The Weekly Rundown: Nebraska takes on another unexpected July headline

The Nebraska football program is taking on another unexpected July storyline for the second year in a row.

We hit on that and more as we start your Monday with The Weekly Rundown column.

RELATED – Steven Sipple: Somehow, some way, Matt Rhule may have found an upgrade for Nebraska in secondary coach John Butler

Sure bets

You have to feel good about these things right now:

Another unexpected July: July in college football is supposed to be the one time those around the game can take a breather. That hasn’t been the case over the last two Julys in Lincoln.

For the second July in a row, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule has experienced disruption with one of his 10 full-time assistant coaches. In July of 2023, tight ends coach Bob Wager resigned from his position at NU after being cited with a DUI.

This July, defensive backs coach Evan Cooper resigned for unknown reasons. These are extremely rare things in college football. The Cooper news on Friday got the attention of college football contacts I have around the country, from Alabama to Arizona State. Knowing the role Cooper played in coaching the defense and recruiting, it’s a very difficult situation for Rhule to navigate.

Give Rhule credit. He’s wasted no time finding Cooper’s replacement.

John Butler’s level of qualification: Say what you want about Cooper’s loss, but Rhule appears to have found more than an adequate replacement.

On paper, John Butler’s background speaks for itself. He’s been a high-level defensive coordinator in the college game and a very successful assistant coach in the NFL loved by his players. Change is never easy, but Butler looks like a great possible addition. His hiring is still not official at this point.

It also makes you wonder if Rhule has laid out a path for Butler to succeed defensive coordinator Tony White if and when the day comes he takes a head coaching job. White was extremely close to landing a head coaching job this off-season.

Back to work: After a week off for the July 4 holiday, the Nebraska football team will get back to work today.

NU has just three weeks remaining in its summer off-season program before the start of Fall Camp on July 31.

Surprises

These were my surprises of the week:

Nebraska makes the final four for five-star OL David Sanders: Nebraska made the final four for offensive lineman David Sanders , along with Tennessee, Georgia and Ohio State.

This is a surprise because, in late May, at the On3 Elite Series event in Nashville, Sanders didn’t have the Huskers in his top six. He removed Clemson, Alabama, and South Carolina from his original top six and added Nebraska to his top schools.

NU is still obviously a long shot with Sanders, but they did get him on campus for an official visit in early May and did enough to make his final four. He feels like this year’s version of offensive lineman Brandon Baker .

NU made his final list of schools a year ago but fell short. According to On3, Sanders has an NIL valuation of $418,000 as one of the country’s top offensive lineman prospects. He will make his announcement on Aug. 17.

Nebraska fans and Terrance Knighton: Nebraska fans are still on edge after the Cooper news on Friday, but they took things to another level on Sunday with defensive line coach Terrance Knighton .

A flurry of message board and social media posts dominated the Husker internet waves on Sunday because Knighton didn’t have anything recognizing Nebraska on his social media X bio. This caused enough of a stir that Knighton actually updated his bio on social media to make sure Nebraka was prominently featured in his avatar picture. July 31 can’t get here soon enough.

The jury is still out

Questions still surround these things:

DB Bryson Webber’s timeline: What is the timeline now for Missouri City (Texas) Ridge Point defensive back Bryson Webber ? Originally, Webber planned to make his announcement on Saturday. Nebraska was the heavy favorite for landing his commitment.

With Cooper’s announcement on Friday, Webber has put his decision on hold. The question now is how much more time he will need to make it. With Cooper gone, who will take over his recruitment?

The future of recruiting in Florida: Another question the Cooper announcement brings is the future of recruiting in Florida for the Big Red.

Cooper and Phil Simpson handled the recruiting for Rhule and the Huskers in Florida. Both have strong backgrounds in Florida and have brought most of the recruiting talent to Lincoln for Rhule out of the state of Florida.

Simpson served in an off-the-field role but was able to go out on the road as the 10th staff member a few different times. He left Lincoln to join the staff at Florida State in a similar role. Simpson led the charge to get linebacker Vincent Shavers . Cooper was critical in landing wide receiver Jacory Barney . These are two of the best freshmen in the Huskers’ 2024 class.

This has my attention

Moving forward, this has my attention :

Dr. Lawrence Chatters leaves the athletic department: Since Trev Alberts left for Texas A&M, senior athletic department officials Doug Ewald and Marquita Armstead have left their positions at NU.

Another notable department official who left is Dr. Lawrence Chatters. He will no longer work in the athletic department. Chatters announced that he is the new Director of Community Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives within the Office of the Chancellor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Chatters is who came up with the Red Carpet Experience idea in the fall of 2021. This allowed program supporters to purchase tickets for youth and those with special needs, allowing them to attend a Husker football game. This program played a hand in keeping the sell-out streak alive following the 2020 pandemic season that featured no Husker fans.

However, we’ve seen new AD Troy Dannen make three new leadership hires of his own: Haven Fields, Kristen Brown, and Kortne Gosha.

Football staff turnover in the first 12 months: With the loss of Cooper ($670,000) last week, there’s been a lot of movement on Rhule’s staff over the last 12 months.

Bob Wager ($315,000), Omar Hales ($160,000), Phil Simpson ($70,000), Mike Wallace ($155,000), C.J. Cavazos ($150,000), Gordan Thomas ($100,000), Anthony Crespino (salary not listed), Courtney Helom ($80,000), and SJ Hulme ($60,000) all left their positions at NU over the last year. These moves cleared out over $1 million in salaries.

Hales, Simpson, Wallace, and Cavazos were key personnel and recruiting hires when Rhule first took the job, along with Cooper in his evaluation role. That department is still led by Sean Padden but headed up by former retained staffers Vince Guinta, Keith Williams, Ryan Callaghan, and Avery Gossett.

A lot has been made of the recent Cooper news, but this other movement is also very notable, especially regarding its role in recruiting. It also puts into perspective that when you transition with a new staff, not every hire will necessarily be fit in year one, and you will see movement like this as you are trying to build things.

Media Days seasons: Conference Media Days are here. Things kick off in Las Vegas this week with the Big 12. It will be interesting to see how Deion Sanders and Colorado are received as they re-join the Big 12 Conference.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm .

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