Matt Rhule, Nebraska Reportedly Agree to New Contract, Revised Buyout amid PSU Rumors

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule has been one of the rumored targets for Penn State's coaching vacancy since James Franklin was fired.

It's safe to say he's now out of the running.

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Rhule has signed a two-year extension with Nebraska that will keep him under contract through the 2032 season, but more importantly includes a "$15 million buyout this year that effectively eliminates him from any jobs in this coaching cycle."

Thamel offered more details on the extension:

"We love it here," Rhule said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show shortly after news of his extension broke. "There's lots of great jobs, but very rarely in this business do you find a home. And we felt like Nebraska was our home. This program's our home. I love these players, I love this place. Our athletic director, Troy Dannen, and our president, Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, have been amazing to me. It's just the alignment—you see places that don't have alignment—we've got amazing alignment, and we're building. ... I appreciate it. They're betting on the future and we're doubling down."

Rhule, 50, has served as the head coach for Temple (2013-16), Baylor (2017-19) and Nebraska (2023-present) during his college coaching career, and also was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers between the 2020-22 seasons.

At the college level he's gone 65-58 across 10 seasons and his Nebraska tenure has gotten off to a slow start, with an 18-15 record. This year the Cornhuskers are 6-2, though a disappointing loss to Minnesota two weeks ago removed them from the top 25 rankings.

This year's coaching carousel is expected to be fairly wild, with seriously high-profile vacancies at LSU, Penn State and Florida. But there are other Power 4 openings as well at Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Stanford, UCLA and Virginia Tech.

There is going to be a lot of turnover this offseason, in other words, and that's even before other vacancies potentially happen at major programs. But as of Thursday, you can strike one potential target off the list in Rhule.