“I want to build a team that’s tough”, Matt Rhule proclaimed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers faithful during his introductory press conference. Rhule promised Nebraska fans the Cornhuskers would “be a team people are proud to watch.”
Nebraska Cornhuskers Coaching Staff
Head Coach, Matt Rhule
Matt Rhule takes over the Nebraska Cornhuskers following the firing of Scott Frost (16-31 at Nebraska). Rhule has made a name for himself by turning programs around, which is certainly why Nebraska brought him on.
Temple went 4-7 the year before bringing on Rhule. It took time, but Rhule got the Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2015, their first 10-win season since 1979 and 2016. Prior to Rhule’s arrival, Baylor had been successful but was set back by scandal. The Bears would only win one game in Rhule’s first season. By his 3rd season, Baylor would reach 11 wins and a Sugar Bowl appearance.
In his press conference, Matt Rhule credited his success at Baylor and Temple to finding “the right people, the right staff.” Rhule brings back some coaches that have helped him find success in the past, along with some new faces.
- Carolina Panthers (Head Coach, 2020-2022)
- Baylor (Head Coach, 2017-2019)
- Temple (Head Coach, 2013-2016)
- New York Giants (Assistant Offensive Line coach, 2012)
- Temple (Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends/ Recruiting Coordinator, 2011; Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks, 2008-2010; Quarterbacks coach/Recruiting Coordinator, 2007; Defensive Line coach, 2006)
- Western Carolina (Assistant Head Coach/ Running Game Coordinator/ Special Teams Coach, 2005; Assistant Head Coach/ Linebackers Coach/ Special Teams Coach, 2003-2004; Special Teams Coach/ Linebackers Coach, 2002)
- UCLA (Assistant Defensive Line coach, 2001)
- Buffalo (Defensive Line coach, 2000; Assistant Defensive Line coach, 1999)
- Albright (PA) College (Linebackers coach, 1998)
Defensive Coordinator/Associate Head Coach, Tony White
New to Matt Rhule’s arsenal of coaches is Tony White. White spent the previous three seasons at Syracuse, where he implemented a 3-3-5 defense.
Last season, White was a Broyles Award nominee, honoring the best assistant coach in college football. The 2022 Syracuse defense ranked 4th in the nation in defensive scoring and 29th in turnovers gained.
White had previously been at Arizona State and San Diego State, coaching the defensive backs. In 2019, at Arizona State, the Sun Devils had 65 deflected passes, enough for 12th in the nation.
Nebraska is White’s second defensive coordinator role, but he now also holds the Associate Head Coach title.
- Syracuse (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers, 2022; Defensive Coordinator, 2020-2021)
- Arizona State (Cornerbacks coach/ Defensive Passing Game Coordinator, 2018-2019)
- San Diego State (Cornerbacks coach/ Recruiting Coordinator, 2011-2017; Cornerbacks coach, 2009-2010)
- New Mexico (Linebackers coach, 2008)
- UCLA (Graduate Assistant, 2007)
Offensive Coordinator, Marcus Satterfield
Marcus Satterfield rejoins Matt Rhule at Nebraska. Satterfield was the Offensive Coordinator under Rhule at Temple, then left for Tennessee Tech. He later returned to Rhule at Baylor as the tight ends coach and followed him to the Carolina Panthers.
Satterfield left his role at the Carolina Panthers and spent the last two seasons at South Carolina as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach.
Satterfield also takes over as the quarterbacks coach at Nebraska, a role Rhule finds important. During his introductory press conference, Rhule said that in the Big Ten, whoever has the best quarterback is “typically going to win.”
Nebraska will be Satterfield’s 5th school as an offensive coordinator and his third as a quarterbacks coach.
- South Carolina (Offensive Coordinator/ Quarterbacks coach, 2021-2022)
- Carolina Panthers (Assistant Offensive Line coach, 2020)
- Baylor (Tight Ends coach, 2019; Recruiting Coordiantor, 2018)
- East Tennessee State (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks coach, 2018)
- Tennessee Tech (Head Coach, 2016-2017)
- Temple (Offensive Coordinator/ Running Backs coach, 2015; Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks coach, 2013-2014)
- Chattanooga (Offensive Coordinator, 2009-2012)
- UT Martin (Associate Head coach/ Passing Game Coordinator, 2006-2007)
- Western Carolina (Wide Receivers coach, 2005)
- Richmond (Wide Receivers coach, 2004)
- Tennessee (Graduate Assistant, 2002-2003)
- Chattanooga (Wide Receivers coach, 2001; Graduate Assistant 1999-2000)
Special Teams Coordinator, Ed Foley
Ed Foley also spent time under Rhule at Temple, Baylor, and the Carolina Panthers. His teams have blocked 30 kicks in his seven seasons coaching college football, and Baylor had seven blocks in 2015.
Running Backs coach, E.J. Barthel
E.J. Barthel coached under Rhule at Temple and the Carolina Panthers. He then spent last season at UConn as the running backs coach. This is Barthel’s fourth college job as a running backs coach and his second at the FBS level.
Secondary/Defensive Pass Game Coordinator, Evan Cooper
Evan Cooper has been with Matt Rhule since 2013 when Rhule took over as head coach of Temple. He was previously the cornerbacks coach at the Carolina Panthers and the cornerbacks and secondary coach at Baylor.
Linebackers, Rob Dvoracek
Dvoracek played under Rhule at Temple. After an injury ended his playing career, he worked as a student assistant for Rhule.
He followed Rhule to Baylor to be in charge of Defensive Quality Control before leaving for Lehigh, where he was the defensive ends and outside linebackers coach. He would reunite with Rhule at the Carolina Panthers only two years later.
Defensive Line, Terrance Knighton
Knighton was a sophomore defensive lineman at Temple when Rhule became Temple’s defensive line coach in 2006. He played in the NFL until 2016.
Knighton began coaching at Wagner as the defensive line coach in 2019 and would join Rhule’s staff at Carolina in 2021.
Wide Receiver, Garret McGuire
Garrett McGuire played under Rhule at Baylor, then joined him at the Carolina Panthers, first as a coaching assistant, then as an offensive assistant. Nebraska will be McGuire’s first college coaching job.
Offensive Line, Donovan Raiola
Raiola enters his second season as Nebraska’s offensive line coach, not having played or coached with Rhule before. He played college football at Wisconsin and spent time on NFL offseason and practice squads.
As a coach, he interned at Hawaii and was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame. He spent one season as Aurora’s offensive line coach before becoming the assistant offensive line coach with the Chicago Bears for four seasons.
Tight Ends, Bob Wager
Bob Wager spent his entire coaching career at the high school level until now as he takes over as the tight ends coach at Nebraska. He coached Myles Garrett in high school, who would go on to be the number one overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Strength and Conditioning, Corey Campbell
Campbell was the assistant strength and conditioning coach under Rhule at the Carolina Panthers and the assistant director of athletic performance at Baylor. Campbell was a fullback and special teams player at Georgia from 2010 to 2013.
