4 defensive coordinator targets that make sense for Nebraska football

One fair criticism of Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule is the coaching staff he built. Rhule needed to fire his offensive coordinator and might need to let go of his special teams coordinator too.

Tony White was a good hire, but even he had to have his work double-checked by Phil Snow, a defensive analyst for Nebraska, which probably didn’t give White the warm and fuzzies.

Florida State is a good opportunity and a couple of former Husker assistants will go with him. Terrance Knighton will leave the Nebraska D-line job and former secondary coach Evan Cooper will join White too.

There has been some buzz about the Nebraska football defensive coordinator but not a ton. It makes me wonder if the guy is coaching this weekend. That could mean he’s coaching in the College Football Playoff too.

At any rate, if the Huskers aren’t targeting a coach this weekend, they should be, and here are a few others that would be worth calling.

Scott Symons, SMU

The DC candidate Nebraska football should be targeting this weekend is Scott Symons from SMU. This was his third season with the Mustangs and they are on the verge of a playoff berth if they can beat Clemson, which would be a second straight conference championship, one in the American and one in the ACC.

Symons has played a huge role in that success. His defenses are disruptive, take the ball away, are good on third down, and pressure the quarterback.

This season, in 12 games games, the Mustangs have 91 tackles for loss (7.5 per game) and 37 sacks. Last season, they averaged 7.1 tackles for loss per game and had 47 sacks.

Over the past three seasons, his teams have averaged 1.5 takeaways per game and nearly an interception per game (37 in 39 games). The Mustangs are also 11th in third-down percentage on defense this season. 

Nebraska football would have to pony up (pun intended) to get him, but Matt Rhule has the resources to get this done and it would be a home run.

Elijah Robinson, Syracuse

The former Matt Rhule assistant at Baylor and Temple (defensive line) just finished his first season as the Syracuse defensive coordinator after six seasons at Texas A&M.

Robinson is known as an elite recruiter. He’s landed some impressive defensive line talent and did a solid job with the Orange this past season (26 sacks, 67 TFL, 14 takeaways). The Orange allowed 28.7 points per game (94th) and 5.2 yards per rushing attempt. Syracuse also allowed 36 percent on third downs (50th) which is 18 spots behind Nebraska, but not bad.

So there are some negatives on the resume. But Robinson is an up-and-coming candidate. He could attract some elite defensive line talent and maybe some dudes from the transfer portal that he helped recruit to A&M.

The run defenses were always good when he was the D-line coach and he’s familiar with Rhule. Both played for Penn State. It would be a bet on the upside, but the man can recruit.

Jim Leonhard, Broncos

The former Wisconsin DC is a name that Nebraska football fans have mentioned but I’m not sure the Broncos defensive passing-game coordinator would want the job.

It probably depends on if he wants to stay in the NFL or not. Nebraska could probably pay him more and would need to. Plus, the Broncos are in the midst of a playoff run, so the Huskers might not be able to hire him for a month, at the earliest.

Leonhard was stellar in his role with the Wisconsin Badgers. His teams always stopped the run, produced great pass rushers, and were solid all around. They had some trouble against teams like Ohio State over the years but after spending a season in the NFL, my guess is that he’d be even better.

Symons is proven in my book. So is Leonhard and it would be hard to complain if he was hired by Matt Rhule.

John Butler, interim DC

The one coach on staff that seems to be in the mix is John Butler. He left Buffalo after last season and clearly wants to be a defensive coordinator.

Butler was hired to replace Evan Cooper in July and there were some positives in the secondary, namely Ceyair Wright and I’d say, Deshon Singleton.

Butler helped Buffalo have a top-five pass defense five times in six seasons. Two of those were as the defensive passing game coordinator.

The 10-year NFL veteran and 30-year assistant, was the defensive passing game coordinator last season for Nebraska football. He knows the scheme and it would be a smooth transition.

Butler is the interim defensive coordinator right now. He would be a fine hire, but it feels like there are some better options and after 11 wins in two seasons, hiring a first-time DC could be too risky for Rhule.

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