Matt Rhule
Matt Rhule went 71–64 as a head coach, 2013–2026, at Temple, Baylor and Nebraska. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 5–1); by them his record is 71–63. Share
- Record
- 71–64 career
- Seasons
- 11
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jan 31, 1975
- Best season
- 2019 11–3, No. 13
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Temple | 2–10 | T–9th | |||
| 2014 | Temple | 6–6 | 6th | |||
| 2015 | Temple | 10–4 | 1st | Boca Raton Bowl L | ||
| 2016 | Temple | 10–3 | 1st | Military (not coached) | ||
| 2017 | Baylor | 1–11 | 9th | |||
| 2018 | Baylor | 7–6 | T–5th | Texas Bowl W | ||
| 2019 | Baylor | 11–3 | 2nd | Sugar Bowl L | 13 | |
| 2020–22: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2023 | Nebraska | 5–7 | 4th | |||
| 2024 | Nebraska | 7–6 | T–12th | Pinstripe Bowl W | ||
| 2025 | Nebraska | 7–6 | T–10th | Las Vegas Bowl L | ||
| 2026 | Nebraska | 5–2 (Wikipedia: 5–1) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
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Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 28 | 2–26 | 7% |
| Against top-10 teams | 12 | 0–12 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 20 | 6–14 | 30% |
| Conference games | 90 | 44–46 | 49% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 5 | 2–3 | 40% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 52 | 19–33 | 37% |
| At home | 70 | 42–28 | 60% |
| On the road | 56 | 25–31 | 45% |
| At neutral sites | 9 | 4–5 | 44% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 65 | 50–15 | 77% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 70 | 21–49 | 30% |
His own 135 games on file, 2013–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Riley 2017–2025 | 0–6 | Oklahoma, USC | 6 | |
| Tommy Tuberville 2013–2016 | 2–2 | Cincinnati | 4 | |
| Tom Herman 2015–2019 | 1–3 | Houston, Texas | 4 | |
| Bob Diaco 2014–2016 | 3–0 | UConn | 3 | |
| Justin Fuente 2013–2015 | 2–1 | Memphis | 3 | |
| Frank Wilson 2017–2019 | 2–1 | UTSA | 3 | |
| Mike Gundy 2017–2019 | 2–1 | Oklahoma State | 3 | |
| Mike Locksley 2023–2026 | 2–1 | Maryland | 3 | |
| George O’Leary 2013–2015 | 1–2 | UCF | 3 | |
| James Franklin 2014–2016 | 1–2 | Penn State | 3 |
Matt Rhule’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnatiseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| UConnseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Memphisseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| UCFseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| Penn Stateseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Oklahomaseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| East Carolinaseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Kansasseries | 3 | 3–0 |
How he was hired
- Hired by Baylor for the 2017 season from Temple, where he was head coach.
- Hired by Nebraska for the 2023 season; he had been a head coach.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Penn State | Volunteer assistant | |
| 1998 | Albright | Linebackers coach | |
| 1999–2000 | Buffalo | Defensive line coach | |
| 2001 | UCLA | Defensive line coach | |
| 2002 | Western Carolina | Linebackers and special teams coach | |
| 2003–05 | Western Carolina | Assistant head coach and linebackers and special teams coach | |
| 2006 | Temple | Defensive line coach | |
| 2007 | Temple | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2008–10 | Temple | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2011 | Temple | Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| 2012 | New York Giants NFL | Assistant offensive line | |
| 2013–16 | Temple | Head coach | |
| 2017–19 | Baylor | Head coach | |
| 2020–22 | Carolina Panthers NFL | Head coach | |
| 2023–present | Nebraska | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Joe PaternoPenn State
- Craig CirbusBuffalo
- Bob ToledoUCLA
- Kent BriggsWestern Carolina
- Al GoldenTemple
- Steve AddazioTemple
- Tom CoughlinNew York Giants
Assistants who became head coaches
- Ed FoleyTemple, Fordham
- Fran BrownSyracuse
- Marcus SatterfieldTennessee Tech
- Terry SmithPenn State
- Elijah RobinsonTexas A&M
- George DeLeoneSouthern Connecticut State
- Joey McGuireTexas Tech
- Paul PasqualoniSyracuse, UConn, Western Connecticut
- Dana HolgorsenWest Virginia, Houston
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Paterno | Penn State | 1998 | Volunteer assistant | |
| Craig Cirbus | Buffalo | 1999–2000 | Defensive line coach | |
| Bob Toledo | UCLA | 2001 | Defensive line coach | |
| Kent Briggs | Western Carolina | 2002–05 | 2002: linebackers and special teams coach; 2003–05: assistant head coach and linebackers and special teams coach | |
