To the surprise of many, Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule knocked down the first domino of the offseason, shortly after his team put a wrap on their 2025 regular season with an embarrassing home loss to rival, and border team, the Iowa Hawkeyes. On Monday, Rhule fired first year defensive coordinator John Butler.
Rhule released and statement that read: “I informed John Butler earlier today that he will not be retained as defensive coordinator effective immediately. We thank John for his contributions to our football program over the past two seasons and wish him the best moving forward in his coaching career. Phil Snow will serve as the interim defensive coordinator for our upcoming bowl game. We will work toward naming a new defensive coordinator for the 2026 season in the coming weeks.”
Butler’s defense struggled against the run this year but was strong in stopping the pass. Overall, Butler’s defense ranked 22nd nationally. However, the run defense ranked much worse, at 114th nationally.
In the BIG10, team’s success is usually predicated by their ability to stop the run, and to run the football. Butler’s defense left a lot be desired in the run game.
Beyond the lackluster run defense, Butler’s squad finished the year giving up 37 points to Penn State and 40 to Iowa at home.
Why did Matt Rhule fire Butler
It has already been a popular topic on social media to question firing Butler first. Not that fans disagree that Butler should have been fired, although there are a contingent that have reservations, rather, fans wonder why other position coaches that struggled this year did not get fired first.
It is also fair to acknowledge Butler inherited a bad situation. Tony White’s exit caused players to leave (See Jimari Butler, MJ Sherman, and Mikai Gbayor), timed with Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson going to the NFL, the cupboard was left pretty bare. Rhule did little to address the deficiencies in the transfer portal, later citing a lack of money.
Butler’s run defense and collapses against Minnesota, Penn State, and Iowa likely had a lot to do with it. Still, for a first-year coordinator, who had a strong secondary and some justification in the bad run defense with the lack of talent in the front 7, the move seems odd. The quick dismissal of Butler suggests to me that perhaps there was more that went on behind the scenes than we knew. That is not to suggest misconduct or anything like that, but perhaps a big picture, philosophical gap between him and the head man in the direction of the defense. I want to be clear, however, that this is purely speculative, and meant only as a thought experiment on why Rhule moved to dismiss Butler so quickly.
Names to watch
It is hard to say, at least this early, who Rhule will target to replace Butler. However, some names already seemingly make sense. Keep an eye on the following:
- Phil Snow: Longtime friend of Rhule, and former DC for Rhule. Rhule brought him in as a defensive analyst last year. Perhaps he gives him the full time job.
- Jim Leonhard: Former Defensive Coordinator for Wisconsin, currently serving on the defensive staff for the Denver Broncos.
- Jim Knowles: Current Defensive Coordinator for Penn State. Worth keeping tabs on, as the Penn State team is looking for a new Head Coach.