This Is Why Giving Coaches Huge Extensions Isn't Always Smart

The 2025 college football season is rapidly coming to a close, and in a year with a ton of openings across major programs in top conferences, that presents opportunities for coaches who just lost their jobs at their previous programs, like James Franklin. It also gives opportunities to coaches who are looking to move up.

And perhaps most importantly, it presents opportunities for coaches who can use available openings to negotiate big extensions at their current program.

In theory, it makes sense for both sides. Coaches get the security of a new, long-term contract, while athletic directors can ensure they aren't forced to look for a replacement. Especially if they're happy with the direction of the team, recruiting and forward progress, the extension can be an important tool to maintain stability.

Or, what happened with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and head coach Matt Rhule late in the season can happen. And provide a cautionary tale for AD's desperate to retain their staff.

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Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule. Photo: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Matt Rhule Extension Suddenly Doesn't Look Great

Rhule was already set to stay in Lincoln through the 2030 season, and hadn't exactly set the world on fire during his first two seasons back in college football. He went 5-7 in 2023, then 7-6 in 2024. 

The 2025 season, though, seemed to show some improvement. The Huskers started the season 3-1 with a win over Cincinnati, then lost a close 30-27 game to the Michigan Wolverines, only to rebound with two more wins. They had an inexplicable 24-6 loss at Minnesota and beat Northwestern to improve to 6-2. 

Solid, but not spectacular. Still, despite just an 18-15 record at Nebraska, rumors started to swirl that Penn State could be interested in Rhule after firing James Franklin. And on October 30, Cornhuskers AD Troy Dannen added two more years at $12.5 million, per season, to his existing contract. It also increased his buyout, if hired elsewhere, to $15 million, essentially locking him in for the foreseeable future. His contract is also 90 percent guaranteed, making his buyout, if fired, an incredible $71 million. 

After signing the extension, Nebraska lost to USC in Lincoln 21-17. Though the Huskers beat UCLA 28-21, the last two weeks have been an unmitigated disaster. Penn State blew them out 37-10 at Happy Valley. Then on Saturday, Iowa came into Lincoln and dropped 40 points in an easy 40-16 win.

So the Cornhuskers have now completed their 2025 regular season, finishing 7-5 with losses to Michigan, USC, Minnesota, Penn State and Iowa. That makes Rhule a combined 19-18 in his three seasons with Nebraska. Yes Dylan Raiola got hurt, but it's not as though the Cornhuskers were a legitimate threat in the Big Ten even before he went down. 

Rhule's now set to make increasingly more money each season, is signed through 2032, and has a massive buyout that all but prohibits him being fired, or hired elsewhere. And that's exactly why the obsessive focus on giving out coaching extensions is so dangerous, and often ill-advised.

How does the Mike Norvell extension, signed in February 2024, look these days? Or Deion Sanders with Colorado, where he'll make $10 million this season, with escalators each year? James Franklin signed a 10-year extension in 2021, and just a few years later, he's out.

This is the risk you take with coaching extensions. For every Kirby Smart or Ryan Day, there's a buyout disaster. 

Look at USC right now. Lincoln Riley has become a big name for several openings, including Florida. SC could offer Riley another lucrative extension, despite a middling tenure in LA, and ensure he doesn't leave. But is that really worth the risk? Increasingly, it seems like the answer is no. Let someone else pay and take the risk. Or risk becoming Nebraska, where they're paying Matt Rhule through 2032, no matter what.