Matt Rhule will not be the next Penn State football coach.
The 50-year-old coach has signed a two-year extension with Nebraska that adds a $15 million buyout for this year and basically removes his name from any open job on the market.
News: Matt Rhule is staying at Nebraska, sources confirm to @NBCSports. He has agreed to a two-year contract extension (through 2032) — same base pay + big CFP incentives in the deal.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) October 30, 2025
There's a $15 million buyout if he were to leave this year. So, cross him off for Penn State.
What was Rhule's link to Penn State?
Rhule's ties to Penn State run deep. He played high school football at State College High and walked on to the Nittany Lions program where he was a linebacker. Rhule graduated from Penn State in 1997 and volunteered on the coaching staff for part of the 1998 season.
He is close with Penn State's Athletic Director Pat Kraft and the two have described their relationship as being as close as brothers. Rhule and Kraft worked together at Temple, and it was in Rhule's third year as the head coach of the Owls that they pulled off a shocking upset of Penn State.
With the history between Rhule and Kraft along with Rhule's personal ties to Penn State, his name was immediately floated around as a potential replacement for James Franklin. Rhule is in his third year at Nebraska and has the Cornhuskers bowl-eligible in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2015-16.
Was Rhule a top candidate?
It's hard to say how much of a top candidate he was. Rhule's ties with Kraft can be ignored, but neither can perception. Franklin might have had issues beating the top teams in the Big Ten, but he won a lot of football games and led the Nittany Lions to five top-10 finishes, multiple BCS bowls and an appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Rhule is a very good coach — the man had consecutive 10-win seasons at Temple (!!), but when comparing resumes, he falls short and has his own issues beating teams in the top 25.
It's a safer bet to say Indiana's Curt Cignetti was THE top candidate, but he decided to sign a massive extension with the Hoosiers that could be interpreted as a lifetime contract.
What's next for Penn State?
The search continues and Texas A&M's Mike Elko is a name that's come up a few times. It seems like everybody is monitoring what Lane Kiffin's next move is going to be. There's a good chance that both coaches will just leverage this interest into big contract extensions at their current spots.
After those two names there's Iowa State's Matt Campbell, maybe former LSU coach Brian Kelly (unlikely) and a couple of NFL offensive coordinators -- Buffalo's Joe Brady and Baltimore's Todd Monken -- could also be in the mix.
With LSU and Florida also open, Penn State will have some tough competition in finding the next leader of the program.