Pete Thamel: 'Instinct' says Matt Rhule will not coach college football in 2023

Matt Rhule has an advantage most coaching candidates in the cycle do not. He is currently without a team attached to his name after being fired by the Carolina Panthers. A few nice checks will be heading his way over the next few years as well but for now, his name is being thrown around for college jobs such as Auburn and Nebraska.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel gave the latest on Rhule, first by saying it’s his “instinct” that Rhule is not going to be coaching college football next season. And then, he said Nebraska is a place where Rhule will be in 2023.

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“I would think that, Matt Rhule, who just got fired by the Panthers, is in listening mode right now,” Thamel said on Wednesday’s edition of the Paul Finebaum Show. “It certainly doesn’t hurt to listen to anyone. My instinct, Paul, is he doesn’t coach in college football next season right now. I don’t think he’ll be the next coach at Nebraska.”

As far as Auburn possibly goes, new athletic director John Cohen will most likely prefer someone with SEC experience according to Thamel. While he recognizes the work Rhule did in the Big 12 and AAC, the Tigers need an SEC-caliber head coach to get things back on track.

“I think that when you look at his Auburn candidacy, he certainly did wonders at Temple and Baylor,” said Thamel. “You have to wonder if they would be leaning towards someone with more SEC experience and experience in the south.”

Matt Rhule could wait-and-see what jobs become available

Last year’s coaching cycle was a crazy one, with some of the top jobs in the country becoming available out of nowhere. Thamel thinks Rhule could use a wait-and-see approach, seeing if anything other than Auburn or Nebraska becomes available.

“I think there’s an allure, if you’re Matt Rhule, to staying out and then seeing — this is not the best coaching cycle in terms of high, high-end jobs, especially if you were in the last coaching cycle, which was by far and away in my time covering this the most high-end jobs that have ever opened,” Thamel said. “You went from a spigot being ripped opened like a fire hydrant to just a little drip, drip, drip this year.

“The reality is, there’s usually somewhere in the middle. There’s usually one or two jobs that open every year where you can win a national championship where there were five or six last year, and there might be one this year.”

For both Auburn and Nebraska, the season will most likely end the weekend after Thanksgiving. The respective athletic directors will want to make hires right away, hoping to get the ball rolling on recruiting and the transfer portal.

For now, it seems as if Rhule will not be involved with either of them.