fire James Franklin and then hire a guy who has a very similar resume in terms of not being able to break through a glass ceiling?”

You're nodding your head, so I know that you understand that as well. Why would Pat Kraft avoid that? And why would he maybe be able to convince the money people at Penn State that look, “just because he hasn't doesn't mean he can't here?”

Shehan: I think that to answer this question, let’s take half a step back as well; I'm sure everybody knows at this point, but Matt Rhule [is a] former Penn State player. Loves that program, cites Joe Paterno and what he learned from that program all the time, right? He is not shy about the fact that he loves Penn State. He's from the northeast. He had tons of success at Temple in Philadelphia.

Look, especially when you talk about Temple and Baylor at the time that he took it over; yeah, his record against ranked teams wasn't very good. He was at Temple and the smoldering remains of the Art Briles era at Baylor, right? Some people texted me, “Well, this is his overall record.” I'm like, that obviously needs a little bit of context with what he took over. Even what he took over at Nebraska, with kind of the remnants of the Scott Frost era.

One of the most memorable wins of Matt Rhule's career came when he was at Temple against James Franklin and Penn State in 2015. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

So, all that to say, I think that whenever you fire a coach who is as successful as James Franklin, the idea that you're going to hire somebody who's more successful right now is just not realistic. Let's say last year with Ohio State; if they had decided to move on from Ryan Day, it is literally impossible that they were going to hire a coach who is already better than Ryan Day. The reason that you hire somebody is because you think that with what your program can present to them, they can maybe have a different kind of ceiling.

And so that's the thought process that you go into it with is “this is projection.” Any coaching hire for the most part, is projection. And so, I think for Penn State and for Pat Kraft, the AD, that's the sell. “We have a unique situation. We have a unique job. He could be a unique fit here. And here are the reasons to believe that he can accomplish more here than he ever did before.”

Josh: Do you think he is the number one candidate for Kraft? I know that I'm asking you to do some projecting right now. Do you think he is his number one candidate or is it more that Rhule is the most likely eventual hire because maybe the top one, two, however many candidates, are ultimately going to say no?

Shehan: Rhule mentioned in this press conference, I know Nebraska fans are very in the weeds. So, you know, I probably am restating some stuff that people already know. But Pat Kraft was the A.D. who hired Matt Rhule at Temple. He was his A.D. as he appeared in two American title games; won an American title in 2016.

I think that Rhule is in everybody's mind, including Kraft’s, the obvious number one candidate. When nobody knows better how Rhule does things than Pat Kraft, I do think that this is the number one candidate. Now, I also expect that they're going to take some swings. I think back to the 2021 coaching cycle, where LSU and USC are among the jobs that are open, and all of a sudden, Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly leave. Stuff that you'd never expect.

And so I wouldn't be shocked to see them take a major swing. There’s some reporting that they're going to try for Marcus Freeman. I don't think that's all that likely. But if you're going to make this decision, if you're going to try to take this kind of swing, sure, why not take a swing at Marcus Freeman? Take a swing at Dan Lanning. Again, I don't think it'll go well, but take that swing. Take a swing on an SEC coach that you really like. I think it's very realistic to try.

When you ask the question, “is he his number one candidate?” I think he's probably the number one realistic candidate. They'll take some swings first, right? They'll apply to some “reach schools,” but I think in terms of guys who he thinks, “well, maybe we can make this happen.” And again, [Rhule’s] got a great job right now too, right? So he still has to overcome that. But I think that that is sort of the, “if I don't get Dabo Swiney to come, then let’s maybe target Matt Rhule.”

Josh and Shehan continued their conversation from there, discussing what Nebraska needs to do to keep Rhule. They also discussed other potential candidates and where things go next.

Watch the entire interview below!

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