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Jeremy Pernell: Sizing Up Matt Rhule’s Staff Hires
Nebraska football's coaching search that resulted in the hiring of Matt Rhule was a marathon. Athletic director Trev Alberts began the process by initially vetting upwards of 25 coaches. He spoke of "interacting" with 13 candidates throughout the 76-day search.
During that time, Alberts kept a tight lid on (legit) leaks and conducted a seemingly flawless search. I mean, when your backup option is Luke Fickell, you've knocked it out of the ballpark.
Alberts maintained that Rhule was his "1A" choice and his top target from the beginning. For a brief time, it seemed that some of the financial hurdles would prove too much to overcome in order to reach a deal. You have to give Alberts a ton of credit for his resolve and determination in not letting that happen.
You also have to be encouraged by the fact Alberts was given the green light to do whatever it took financially to get his guy.
If you read my series of articles in October covering the coaching search and its possible candidates, then you know I felt it was imperative Alberts be given the means to pay upwards of $10 million for an elite coach. My top three candidates for this job were Rhule, Fickell and Dave Aranda, so out of the gate, you know I love this hire. I have to admit, however, that I didn't foresee Alberts paying what it would take to get any of those coaches.
The fact Nebraska was willing to shell out $74 million dollars over eight years is incredibly encouraging. As is the $7 million assistant coach salary pool and the go-ahead that will allow Rhule to build a large off-field staff. It means this program is determined to do whatever it takes to get back to prominence. To get back where it belongs in the college landscape.
Matt Rhule has been on the job for six weeks, and before I dive into the staff he's put together, I wanted to acknowledge a few things.
First and foremost is the sheer focus and organization Rhule showed right out of the gates. He has spoken of studying the Nebraska job to determine if it was the right fit for him. You can see that wasn't just lip service.
Within hours of being introduced as head coach, Rhule was on the phone recruiting and making offers to players he had already evaluated in preparation of taking the job. Several of those players ended up in this class. Less than a week after being hired, he was already hosting players on recruiting visits.
Rhule and his staff did a tremendous job of evaluating and closing on several 2023 recruits, all while building tremendous excitement and intrigue from 2024 kids. There's a buzz among underclassmen regarding Nebraska right now. Rhule took over a recruiting class that had been stuck in neutral and ranked in the 60s. In just over three weeks, he put in the work that will likely result in Nebraska ending up with a top 25 class.
What's so impressive is that they've done it undermanned. Rhule spent most of December with basically half of his staff on hand. He also still has some off-field staffers and recruiting personnel positions to fill.
Nebraska coaches have spent the last couple days in Charlotte, North Carolina, attending the annual AFCA coaching convention. This is where coaches rub elbows and do a ton of networking. I wouldn't be surprised if Matt Rhule wasn't vetting a few coaches to fill analyst or quality control positions.
Last week, we learned who the final pieces would be on Matt Rhule's coaching staff. With the picture now clear, let's take a look:
- Marcus Satterfield, Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks
- Tony White, Defensive Coordinator
- Ed Foley, Special Teams Coordinator
- E.J. Barthel, Running Backs
- Garret McGuire, Wide Receivers
- Bob Wager, Tight Ends and Assistant Special Teams
- Donovan Raiola, Offensive Line
- Terrance Knighton, Defensive Line
- Rob Dvoracek, Linebackers
- Evan Cooper, Secondary
Long-tenured relationships can be found everywhere on Rhule’s staff. That doesn't come as a surprise. Rhule has said from the beginning he likes to work with people he’s worked with before. Outside of Raiola and Wager, every assistant coach on staff has either played for Rhule, or coached for him at Temple, Baylor or Carolina. In some cases, they've done both. The majority of them have been with him at multiple stops.
It certainly has the feel of putting the band back together, and that has caused some consternation with some fans. I get why. We just watched four-plus years of Scott Frost hiring a staff of his friends that were in over their heads.
With Rhule, he's grabbing guys he's worked with at various points, but in many cases, those coaches have branched out and been at different places and coached in different conferences. They'll reunite with Rhule knowing how he wants to run things, and also have a few more tools in their toolbox from working on other staffs.
With Frost, there was a hive mind feel to his staff and they struggled to find answers facing adversity. Then, when Frost added different pieces last offseason, he didn't provide the singular vision to coalesce the staff. That won't be an issue with Matt Rhule.
You can see the strategy Rhule has putting his staff together. When he was at Carolina, he assembled a staff made up of a blend of guys he'd worked with and other veteran coaches, and that didn't go very well. Returning to the college game, he wisely went back to the blueprint that had worked for him at both Temple and Baylor.
It's been reflected in his hirings. He’s made many of the same moves he made - particularly when arrived at Baylor. With this Husker staff, Rhule has hired experienced coordinators and filled the rest of his staff with young, hungry, energetic coaches. That's by design. Like at his other stops, he's giving big opportunities to guys like McGuire, Wager, Knighton, Dvoracek and Raiola.
Rhule will very much be a CEO and provide the vision and set the culture for the program. He's surrounded himself with coaches that he knows will echo the same message throughout the team. Everyone will be pulling in the same direction. There will be a purpose in everything they do - from how they train, to what they eat, to how they conduct meetings, to how they practice. It will be a unified message. The offensive and defensive systems and game plans will be symbiotic.
At his core, Matt Rhule is a coach who firmly believes in the Process. His process. And he'll refer to it throughout his tenure. In its most basic form, the Process is Rhule's term for concentrating on the steps to success rather than worrying about the end result. The phrase has morphed into the mission statement for Rhule's program-building philosophy. It's worked everywhere he's been and he's banking on it working in Lincoln.
Over the next couple days, I'll highlight a few things that stood out to me with his staff picks - both good and ... questionable.
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