Nebraska to hire San Diego State's Rob Aurich as new defensive coordinator

Nebraska has tapped its new defensive coordinator, On3’s Pete Nakos has learned. The program will hire San Diego State defensive coordinator Rob Aurich.

Aurich has been with San Diego State for the past two seasons and produced a remarkable turnaround with the unit in that time. San Diego State ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense this year, allowing just 12.6 points per game.

That came after the Aztecs had surrendered 26.8 points per game in 2023, the year prior to Rob Aurich’s arrival with the program. That figure ranked 71st nationally.

Aurich’s fingerprints were all over the defense in 2025, as the unit actually took a slight step back in 2024, giving up 29.6 points per game, good for 97th nationally. The next year’s improvement, with Aurich elevated to coordinator, was absolutely massive.

Rob Aurich also has previous stints at Idaho, South Dakota and Bemidji State. He spent 2022-23 at Idaho as the program’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach before he took a job working with the EDGE defenders at San Diego State in 2024. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2025.

Nebraska’s defensive coordinator position came open when the program fired first-year coordinator John Butler on Dec. 1. While Nebraska didn’t give up a ton of yardage, it wasn’t great in key moments.

The team’s total defense under Butler ranked 21st nationally in allowing 312.3 yards per game. Meanwhile, the scoring defense checked in at No. 53 nationally giving up 23.0 points per game. So Rob Aurich will inherit a decent unit.

“We thank John for his contributions to our football program over the past two seasons and wish him the best moving forward in his coaching career,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said in a statement. “Phil Snow will serve as the interim defensive coordinator for our upcoming bowl game. We will work toward naming a new defensive coordinator for the 2026 season in the coming weeks.”