Should Nebraska Hire Matt Rhule?

Is it time for Nebraska to pick up the phone and call Matt Rhule?

The Panthers fired Rhule Monday after a 1-4 start to the season. He ended his time in Carolina with a disappointing 11-27 record since 2020.

While Rhule's time in the NFL is over for the foreseeable future, there might be a chance he could land in the Big Ten with the Cornhuskers as the team searches for a new coach after firing Scott Frost.

The belief is Lance Leipold and Matt Campbell are near the top of Nebraska's wishlist, but that doesn't mean Rhule should be ignored in the search.

Matt Rhule is a proven winner at the college level.

During three seasons with the Baylor Bears, Rhule went 19-20, but that record hardly tells the whole story.

When the former Panthers coach left Temple for Waco, the Bears were an absolutely awful team. Nobody feared them and chaos had engulfed the program.

In his first season in 2017, Baylor went 1-11. Just a couple years later, Baylor went 11-3 and made the Sugar Bowl.

Ignoring year one at Baylor, Rhule went 18-9. He had the Bears competitive by year two and they were damn good by year three of his tenure.

In his final two years at Temple, he went 20-7. The man has a track record of winning at the college level.

Will the Cornhuskers pursue Rhule?

Now, will Nebraska make Rhule an offer? It all depends on whether or not he's even interested in coaching in college. There's been some speculation he'd only return for certain unnamed jobs, but there are few jobs bigger than the one in Lincoln.

From there, the Cornhuskers have to determine whether or not Rhule is a better option than Leipold or Campbell. I think fans would probably prefer the Kansas coach over Rhule, but it might be a coin-flip against Matt Campbell.

Will Matt Rhule coach in college again? (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

In short, Nebraska should at least gauge his interest. Pick up the phone and get a read on him. From there, start making strategic decisions on who to pursue.