Matt Rhule is in his third season as Nebraska’s head coach in 2025. The 31st head coach in school history, Rhule led Nebraska to its first bowl appearance in eight years in 2024, leading the Huskers to a victory in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Rhule has 12 years of experience as a head coach, including nine years in the college ranks and three seasons as the head coach of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Highly regarded as a program builder and player developer, Rhule led successful turnarounds of the programs at Baylor and Temple and has improved Nebraska’s record in each of his first two seasons in Lincoln.
The Huskers’ two-win increase in 2024 continued his history of improvement throughout his college career. Rhule’s teams have increased or matched their win total from the previous season in each of his nine seasons as a college head coach. Additionally, Rhule is one of just 10 active FBS head coaches to guide three different schools to bowl appearances.
After leading Nebraska to five wins in his first season in 2023, Rhule’s second Nebraska team took another step forward. The seven wins were the most at Nebraska since 2016, and the bowl victory was the program’s first since 2015. Nebraska posted an unbeaten record against non-conference teams for the first time since 2005, and the Huskers were ranked as high as No. 22 during the season, NU’s highest ranking in eight years.
Nebraska ranked in the top 20 nationally in rushing, scoring and total defense in 2024, and under Rhule the Huskers are one of only four teams nationally to rank in the top 20 in those categories each of the past two seasons. Offensively, Nebraska was the nation’s third-most improved passing team in 2024. Rhule’s program excelled off the field as the Huskers had the most Academic All-Big Ten selections of any conference school.
The steady improvement at Nebraska follows the path of Rhule’s success at Temple and Baylor. Temple won only two games in Rhule’s first season but in year three, the Owls set a school record for victories and played in the conference championship game. After leading Temple to a conference title the next season, Rhule moved on to Baylor with similar success. The Bears won only one game in Rhule’s first season but in his third year, Baylor won a school-record 11 games and played in the Big 12 Championship Game and the Sugar Bowl.
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