Rhule to Penn State?

[lo country]

I’m thinking Rhule stays. He’s starting to get NU headed in the right direction, has a great social media presence, own podcast, on Pat McAffee’s show and is like a rock star here…. They’re not firing Franklin for a rebuild. And no proof of continued success after 2 previous (hopefully 3) 3 year turn arounds….Other guys with “proven” success over longer periods of time are being mentioned as well. Just get him the NIL budget to compete.

 

[Corn Train]

Kemon Spell - decommitted after Franklin's firing, announced offers from both Nebraska and Oregon on Oct. 12
Layton Von Brandt - decommitted after Franklin's firing, no offers announced (yet) from Nebraska
Gabriel Jenkins - decommitted after Franklin's firing, has had an offer from Nebraska since Jan. 18 and has recently scheduled a visit to Nebraska since decommitting
Khalil Taylor - decommitted Friday before Franklin's firing, has had an offer from Nebraska since Nov. 2023 has recently scheduled a visit to Nebraska since decommitting

So, just to summarize:
- One dude was offered same day that Oregon offered (clearly acquisition/clean-up attempts from both programs)
- One dude has no visible offer yet
- Two dudes have been offered for months (years in one case) and recently scheduled visits to Nebraska because of their decommitment.

Also, Penn St. had four commits prior to last Friday.

TLDR Stephen Conneely is lying, fear-mongering, and/or being a moron.

I wasn’t sure how to interpret that tweet. It would make more sense to indicate Rhule not leaving in that he wouldn’t be offering/actively recruiting PSU decommits to come play at Nebraska if he knows he won’t be here past this season. I’ve been having a gander at the recruiting activity just since yesterday, some of what @Mavric has been updating here, but also straight from twitter and etc, and tryna see what the tea leaves have to say. In general I feel more positive today about the matter

 

[Red Five]

But also there will probably be a lot of rumored interest from the coaches' agents to use as leverage for raises at their current schools.

Any names of current head coaches you are hearing now is just agent chatter trying to get their guy a hefty raise. No hires are going to be made until late November.

 

[gossamorharpy]

I still don't think Rhule is even a top-5 choice for them, but their top choices are going to be tough to pull because they are in great situations. But also there will probably be a lot of rumored interest from the coaches' agents to use as leverage for raises at their current schools.

Penn state bout to find out real quick they're not a tier 1 job. Unless they backing up the brinks truck and offering freeman 15+ mil a year I struggle to come up with a single reason why he'd take a job that is a clear downgrade from notre dame on and off the field

 

[Red Five]

Since wins against ranked teams seems to be a talking point regarding this coaching search, I googled it.

Only 7 (out of 67) current P4 coaches that have a winning record against AP Top 25 teams coming into the 2025 season (ranking at the time of the game, which is a flawed metric tbh). Can you name them?

And I would think only 1 name on this list is gettable for Penn St.

Spoiler

Kalen DeBoer, Alabama 15-3 (.833)
Fran Brown, Syracuse 3-1 (.750)
Ryan Day, Ohio State 24-9 (.727)
Kirby Smart, Georgia 37-15 (.711)
Dan Lanning, Oregon 10-6 (.625)
Dabo Swinney, Clemson 40-27 (.597)
Lincoln Riley, USC 18-15 (.545)

Only 18/67 coaches have a better record vs top 25 than Franklin (.395).

Every Power Four coach's career record against the AP Top 25: A deep dive into why this history matters

Some coaches are performing above their pay grade against the nation's best competition; others, not so much

www.cbssports.com

 

[Enhance]

Since wins against ranked teams seems to be a talking point regarding this coaching search, I googled it.

Only 7 (out of 67) P4 coaches that have a winning record against AP Top 25 teams coming into the 2025 season (ranking at the time of the game, which is a flawed metric tbh). Can you name them?

And I would think only 1 name on this list is gettable for Penn St.

Spoiler

Kalen DeBoer, Alabama 15-3 (.833)
Fran Brown, Syracuse 3-1 (.750)
Ryan Day, Ohio State 24-9 (.727)
Kirby Smart, Georgia 37-15 (.711)
Dan Lanning, Oregon 10-6 (.625)
Dabo Swinney, Clemson 40-27 (.597)
Lincoln Riley, USC 18-15 (.545)

Only 18/67 coaches have a better record vs top 25 than Franklin (.395).

Every Power Four coach's career record against the AP Top 25: A deep dive into why this history matters

Some coaches are performing above their pay grade against the nation's best competition; others, not so much

www.cbssports.com

Further adds to the curiosity of Penn St.'s choice to fire Franklin. There are really only a few coaches/programs that meet the standard of big wins PSU is suggesting they're looking for but like you said there's probably only one realistic name on that list and it isn't the sexiest one.

 

[Undone]

This situation is ridiculously intriguing.

Kraft is faced with the dilemma of hiring a buddy but then potentially having it blow up in his face. No idea what Kraft's net worth is or how easily he'd land on his feet in a new job or how close he is to retirement if he gets fired as Penn State AD in the next 2 - 3 years, but I think those are big questions.

He'd instantly get accused of just hiring his friend by a large segment of Penn State fans before they even play a game if they hire Rhule.

