Report: Nebraska expected to hire John Butler as new secondary coach

It didn’t take Nebraska long to find a replacement for former defensive backs coach Evan Cooper. The Cornhuskers are expected to hire former Bills assistant coach John Butler, according to Pete Thamel.

Cooper surprisingly resigned from his position on Friday, leading to Butler’s hire on Saturday morning. Butler also has NFL experience with the Texans.

“Sources: Nebraska is expected to hire former Buffalo Bills assistant coach John Butler as the program’s new secondary coach. He’s a longtime NFL defensive backs coach with stints at the Texans (2014-17) and Bills (2018-23),” Thamel posted on Twitter Saturday morning.

This isn’t the first time that Butler has coached at the college level. He has previously worked at Minnesota, South Carolina and Penn State at the Power Four level, as well as at some smaller schools.

At Nebraska, Butler will work under Matt Rhule, who is entering his second season as the Nebraska head coach. The Cornhuskers finished the 2023 campaign with a 5-7 record.

This is an important season for Rhule and Nebraska as they try to take a big step forward in Year 2 in Lincoln. The schedule sets up nicely for the Cornhuskers, with On3’s Andy Staples recently sharing that he believes Nebraska will start the season 7-0. If that is indeed the case, you can bet there will be plenty of excitement around the program.

It’s important for Butler to come in, learn his personnel and hit the ground running as the season gets underway in less than two months. Rhule should help with that as he played linebacker in college and got his start coaching on the defensive side of the ball.

Nebraska also has one of the best defensive coordinators in the country in Tony White, who should help with that transition.

More on Evan Cooper resigning from his position as Nebraska secondary coach

Nebraska assistant Evan Cooper officially resigned from his position on Friday evening, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The news was also confirmed on Friday night by HuskerOnline.com. He worked as the Cornhuskers’ secondary coach and their defensive pass game coordinator.

The Cornhuskers had one of the top defenses in the nation in the 2023-2024 campaign, ranking 13th in the country in scoring defense (18.3 points per game). The Cornhuskers passing defense ranked 40th in the nation in yards allowed per game (210.6 per outing). And their rush defense was among one of the best units in all of college football. They allowed just 92.9 yards per game on the ground, ranking them ninth in the country in that stat.

Cooper played at Temple when Rhule was an assistant coach, and Cooper had been serving on Rhule’s coaching staff for the 12th consecutive season.