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10 Most Impressive New Staffs of 2023: #4 Nebraska
Matt Rhule has put together a quality crew for his return to college football.As college football training camps open around the country, we begin to narrow our focus on the top few remaining on our list of the most impressive new staffs in college football.
The previous places on our list are occupied by Charlotte (#10), Western Michigan (#9), Liberty (#8), USF (#7), Colorado (#6), and Purdue (#5).
COORDINATOR RECAP
Rhule took two different approaches to fill his coordinator spots.
As his offensive coordinator, Rhule was able to hire Marcus Satterfield away from SEC program South Carolina.
Satterfield previously worked as Rhule's offensive coordinator at Temple for three seasons before later joining him at Baylor as an assistant coach. Coach Satt also worked with Rhule with the Panthers as the team's assistant offensive line coach before leaving for the opportunity with the Gamecocks.
In 2016 and 2017, Satterfield was the head coach at Tennessee Tech (FCS), where he compiled a 6-16 overall record.
On the defensive side of the ball, Rhule went a little different route in Tony White.
White brings four years of defensive coordinator experience with him, helping to turn around the defense at Syracuse for Dino Babers most recently.
From 2020-21, Syracuse was the most improved defensive unit in the country, moving up an impressive 93 spots in total defense.
A longtime colleague of renowned defensive mind Rocky Long, White worked alongside the former San Diego State head coach at New Mexico and San Diego State before going on to spend a few seasons at Arizona State.
BIGGEST HIRE
I think there is one guy on Rhule's staff who's addition tells a story.
In 11 seasons at Temple, Ed Foley worked under five different head coaches. He stayed loyal to the Owls and each head coach recognized his coaching acumen and kept him around while his units ranked in the top five nationally in blocked kicks and among the top special teams units in the country in a variety of other key metrics.
In 2019, Foley left the familiar confines of Philly after a decade and spent one season with Rhule and has followed him to Carolina and now Nebraska.
Rhule has a number of guys on his staff in Lincoln that have developed a unique loyalty over numerous stops.
Another one of those unique instances is Evan Cooper (secondary / pass game coordinator), who is entering his 11th season working with Rhule,
BIGGEST CHALLENGE AHEAD
To be honest, as we enter the final fall of the Big Ten being split into East and West, the West division is perhaps as wide open as it has ever been.
In addition to themselves, the rest of the league features three teams breaking in new head coaches (Purdue, Wisconsin and Northwestern) and one who felt it necessary to rework a contract of a coordinator to include a points per game landmark.
How Rhule gets his team to play on the road at Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin will be key, but just as important will be key games in front of the Big Red faithful against teams like Michigan and Cockeye to show the rabid fan base how close (or how far away) Nebraska is from the teams that have finished in the upper tier of the Big Ten the last several years.
UNDERRATED HIRE
Gus Felder joined the Huskers as their director of football development earlier this year, and brings a unique resume to the table.
A former director of strength and conditioning at Miami, Felder has also worked in strength departments at Miami and with the Carolina Panthers.
He started off in the weight room in Carolina under Rhule before moving to a front office role working with player engagement.
MOST INTRIGUING HIRE
If there is one role on staff that has drawn the most attention, and criticism, its the addition of Garret McGuire as the Huskers receivers coach.
The son of Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, Garret spent two seasons with Rhule and the Panthers, starting off as a coaching assistant before transitioning to an offensive assistant role.
At just 24 years old, this marks the first full-time coaching opportunity for McGuire, which some teams have tried to use against the Huskers in recruiting, but there's clearly an overwhelming belief in the young coach from Rhule, and it's going to be fun to see why as his career progresses.