| Al Golden | Temple | 2006–10 | 2006: defensive line coach; 2007: quarterbacks coach; 2008–10: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Steve Addazio | Temple | 2011 | Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Tom Coughlin | New York Giants NFL | 2012 | Assistant offensive line |
Coached under him, later head coaches (9)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Foley | Temple, 2013–16: assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach; Baylor, 2019: analyst; Carolina Panthers, 2020–22: assistant special teams coordinator; Nebraska, 2023–24: special teams coordinator | Temple, Fordham | |
| Fran Brown | Temple, 2013–15: defensive backs coach; 2016: assistant head coach and defensive backs coach; Baylor, 2017–18: assistant head coach and defensive backs coach | Syracuse | |
| Marcus Satterfield | Temple, 2013–14: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2015: offensive coordinator and running backs coach; Baylor, 2018–19: tight ends coach; Carolina Panthers, 2020: assistant offensive line; Nebraska, 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2024: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; 2024–26: tight ends coach | Tennessee Tech | |
| Terry Smith | Temple, 2013: wide receivers coach | Penn State | |
| Elijah Robinson | Temple, 2014–15: defensive line coach; 2016: defensive line coach and running game coordinator; Baylor, 2017: defensive line coach | Texas A&M | |
| George DeLeone | Temple, 2016: offensive line coach; Baylor, 2017: offensive line coach; 2018–19: consultant | Southern Connecticut State | |
| Joey McGuire | Baylor, 2017–18: tight ends coach; 2019: assistant head coach and defensive ends coach | Texas Tech | |
| Paul Pasqualoni | Carolina Panthers, 2022: defensive line coach | Syracuse, UConn, Western Connecticut | |
| Dana Holgorsen | Nebraska, 2024–26: offensive coordinator | West Virginia, Houston |
Other assistants under him (13)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Phil Snow | Temple, 2013–16: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; Baylor, 2017–18: defensive coordinator; 2019: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; Carolina Panthers, 2020–22: defensive coordinator; Nebraska, 2025–26: assistant head coach | |
| Glenn Thomas | Temple, 2015: quarterbacks coach; 2016: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Baylor, 2017–19: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Nebraska, 2024–26: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Jeff Nixon | Baylor, 2017–19: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach; Carolina Panthers, 2020: running backs coach; 2021: running backs coach and interim offensive coordinator; 2022: assistant head coach offense | |
| Shawn Bell | Baylor, 2017: offensive analyst; 2018–19: offensive line coach | |
| DJ Mangas | Carolina Panthers, 2020: coaching assistant | |
| Jake Peetz | Carolina Panthers, 2020: quarterbacks coach | |
| Pat Meyer | Carolina Panthers, 2020–21: offensive line coach | |
| David Corley Jr. | Carolina Panthers, 2021: intern | |
| Joe Dailey | Carolina Panthers, 2022: wide receivers coach | |
| Tony White | Nebraska, 2023–24: defensive coordinator | |
| John Butler | Nebraska, 2024: defensive backs coach and defensive pass game coordinator; 2025: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Mike Ekeler | Nebraska, 2025: special teams coordinator | |
| Rob Aurich | Nebraska, 2026: defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Temple | head coach | $1,041,739 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Temple | head coach | $648,633 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Rhule’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 39% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 50% of plays and took 26.3 seconds a play, 2013–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 12 g | Temple | 21 of 91 23% | 32% | 52% | 22.9 | +0.08 | |
| 2014 12 g | Temple | 23 of 121 19% | 37% | 55% | 24.4 | −0.20 | |
| 2015 14 g | Temple | 23 of 115 20% | 33% | 48% | 27.9 | −0.01 | |
| 2016 14 g | Temple | 23 of 103 22% | 44% | 45% | 28.2 | +0.05 | |
| 2017 12 g | Baylor | 33 of 116 28% | 40% | 57% | 23.8 | −0.02 | |
| 2018 13 g | Baylor | 22 of 97 23% | 42% | 53% | 25.1 | +0.15 | |
| 2019 14 g | Baylor | 15 of 103 15% | 28% | 51% | 25.0 | +0.10 | |
| 2023 12 g | Nebraska | 14 of 86 16% | 37% | 39% | 29.6 | −0.12 | |
| 2024 12 g | Nebraska | 19 of 80 24% | 41% | 53% | 27.8 | +0.02 | |
| 2025 13 g | Nebraska | 28 of 84 33% | 59% | 50% | 27.9 | +0.11 | |
| 2026 7 g | Nebraska | 13 of 47 28% | 56% | 49% | 27.1 | +0.15 | |
| All 135 g | 234 of 1043 22% | 39% | 50% | 26.3 | +0.03 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.