Nebraska hires New England's Pat Stewart as new GM
Matt Rhule‘s off-season of change continues. Since November, Rhule has hired seven new full-time assistant coaches and will have three new coordinators for the 2025 season.
On Wednesday, Rhule made another significant hire to his staff. A University of Nebraska football program source confirmed to HuskerOnline that Rhule is set to hire the New England Patriots Pat Stewart as his new general manager. ESPN first reported the news.
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Stewart served as New England’s director of pro personnel in 2024. He also worked for the Patriots from 2007 to 2017 in a scouting role at the heart of Bill Belichick’s dynasty.
He left New England to become a national scout for Philadelphia from 2018-19. In 2020, he was named the director of player personnel for the Carolina Panthers under Rhule. He was promoted to vice president of player personnel in 2021 before his return to the Patriots in 2023.
Stewart is set to take over the general manager position from Sean Padden, whose role and future in the program remain unclear. ESPN reported on Wednesday that Padden is set to transition into a new role of “assistant AD for strategic initiatives.” This role will include ties to the salary cap, contract negotiations and analytics.
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Several big-time college football programs have made GM hires this off-season
Stewart’s hiring has the potential to completely overhaul NU’s entire scouting and recruiting structure as we move forward in the NIL revenue-sharing era.
Expect Nebraska’s financial commitment to Stewart to be significant. This off-season, we’ve already seen the trend of hiring general managers in college football pick up.
Alabama most recently signed Courtney Morgan to a three-year, $825,000 deal as its GM. A long-time NFL executive, Michael Lombardi, will make $1.5 million annually as North Carolina’s new GM under Belichick.
On Wednesday, Oklahoma announced the hiring of former Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy as its general manager.
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