3 thoughts as Matt Rhule lands rising star as Nebraska DC

Matt Rhule has a new offensive line coach and a new defensive coordinator, after the hire of San Diego State defensive coordinator Rob Aurich to the DC job for Nebraska football, signing him to a three-year deal.

Pete Thamel was the first to report it. The Huskers also interviewed Toledo defensive coordinator Vince Kehres for the job; however, he wound up taking the job at Syracuse. The Nebraska head coach pivoted quickly, and here are three thoughts on Rob Aurich.

A DC who makes defenses better

In Aurich, Rhule is hiring a coach with just one season of coordinator experience at the FBS level. He was a defensive coordinator at Idaho for two seasons, and his defenses improved dramatically there, too.

After Aurich took over as the SDSU DC in 2025, the Aztecs went from 97th to 5th in scoring defense, allowing just over 12 points per game last season. They had an 83 percent stop rate. In his first season as the Idaho defensive coordinator, the Vandals improved their scoring defense by nearly seven points per game.

Sign me up if Aurich can do that for Nebraska football next season.

A versatile coach with some scheme versatility

The Aztecs run a 4-2-5 defense. That makes sense, but there could still be some 3-3-5. A four-man front takes some pressure off the defensive tackles. You don’t need to have a 320-pound nose tackle in that situation.

A 4-2-5 base defense fits the players better. The Huskers have Williams Nwaneri and Kade Pietrzak, who fit that better. That’s not a bad starting tandem with Cameron Lenhardt in the mix. You also have Keona Davis and guys like Riley Van Poppel, Malcolm Simpson, and Tyson Terry, who could fit in that system, plus who is added from the portal.

The run defense wasn’t just bad because of the defensive line. There were bad run fits, missed tackles, etc. Having an elite defensive line will help hide a lot of things, but there were plenty of issues. The linebackers and safeties need to be a lot better, too.

A different scheme won’t fix everything, but if it helps the players get in better positions and play faster, it can make a big difference.

A rising star

At Idaho, he had two top-25 (FCS) defenses in terms of yards allowed. The defense allowed fewer yards and points in each of his two seasons coordinating it. He was a position coach for San Diego State in 2024, then turned around the defense in 2025 as it jumped 92 spots in scoring defense.

His defenses don’t just limit points and yards; they take the ball away. In 2022, in his first season as Vandals DC, the defense had 21 takeaways compared to eight the previous season. The Aztecs have 13 interceptions this season, but just one fumble recovery. Even his defenses at the D-2 level ranked in the top 10 in interceptions and yards per rush back in 2017.

That doesn’t guarantee success at Nebraska. There’s a lot to like, though. Aurich played at South Dakota. He was a special teams coordinator and inside linebackers coach there. He’s done a lot of different things, but always moves up quickly.

Teams have won everywhere he has gone, too. Idaho won nine games in his last season as the DC there. San Diego State won nine games this season. That doesn’t happen by accident.

Aurich might not have been a “big name” hire, but the guy who wasn’t the big-name hire just beat the No. 1 team in the country to win the Big Ten title.

That’s not saying Aurich is him. But he’s coached at 4-5 different schools. The pattern has been the same, and with the resources of Nebraska, there’s no reason to think he can’t have the same meteoric rise in Lincoln that he has had everywhere else.

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