Trev Alberts reveals when Matt Rhule agreed to take Nebraska job

Many around the country believe in Christmas miracles, but Nebraska’s athletic director, Trev Alberts, might now be a fan of Thanksgiving miracles. After a long and arduous process of selecting a head coach for the Cornhuskers football program, Alberts was able to agree to terms with former Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule. The two worked long and hard on a deal before Rhule finally agreed to take the Nebraska job, as the Nebraska AD explained.

“We agreed at 11 o’clock Thanksgiving morning. So, this was hard; this was really hard,” said Alberts. “We won’t go into all the details, but I will only tell you that it was a hard process. And I think Matt was determined to find a way and I was determined to find a way.”

Alberts had a long list of candidates before finally settling on Rhule. With the Cornhuskers’ football program long and far away from the prestige it once had, Albert is turning to an individual known for resurrecting college football programs. Rhule might have had some trouble at the NFL level getting the Panthers back to being a competitive franchise, but in college, his record speaks for itself. Rhule is responsible for resurrecting both the Temple Owls and the Baylor Bears before trying his hand at the NFL.

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Alberts details talks with Mickey Joseph after hiring Matt Rhule

Alberts had a tough decision on his hands when it came to selecting the next head coach of the football program. Ultimately Rhule beat out a list of candidates, including interim head coach Joseph. However, there were some that wondered whether or not Joseph had a fighting chance at becoming the Cornhuskers’ next head coach. Alberts recently addressed that topic and provided insight on why Rhule was the guy for Nebraska.

“Yes, as we said at the press conference, he had the benefit of being a head coach for nine games,” said Alberts. “And I continued meeting with Mickey weekly. Then, ultimately as a process, we sat down, and he walked me through his vision. And Mickey’s an outstanding coach, and he’s got a huge and bright future in the business. We’ll see whether it continues here. Obviously, coach Rhule wants to sit down with him.

“I have so much respect for Mickey Joseph and what he’s done for our program; our players do as well. But for me, looking at where our program is today and perhaps some of it is risk mitigation if you will; having somebody that has built a program multiple times at multiple levels under difficult circumstances. Matt Rhule was the coach that was the most obvious choice for me.”