How Nebraska coach Matt Rhule brought Philly with him in his return to college football

Before an opportunity presented itself to get back into college coaching, when he was just a dad “driving his kids to school and doing pickups and all that,” Matt Rhule kept his eye on recruiting prospects and rampant movement in the NCAA’s transfer portal.

So when he was named Nebraska’s head coach in November following two-plus seasons as the head coach of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, Rhule had already hit the ground running with a wish list of recruits — a handful of which brought him back to Philadelphia.

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Rhule spent eight years at Temple in various positions, and, as head coach led the Owls to a 10-win season, a Top 25 ranking, and a memorable victory over Penn State during the 2015 season. Temple again recorded 10 wins in 2016, Rhule’s last season before he left for Baylor.

On the second day of Big Ten media days, Rhule said he wants to recruit as many Nebraska-based prep players as possible, but it would also appear when looking outside the Cornhusker State, Rhule has eyes for the Philadelphia region. Exhibit A would be three-star defensive back Rahmir Stewart, the Imhotep grad who along with Vincent Carroll-Jackson of Harrisburg became the first Pennsylvania natives to sign with the Cornhuskers out of high school in 24 years.

“I spent a lot of time looking at recruits and [assistant coach] Evan Cooper, who’s on my staff, [has] really been my recruiting guy, [my] right-hand guy all along,” Rhule said from the podium at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. “We watched not just the kids that were committed to Nebraska. We watched the 2023 class that was still out there. We watched the 2024 [class] and 2025.”

Rhule also went local via the transfer portal, finding a home for Elijah Jeudy, the four-star defensive lineman out of Northeast High School that found it hard to latch on at Texas A&M and again at Penn State.

Rhule also has former Philly coaches working behind the scenes with Omar Hales, the former defensive coordinator at Imhotep making a move to Nebraska to be Rhule’s director of player personnel, in addition to Mike Wallace, a Temple alumnus who was on Rhule’s staff during his time with the Owls and later at Baylor, taking on a new role as director of football advancement.

But how does all of that equate to getting off on the right foot with Nebraska? Rhule still appeared to be figuring that out.

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“I’d be a fool if I didn’t ask [former Nebraska coach Tom] Osborne what the blueprint is,” said Rhule when it comes to success at Nebraska. Osborne coached the Cornhuskers for 25 years, won 255 games, and won three national championships. “[Osborne] doesn’t talk about plays. He talks about the way they practice, first and foremost. … And so that was all intentional, and that was part of the reason why we took the job, because if you’re strong at home, if there’s talent coming from Nebraska, then you’re going to win.”

How it will all shake out remains to be seen as Nebraska prepares for its season opener on Aug. 31 at Minnesota (8 p.m., Fox 29), but Rhule, a linebacker at Penn State from 1994-97, seems content with being back in familiar confines, coaching in a conference he now knows as a player and a head coach.

“I’ve evolved, you know, being in the NFL, being at different places,” Rhule said. “This is my fourth head coaching job. I tried to be really intentional about taking this job and about how am I going to do it. I’ve got great coaches, and they bring a lot to the table, a lot of ideas, and we’re going to try to put it together as best we can.”

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh didn’t want to get into specifics surrounding a possible four-game suspension for alleged recruitment infractions stemming from the COVID-19 dead period. Making matters worse are suggestions that Harbaugh may not have been entirely truthful when answering questions from the NCAA committee. When asked about it Thursday, Harbaugh used a blanket response — before going all Forrest Gump to close out.

“As you already know, I can’t, I’m not allowed to talk about any aspect of that ongoing situation,” Harbaugh told reporters. “I mean, I love to lay it all out there. Nothing to be ashamed of but now is not that time and that’s about all there is to say about that.”

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On the first day of Big Ten media days, new commissioner Tony Petitti voiced his concerns on the rampant movement in the transfer portal.

But a few of the coaches who commented on the subject Thursday saw it a bit differently.

Over the course of his 15 minutes, first-year Purdue coach Ryan Walters repeatedly referred to having an offseason where his staff “attacked the transfer portal,” and Harbaugh appeared to be content in the new reality of free agency when it comes to college football.

“I would say so far, so good; and no need to change,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, surely [we] need more data, right? But, I mean, of all the players I talked to, the ones that were on our team that went into the portal and those that came from the portal to our team, they categorize it as a good thing — and at least it was their decision.”

Specifically, the NCAA transfer portal for football, which allows a 60-day off-again, on-again window, saw roughly 8,700 athletes go through the portal from August 2022 to May 2023, according to an ESPN report.

“Even when I talk to our own players who haven’t gone in the portal, asked them, ‘What do you think of the portal?’” Harbaugh said. “And they say [it] does more good than it is negative. I think that’s a tremendous way to categorize it, at least from my view, [and] from the players’ view that I’ve talked to. And certainly too soon to change it.”

Inquirer staff writer Devin Jackson contributed to this report