AP source: Nebraska closing in on Matt Rhule as coach November 25 Nebraska and former Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule were finalizing a deal Friday to make him the Cornhuskers' coach.A person with direct knowledge of the situation told The A sociated Pre s that after several days of discu sions, Nebraska made Rhule an offer Thursday that persuaded the former Temple and Baylor coach to return to college after two-plus years in the NFL.The Tim Lopes Jersey person spoke to The A sociated Pre s on condition of anonymity because details of a contract including what the Panthers might still owe Rhule are still be worked out and no announcement from the school was imminent.ESPN first reported Nebraska was closing in on a deal to make Rhule its coach.Rhule has been out of work le s than two months since .He was 11-27 with Carolina and left with about $40 million remaining on the seven-year, guaranteed $62 million contract he signed in 2020. The contract made Rhule the sixth-highest paid coach in the NFL when he signed in 2020, according to Forbes. One of eight Football Bowl Subdivision programs with at least 900 wins but more than 20 years removed from Omar Narvaez Jersey its 1990s heyday, Nebraska is pinning its hopes on the 47-year-old Rhule to recreate his succe s at his previous two college stops. Twice Rhule took over struggling programs and built them into conference contenders in three years.The Cornhuskers played at Iowa on Friday and will finish with their sixth straight losing season. after the Huskers opened 1-2 with lo ses to Northwestern in Ireland and to Georgia Southern at home. They were 2-6 under interim coach Mickey Joseph entering the Iowa game.Nebraska was 16-31 in four-plus seasons under Frost, never finishing higher than fifth in the Big Ten West or going to a bowl.Rhule would become the sixth Nebraska coach since College Football Hall of Famer Tom Osborne retired after the 1997 season. The Huskers haven't won a conference championship since 1999 under Frank Solich or played in a bowl since 2016 under Mike Riley.Rhule is no stranger to the Big Ten. He moved from New York City to State College, Pennsylvania, as a teenager. He played linebacker at Penn State from 1994-97 and began his coaching there as a volunteer a sistant.Alberts has lamented the Huskers' lack of player development and physicality, particularly on the lines. Those areas would appear to be in Rhule's wheelhouse. He was a defensive line coach at Temple in 2006 before moving to the offensive side as quarterbacks coach and coordinator. He left Temple for a year to be the New York Giants' a sistant offensive line coach in 2012.Rhule returned to Temple as head coach when Steve Adazzio left for Boston College, and the Owls went 2-10 and 6-6 before he put together Taylor Guilbeau Jersey back-to-back 10-win seasons and won the 2016 American Athletic Conference championship.He was named Baylors coach on Dec. 6, 2016, in the wake of an investigation that found the private Baptist university had not responded adequately to allegations of sexual a sault by players, resulting in the firing of Art Briles.Rhule's trajectory was similar at Baylor, where he went from 1-11 in 2017 to 7-6 with a bowl game the next season. In his third and final season, Baylor was ranked in the top Austin Adams Jersey 10, played in the Big 12 championship game and finished 11-3 after a Sugar Bowl lo s to Georgia.Rhule was the first NFL coach to be fired this year after the Panthers lost four of their first five games.___AP College Football Writer Eric Olson contributed to this report.___AP college football: hub/college-football and ap_top25. Sign up for the APs college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2 in this topic Carolina Panthers National Football League Temple Owls Baylor Bears Nebraska Cornhuskers Carolina Panthers Spain or Morocco? World Cup pa sions blur in Spanish exclave The World Cup knockout game between Spain and Morocco will bring millions of fans on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar together around screens in bars and living rooms Jake Fraley Jersey to see w... 28 MINS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Believe the hype, Bellingham is lighting up the World Cup Jordan Henderson knew exactly who to thank after opening the scoring in Englands 3-0 win against Senegal 59 MINS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Mbapp is bringing soccer to a new dimension at World Cup Cristiano Ronaldos precision 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS Poland finds its true level at World Cup, beaten by the best Poland heads home from the World Cup as the latest team unable to resist an inspired Kylian Mbapp 1 HOUR AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS World Cup fans find booze at hotels, Qatar's 1 liquor store Qatar's strict rules regarding alcohol have drawn attention as it hosts the World Cup 3 HOURS AGO ASSOCIATED PRESS
