Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule has been tied to the Penn State job since James Franklin was fired after the Nittany Lions loss to Northwestern. Rhule's ties to Penn State run dead as he went to and played for the football team, and even has a relationship with athletic director Pat Kraft.
After Nebraska's embarrassing loss to Minnesota on Friday, though, some are wondering if Rhule was either destracted by stuff going on with the Penn State job, or just may not be cut out for it.
If there is one thing that Rhule has been known for, it is taking over a struggling program and within three years, he has them competing at a high level again. In his time at Temple and Baylor, the first season was pretty rough, the second resulted in bowl-eligibility and maybe even a bowl win, and the third reulted in compteing in a conference championship.
There was hope the same would happen at Nebraska this season, but the loss to Minnesota may have diminished the chance at a conference title. Nebraska now has two losses on the season to Michigan and Minnesota and On3's Andy Staples had quite a few words to say about Rhule, especially when it comes to the Penn State job.
Andy Staples doesn't think Matt Rhule's three-year timeline will work at Penn State
The question everyone has been asking since Franklin was fired from Penn State is 'who is the heck do you hire?'
That is one of the most fair questions in the world because Franklin has made Penn State a top program for 12 years now, so who is going to do much better than him who isn't already in a great coaching position. With Rhule seemingly being the top name right now, On3's Andy Staples thinks that Rhule is better off staying at Nebraska.
"If you walk into Penn State right now, you better win immediately," Staples said. "You can't do what you've did at Nebraska the last three years."
"If you walk into Penn State right now, you better win immediately. You can't do what you've did at Nebraska the last three years."@Andy_Staples says Matt Rhule would be better off staying at Nebraska than taking the Penn State head coaching job pic.twitter.com/p6vbgMqot4
— Maggie and Perloff (@MaggieandPerl) October 20, 2025
Staples makes a good point in that Penn State didn't fire Franklin because they are a program down in the dumps and haven't been good for years. They fired him because he isn't winning now and they want a coach that is going to be successful now.
Rhule simply hasn't shown yet that is the coach to come in and win immediately like a Kirby Smart or a Curt Cignetti. Rhule takes the time to build a program before he starts winning games and competing for conference titles.
For that reason, Rhule would probably be better off staying at Nebraska, which Cornhusker fans would probably prefer.