Nebraska football: Matt Rhule gets top grade for first-year P5 hires

There’s all kinds of excitement over Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule and what he and his team will offer in 2023. Although not all analysts share the same view, most predict that the Huskers will probably achieve a maximum of six or seven wins.

Despite most likely barely qualifying for a bowl game, most people in and around college football absolutely love the hire of Matt Rhule. There are few who love it more than Mike Farrell.

In fact, Farrell recently put a list together of the best hires by Power 5 programs. Right at the top of that list is the man who is charged with turning the Nebraska football program around.

Farrell put together grades of every new coach and Rhule was the only one to get an A+ among the men on the list.

"I love this hire. Rhule has proven he can dig a program out from much worse like at Baylor and Temple. Rhule is an excellent talent evaluator and gets more out of three stars than most, and that’s key with the recruiting disadvantages at Nebraska. To me, this is a home run hire.”"

Nebraska football is the cream of the crop

It bears repeating that Rhule is the only coach among the new hires that Farrell gave an A+ grade to. That means he thinks it’s a better hire than Luke Fickell, Jeff Brohm and Hugh Freeze, who he all gave A grades to.

It seems more than likely that Fickell and Rhule are going to be linked for quite a while. Both were hired within weeks of each other. Both were for programs looking to turn their fortunes around. And both are in the Big Ten West.

Even after the West goes away once USC and UCLA join the Big Ten, Fickell and Rhule are going to be linked. And there will always be people who wonder whether Nebraska football or the Wisconsin Badgers made the better hire.