Matt Rhule addresses timing of secondary coach change

Nebraska recently retooled its football coaching staff, hiring John Butler as the new defensive backs coach. But it’s not a move that head coach Matt Rhule would’ve wanted to make during the middle of the summer.

But when then-defensive backs coach Evan Cooper resigned, Rhule didn’t have much of a choice. And he was actually able to lock down Butler as a new assistant after previously trying to hire him in the spring.

“So I reached out to John like, ‘Hey, you’re out, would you want to do this?’ And it was just not the right time. He’s got a 13-year-old son,” Rhule said at Big Ten Media Days. “Well, Evan resigns, the job’s open, we interview a bunch of people. John’s two towns down from me at the beach. I said ‘Hey, come down and talk to me.’ And I think at that point, because football season was right around the corner, I think he was ready and we’ve known each other a long time. I think it just made more sense. So his football acumen, the fact that he’s been a coordinator, his intelligence. You talk to him for five minutes and you’re like, ‘OK, I get it.’ He’s going to be — I think he’s going to make our players better.”

As for Cooper’s departure, Rhule opted not to speak about any of the reasons why Cooper opted to step back from his role.

“I can’t say too much. The way I’ve always approached it whether it’s a kid transferring or a coach resigning, that’s their story to tell,” Rhule said. “So Evan can share his reasons for leaving the program. But he’s a friend, he’s a colleague, done a lot for me. I love him. I hate that the time came to an end, but it came to an end. And when things happen — coaches leave, players leave, guys hit the portal — it’s my job to make the program better. So I think we got better with John and wish Evan the best.”

Rhule is excited about his young quarterback

Dylan Raiola is a freshman but he practices like a seasoned pro. At the 2024 Big Ten Media Days, Rhule raved about the highly-touted quarterback.

“Dylan’s done a great job just coming in and being one of the guys. He just shows up and he works. That’s probably a credit to Dom and Yvonne (Raiola’s parents),” Rhule said. “If I walk in to get my little old man workout in the afternoon at 4 o’clock he’s usually there doing something extra. If I go in early in the morning, he’s usually there throwing.

“What Dylan has shown me is that he’s willing to put that time in and the game comes natural to him because he puts the work in and I’d say that’s really that whole room. I think that’s one reason why we brought [quarterbacks coach] Glenn [Thomas] in, so that they had somebody they could just just go to full-time.”