Nebraska Football: The latest on DC Tony White

Nebraska football defensive coordinator Tony White has been the subject of coaching rumors over the past couple days. On3’s Sean Callahan reported on Thursday morning that White was still in play for the USC defensive coordinator position.

White was thought to be a candidate for the San Diego State head coaching position at one point. However, it was reported earlier this week that Colorado co-offensive coordinator Sean Lewis was San Diego State’s main target.

This would certainly be an intriguing hire for USC. They ranked at the bottom of the PAC-12 in total defense with 438.8 yards allowed per game. They gave up the fourth-most first downs per game with an average of 22.8 per contest, according to statistics from sportsreference.com.

In the meantime, White was able to take the Nebraska football defense and make them the 15^th-best unit in the country. They allowed only 92.9 rushing yards per game, and 313.7 yards of total offense per contest. The defensive unit was a strong suit for Nebraska football this season.

A USC move would make sense for White. He went to college at UCLA, and served as a graduate assistant there in 2007. He also spent time at San Diego State from 2009-2017. He served the roles of quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator while he was there.

Following San Diego State, he was the quarterbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator for Arizona State from 2018-2019. He then took over the defensive coordinator and secondary coach role for the Wildcats in the 2019 season. White has West Coast experience. A move to USC, would at the very least, make logical sense in terms of his experience and his familiarity out West.

A good sign for Nebraska football?

However, there are people who do not necessarily believe this report. Scott Schrader of WeAreSC.com does not believe that Tony White is in the market for this job. This is based on reports he heard Thursday morning. It is worth noting that USC at least reached out to gauge interest.

Just posted from USC ON3 Staff…..interesting turn https://t.co/Yci1bV7bBk pic.twitter.com/JebbVWrogJ

— Tunnel Walk Talk (@TunnelWalkTalk) November 30, 2023

It remains to be seen if White will take a role somewhere else, or remain with the Nebraska football program. The only certainty here is that he is a highly-regarded assistant. Nevertheless, the rumors around White continue to swirl.