"Matt Rhule cooked" — CFB world reacts to Nebraska targeting veteran coach John Butler for 2024 season

According to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel, Nebraska is expected to hire John Butler as its new secondary coach ahead of the upcoming 2024 college football season.

Matt Rhule is leaving no stone unturned ahead of his second season at Nebraska. He is famed in college football for his ability to rebuild programs from scratch, but his first season with the Cornhuskers was disappointing. He has wasted no time in replacing his long-term assistant, Evan Cooper, who resigned on Friday.

The news of the potential hiring of Butler, who has years of experience as a defensive backs coach in the NFL, has generated a lot of reactions among Nebraska fans. Many fans are praising Rhule for the level of coaching staff he's been able to assemble at the program.

Here's a look at some of the reactions:

"Nebraska got yourself a hell of a coach he will be a def cord in college or nfl within a couple years if not next year," a fan wrote.

"John Butler is a great coach. Congrats to Nebraska for getting a great one," another fan wrote.

"Great hire! Definitely seems like he’s looking for a future DC role." a fan commented.

John Butler's coaching career so far

As he prepares to take the Nebraska job, Butler has an astonishing resume, which makes him worthy of the role.

He started his coaching career as a defensive backs coach at Catholic University in 1995 before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 1996. He became a graduate assistant at Texas in 1997 and a defensive coordinator at Midwestern State in 1999.

Butler went on to work as a special teams coach at Southwest Texas State, Harvard, Minnesota and South Carolina. After that, he was hired as a defensive backs coach at Penn State in 2012, before he was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2013.

Following his tenure with the Nittany Lions, Butler transitioned to the NFL as a secondary coach for the Houston Texans in 2014 and was with them until 2017. He later moved to the Buffalo Bills as a defensive backs coach in 2018 and was with the franchise until 2023.

Will John Butler also be the passing game coordinator under Matt Rhule?

Cooper, who had worked for 11 consecutive seasons under Rhule before his resignation on Friday, was the passing game coordinator as well as the secondary coach. The question many are asking is if Butler will also be handed the role.

Butler doubled as a passing game coordinator in his final two seasons with the Buffalo Bills. This could be enough for Rhule to offer him the role alongside being the secondary coach. There's also a chance he will hire a separate passing game coordinator for the team.