Bruce Feldman lists Matt Rhule, Jeff Monken, Bill O'Brien as possible hires for Nebraska coaching search

Around 7:00 p.m. local time in Lincoln on Black Friday, the Nebraska football season will be over and a clock will begin to tick. A head coach will need to be hired as soon as possible, hoping to get on the recruiting trail and work the transfer portal. With the coaching search taking place since early September, athletic director Trev Alberts has had time to go through the process.

There are still a few candidates involved, with Bruce Feldman of The Athletic naming a few of them during a recent appearance on The Jim Rome Show. A couple has been connected for some time, with current free agent Matt Rhule and Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien being linked.

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Army head coach Jeff Monken was also added by Feldman, saying he would have some prior connections with Alberts.

“I heard there is a lot of interest in Matt Rhule,” said Feldman. “The question with him is — does he really want to be back, jump in for this job? Which is, a heavy lift. He did an amazing job at Baylor when it was in disarray. I think Jeff Monken at Army is a name (Alberts) has some connections to. Bill O’Brien is another guy he has some connections to.”

Feldman then did a deeper dive on Rhule, saying he may not want to even be back in college football next season. Especially with Nebraska being such a “tricky job” after the seemingly perfect fit failed in the biggest way.

“I’m interested to see what direction Matt Rhule wants to be in,” Feldman said. “Does he want to sit it out for the year? Does he want to sit out a year and do TV? We’ll see. That’s a tricky job right now. Scott Frost, on paper, looked to be really good and he was disastrous. That’s a tough job right now.”

Bruce Feldman provides timeline for Nebraska job

ABC. It’s one of the many sayings in college football, meaning, Always Be ‘Crootin.

Recruiting is arguably the most important thing in the sport besides getting wins on the field. Because of that, Feldman says Alberts will be wanting to make a hire “as early as possible” with the early signing period scheduled to begin Dec. 21.

“I think he would love to do it as early as possible because of the early signing period is coming fast,” Feldman said.