Matt Rhule was an obvious candidate to take over the Penn State head coaching job as soon as the Nittany Lions announced they fired James Franklin on Sunday, but the Nebraska head coach was adamant he loves where he’s at during Monday’s press conference.
“I’m not going to talk a lot about job openings when they come,” Rhule told reporters. “I’m not going to talk about my contract here… I absolutely love it here. I want to continue to take the steps needed to turn this place into a beast.”
Despite the comment, there are plenty of connections between Rhule and Penn State.
He was a walk-on linebacker for the Nittany Lions during the 1990s, met his wife at the university and remains close with athletic director Pat Kraft. It was Kraft who hired him to coach at Temple in 2012.
And Rhule didn’t shy away from that friendship Monday either when he said, “I’m just looking at the future, but again, I love that place (Penn State), I love Pat, I love James Franklin and am sad that came to an end. I wish him the absolute best. But I’m really happy here.”
Rhule has plenty of head coaching experience considering he led Temple from 2012 through 2016, Baylor from 2017 through 2019, and the Carolina Panthers from 2020 until he was fired in 2022.
Nebraska hired him ahead of the 2023 campaign and seems to be turning things around in his third season with a 5-1 record after going a combined 12-13 in his first two seasons. Rhule is 64-57 overall in the college ranks and notably led Temple to back-to-back double-digit win seasons in 2015 and 2016.
His 2019 Baylor team also went 11-3 and reached the Sugar Bowl.
Whoever takes over Penn State will have plenty of pressure, as the school decided to move on from Franklin despite reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals last season. He also had a buyout of more than $49 million, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, but that didn’t stop the move either.
Firing Franklin sent a message that just being a contender but falling short of the title and against other top-10 teams isn’t good enough, which will surely be the expectation for the next coach as well.
The Nittany Lions were known for struggling against marquee competition but taking care of business against overmatched foes during the Franklin era, but back-to-back losses to UCLA and Northwestern changed that narrative and ultimately cost Franklin his job.
It will be one of the highest-profile job openings in all of football ahead of the 2026 campaign, and Rhule will likely remain a part of that discussion even if he does love Nebraska.
