Matt Rhule's final contract released this afternoon

[Carm]

here's the On3 story; contract text at link

Salary escalates to $12.5M/year by the last year

Nebraska has formally released the full financial details for new football coach Matt Rhule.
In his first season, Matt Rhule is set to make $5.5 million. That number increases by $1 million annually through 2026, when it’s at $8.5 million. From there, his salary will increase by $1.5 million annually through 2028. Then, the number transitions down to raising by only $500,000 for the last two years of the contract.
That means that in the final year of the contract, 2030, Rhule will be paid $12.5 million by Nebraska.
Matt Rhule is also eligible to make money from bonuses. Those bonuses include a $1 million retention bonus that he is due if he is still the coach on March 1, 2025, March 1, 2027, March 1, 2029, and December 31, 2030.
There are also several “exceptional performance bonuses.” Those include winning or tying for the Big Ten West without an invitation to the Big Ten Championship Game ($100,000), playing in and losing the Big Ten Championship Game ($200,000), and winning the Big Ten Championship Game ($300,000).
Playing in a bowl game is worth $150,000. That number jumps to $250,000 if it’s a CFP bowl game. If that game is a semifinal, then that number once again jumps to $300,000. Playing in the national championship game is worth $350,000 while winning a national championship will net Matt Rhule $650,000.
Notably, the contract also gives Matt Rhule a base salary pool for his assistant coaches of $7 million.
Through December 31, Rhule’s buyout is $7 million if he chooses to leave the university. That number decreases by $1 million annually until it hits $3.5 million. It will then stay at $3.5 million through 2029 before again dropping to $2 million in 2030.
If Matt Rhule is fired without cause, he is entitled to 90% of his base salary for the remaining term. It must be paid within 24 months.

 

[MtnHusker]

Sounds about right. I like the incentive clauses and expected those. I was told that when Rhule's representative contacted Turd after the 2021 season that Matt was willing to leave Carolina and come to Nebraska for a lower salary but incentive laden contract. Kinda lines up with what I shared late in 2021. At that point most of the football world thought it was a given Frost would be fired. They didn't know the politics involved with firing Frost at Nebraska. Turd reached out to a couple agents gauging interest. Word spread. I was told quite a few big name coaches had representatives reach out to Turd, and he was shocked at the level of interest.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

If Matt Rhule is fired without cause, he is entitled to 90% of his base salary for the remaining term. It must be paid within 24 months.

Wow

 

[Blakejc]

$7M buyout is the number that stands out most to me. That’s pretty damn low.

 

[ThomOsborneMD]

Wow

Damn that back loaded deal will really hurt if he doesn’t pan out. Though if that happens may as well close up shop.

 

[Carm]

$7M buyout is the number that stands out most to me. That’s pretty damn low.

actually, from all the contracts I have seen, I would say Rhule's buyout is on the higher end of the spectrum. Essentially, he would be refunding his entire salary in 13+ months at Nebraska plus some if he resigned 12/30/23. I.e., he would have paid us to work here this year.

 

[Fargo Husker]

Wow

The new dream is to become an up-and-coming CFB coach, get that big contract, and then fail miserably and live that sweet, sweet buyout life.

 

[Blakejc]

actually, from all the contracts I have seen, I would say Rhule's buyout is on the higher end of the spectrum. Essentially, he would be refunding his entire salary in 13+ months at Nebraska plus some if he resigned 12/30/23. I.e., he would have paid us to work here this year.

Whoever hires him away from us is paying the buyout, it’s not coming out of his pocket. And if in 2 or 3 years Penn St. comes calling that buyout number is not going to make them think twice.

More concerning, I assume Nebraska fought to get his buyout as high as possible, yet his agent whittled it down to that. Seems like they’re leaving the door open for another opportunity. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Whoever hires him away from us is paying the buyout, it’s not coming out of his pocket. And if in 2 or 3 years Penn St. comes calling that buyout number is not going to make them think twice.

More concerning, I assume Nebraska fought to get his buyout as high as possible, yet his agent whittled it down to that. Seems like they’re leaving the door open for another opportunity. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Schools rarely have any bargaining power with good coaches nowadays. You just have to live with it

 

[Carm]

Whoever hires him away from us is paying the buyout, it’s not coming out of his pocket. And if in 2 or 3 years Penn St. comes calling that buyout number is not going to make them think twice.

More concerning, I assume Nebraska fought to get his buyout as high as possible, yet his agent whittled it down to that. Seems like they’re leaving the door open for another opportunity. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Ther real point is that no one has buyouts bigger than the ones in this contract. It's not how the marketplace works.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Whoever hires him away from us is paying the buyout, it’s not coming out of his pocket. And if in 2 or 3 years Penn St. comes calling that buyout number is not going to make them think twice.

More concerning, I assume Nebraska fought to get his buyout as high as possible, yet his agent whittled it down to that. Seems like they’re leaving the door open for another opportunity. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

they would have to pay the buyout on top of paying Rhule more than his NU contract. with the way his contract is backloaded that won't be cheap so if any school is willing to pay that much it means he's done his job here very well

 

[Baron Winnebago]

they would have to pay the buyout on top of paying Rhule more than his NU contract. with the way his contract is backloaded that won't be cheap so if any school is willing to pay that much it means he's done his job here very well

I mean how cool would it be if we actually hired a guy who was a good enough coach to get hired away?

