When the Nebraska football team clashed with the USC Trojans for the first time as Big Ten rivals, Lincoln Riley and company got the best of Matt Rhule’s crew. The good news for Huskers fans is that Riley made a hire that might help NU when they face off next fall.
The USC Trojans went out and hired a new Assistant Head Coach for Defense/Linebackers this weekend. That in of itself is a big deal. Nor is it a bad deal on its face. But the guy they hired is a bit of a strange deal.
When the Nebraska football team faces off against USC next November 1, Rob Ryan will be on the other sideline. And that really doesn’t seem like a bad thing for the Huskers.
We got our guy🤝
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) January 18, 2025
NFL veteran coach and 2X Super Bowl champion @flowlikerob has been hired as Assistant Head Coach for Defense/Linebackers coach🏈 pic.twitter.com/qX8OgT3oro
Nebraska football rival hired the worst Ryan brother
Rob Ryan has had a long a mostly distinguished career. He’s even been to the Super Bowl a couple of times. He was even on the staff of two Super Bowl champions.
However, Ryan’s career hasn’t been all that impressive of late. In fact, the last time the brother of former NFL head coach Rex Ryan, hasn’t been a position coach for a couple of years now.
His last job as an actual position coach before he joined the Huskers’ Big Ten rival was as linebackers’ coach with the Baltimore Ravens in 2021. Before that, he was the inside linebackers coach for the then-Washington Redskins in 2019. Before that he was the assistant head coach for defense in 2016 for the Buffalo Bills.
In other words, not only did he several one-year stops, but he had to go years between them. It’s been quite a while since he’s been a coach in demand. And for the last two years, Rob Ryan was nothing more than a senior defensive assistant with the Las Vegas Raiders.
If things go well, the Nebraska football team can be the latest squad to make Rob Ryan look bad. And in the process, they’d be helping a possible run to the playoffs.