The question of how many ranked teams Rhule has beaten as a head coach and all of that is in my opinion a much smaller variable than the one where Kraft & Rhule are pals.

 

[Undone]

Penn state bout to find out real quick they're not a tier 1 job. Unless they backing up the brinks truck and offering freeman 15+ mil a year I struggle to come up with a single reason why he'd take a job that is a clear downgrade from notre dame on and off the field

They've basically been a perennial top 10 program. Isn't that "tier 1?"

And if Cignetti makes a playoff run, he's really the splash hire of the end of the year by big programs. He's going to go to the highest bidder.

 

[Enhance]

This situation is ridiculously intriguing.

Kraft is faced with the dilemma of hiring a buddy but then potentially having it blow up in his face. No idea what Kraft's net worth is or how easily he'd land on his feet in a new job or how close he is to retirement if he gets fired as Penn State AD in the next 2 - 3 years, but I think those are big questions.

He'd instantly get accused of just hiring his friend by a large segment of Penn State fans before they even play a game if they hire Rhule.

The question of how many ranked teams Rhule has beaten as a head coach and all of that is in my opinion a much smaller variable than the one where Kraft & Rhule are pals.

Not only this, but imagine trying to be Pat Kraft and sell Rhule to your boosters... the ones funding Franklin's departure and whomever PSU wants to add next. I think that's gonna be a hard sell even if Rhule were to coach Nebraska to a really strong season of something like 10-2.

 

[Undone]

Not only this, but imagine trying to be Pat Kraft and sell Rhule to your boosters... the ones funding Franklin's departure and whomever PSU wants to add next. I think that's gonna be a hard sell even if Rhule were to coach Nebraska to a really strong season of something like 10-2.

Yeah. And let's be honest...it's extremely unlikely that we only lose one of these last six games and go 10-2.

Let's say we get relatively lucky and go 9-3. Wouldn't/shouldn't the objective conversation around Matt Rhule be "the guy just hasn't actually done anything great yet as a head coach?"

 

[olddominionhusker]

PSU is spending an ungodly amount of money when you look at Franklins buyout and what they are going to have to spend on a new coach plus NIL investment. I don’t really believe Kraft will be the one making this decision. The donors and boosters footing the bill will likely have a big say and I’m sorry Matt Rhule is not going to light that fan base up with excitement. I like Rhule and think he is a good fit here. If I was a Penn St. fan and they spent all this just to hire him though I’d be pissed. It’s a lateral move at best and honestly Franklin has the better resume. I just don’t see how it makes sense for them to spend that amount of money just to bring in Rhule. I’m mean yeah we hired Riley but we didn’t break the bank to do it

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Evidently she just happens to like living where her husband has 7-8 figure/year jobs. Weird.

Lost a bit of respect for MR with that dumb comment.

Ha! Yeah, like, I get it, the guy is supposed to be all "Gotta keep the wife happy and listen to what she says" bit

But...he is making 10 million a year and by all accounts is a good guy. If she is not "happy" then she is her own problem.

 

[Red Five]

PSU is spending an ungodly amount of money when you look at Franklins buyout

From reporting, Franklin's buyout has an offset clause. So that $50M probably ends up closer to $10M-$20M. Which is about what we paid Frost to go away.

 

[Husker_In_WI]

Since wins against ranked teams seems to be a talking point regarding this coaching search, I googled it.

Only 7 (out of 67) current P4 coaches that have a winning record against AP Top 25 teams coming into the 2025 season (ranking at the time of the game, which is a flawed metric tbh). Can you name them?

And I would think only 1 name on this list is gettable for Penn St.

Spoiler

Kalen DeBoer, Alabama 15-3 (.833)
Fran Brown, Syracuse 3-1 (.750)
Ryan Day, Ohio State 24-9 (.727)
Kirby Smart, Georgia 37-15 (.711)
Dan Lanning, Oregon 10-6 (.625)
Dabo Swinney, Clemson 40-27 (.597)
Lincoln Riley, USC 18-15 (.545)

Only 18/67 coaches have a better record vs top 25 than Franklin (.395).

Every Power Four coach's career record against the AP Top 25: A deep dive into why this history matters

Some coaches are performing above their pay grade against the nation's best competition; others, not so much

www.cbssports.com

Fewer than 18 coaches have more talent than Franklin though, which is part of the issue. I would expect a good coach of a decent team to have a losing record against top 25 opponents. Simplifying it to top 25 wins is too broad for him - if you take out his 4-17 record against OSU and Michigan (this would assume those 2 were always ranked, which probably isn't true but I don't want to figure it out) he would be 13-9 against the rest of the top-25 teams. Penn State believes they have enough talent and resources to do better than a .100 winning percentage over OSU. He basically has a .000 winning percentage against top 10 teams, and that's where they could live with a .395.

 

[olddominionhusker]

From reporting, Franklin's buyout has an offset clause. So that $50M probably ends up closer to $10M-$20M. Which is about what we paid Frost to go away.

Gotcha. Didn’t know that. Still don’t think the decision will be wholly Krafts tho. Like I said it’s a lateral move at best for them. He is not a splash hire