 

[HerbRedman]

Damn that back loaded deal will really hurt if he doesn’t pan out. Though if that happens may as well close up shop.

Correct.

No joke but I think the odds of Rhule departing Lincoln are this:

90% - does well and leaves for a 'bigger program'
5% - unforeseen health or personal issue
5% - flames out like Riley or Frost and we have to buy him out


I think that buyout is an extremely low risk for UNL. I know some would say that is me drinking the kool-aid, but I think Rhule is the best CFB coach - right now - that we've had since Osborne. He's better now than Solich, better than Callahan (better CFB coach), better than Pelini, better than Riley and better than Frost.

BTW the other thing I have backing this up is the bar at NU is so low for success, Rhule will be looked at as a success even if he keeps us in the 8-4 range. He'd probably be able to get another job if he really wanted out. That's a different standard than our other post-Osborne HCs.

 

[Jim14510]

Correct.

No joke but I think the odds of Rhule departing Lincoln are this:

90% - does well and leaves for a 'bigger program'
5% - unforeseen health or personal issue
5% - flames out like Riley or Frost and we have to buy him out


I think that buyout is an extremely low risk for UNL. I know some would say that is me drinking the kool-aid, but I think Rhule is the best CFB coach - right now - that we've had since Osborne. He's better now than Solich, better than Callahan (better CFB coach), better than Pelini, better than Riley and better than Frost.

 

[HerbRedman]

 

[BluesBucksNHuskers]

Correct.

No joke but I think the odds of Rhule departing Lincoln are this:

90% - does well and leaves for a 'bigger program'
5% - unforeseen health or personal issue
5% - flames out like Riley or Frost and we have to buy him out


I think that buyout is an extremely low risk for UNL. I know some would say that is me drinking the kool-aid, but I think Rhule is the best CFB coach - right now - that we've had since Osborne. He's better now than Solich, better than Callahan (better CFB coach), better than Pelini, better than Riley and better than Frost.

BTW the other thing I have backing this up is the bar at NU is so low for success, Rhule will be looked at as a success even if he keeps us in the 8-4 range. He'd probably be able to get another job if he really wanted out. That's a different standard than our other post-Osborne HCs.

I’m drinking the koolaid as much as anyone but these percentages have to still be closer to 45/10/45

 

[HerbRedman]

I’m drinking the koolaid as much as anyone but these percentages have to still be closer to 45/10/45

You think Rhule has a 45% chance of flaming out like Riley or Frost? Yikes! I'd be fuckin nervous right now if I were you.

As someone else mentioned on this very thread, if Rhule flames out like Riley/Frost (4-8 level for 3-4 straight yrs) then we need to shut down the entire football program. And I'm not fuckin joking. I'm dead serious. The FB program would be over at that point.

Rhule is a very good HC in his prime. No family distractions that we're aware of. No substance abuse problems we're aware of. No serious illness that would affect his coaching that we're aware of. If this guy goes 4-8 for three straight seasons we should absolutely shut down the FB program. Shut it down for good bc it's permanently cursed.

I think the Riley/Frost years have you WAY overestimating how difficult it is to go 7-5 at Nebraska. It's not hard. When you have a legit good HC, in his prime, with full AD backing, full booster backing, full NIL backing... it's extremely easy to run a 7-5 program. But you think Rhule has a 45% chance of going 4-8 for 3 seasons in a row at Nebraska??? I'd be really fuckin worried if I were you.

Frost was the worst HC in modern Nebraska history! But Rhule is a coin flip away from equaling that historic futility(!!!). That's insane. I'm here to tell you those are not accurate odds. You either seriously underrate Rhule as a HC or you just have massive, massive PTSD from watching the last 6 seasons of NU FB.

 

[Carm]

I think the Riley/Frost years have you WAY overestimating how difficult it is to go 7-5 at Nebraska. It's not hard. When you have a legit good HC, in his prime, with full AD backing, full booster backing, full NIL backing... it's extremely easy to run a 7-5 program. But you think Rhule has a 45% chance of going 4-8 for 3 seasons in a row at Nebraska??? I'd be really fuckin worried if I were you.

Frost was the worst HC in modern Nebraska history! But Rhule is a coin flip away from equaling that historic futility(!!!). That's insane. I'm here to tell you those are not accurate odds. You either seriously underrate Rhule as a HC or you just have massive, massive PTSD from watching the last 6 seasons of NU FB.

It's not even that hard to go 7-5 in the B1G in general, much less than at Nebraska. Basically 8 of the 14 teams do 7-5 or better every year.

 

[HerbRedman]

It's not even that hard to go 7-5 in the B1G in general, much less than at Nebraska. Basically 8 of the 14 teams do 7-5 or better every year.

Yep! Schedule 3 cupcakes in the nonconference and you're 3-0, then go 4-5 in the B1G and voila... you're 7-5.

It's not that hard. But taters on here have so much Frost PTSD that they're like "you think Matt fuckin Rhule can go 7-5 here??? Who is he, Vince Lombardi???".... like, you don't have to be that good a coach to go 7-5 at Nebraska.

Frost was a historically bad HC to turn Nebraska into a 4-8 program. Historically bad. The odds of Matt Rhule being equally as bad are not high.

 

[Carm]

Frost was a historically bad HC to turn Nebraska into a 4-8 program. Historically bad. The odds of Matt Rhule being equally as bad are not high.

Record-wise, Frost was the worst coach in Nebraska history, in my opinion. Somewhere, Bill Glassford is thanking him.