LINCOLN — John Butler won’t need an audition as Nebraska’s defensive coordinator.
According to a report from ESPN, he’s set to be the permanent replacement for Tony White, who left the school for Florida State.
ESPN also reported the likely hiring of two more coaches — Phil Snow, longtime aide to coach Matt Rhule, filling an associate head coach role and Kansas City Chiefs assistant Terry Bradden taking the defensive line coach job, vacated when Terrance Knighton followed White to Florida State.
Butler, named the interim DC after White departed, served this season as NU’s defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator, joining the team this summer after the abrupt resignation of Evan Cooper. Previously, Butler had spent six seasons coaching defensive backs for the Buffalo Bills, who, in passing over Butler for a defensive coordinator, triggered his departure from the franchise.
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Now, he’s in line to get the DC job at Nebraska.
“I brought him in knowing that at some point Tony was going to leave whether it was a coordinator job or a head coaching job,” Rhule said Dec. 4 of naming Butler the interim coordinator. “John has been a DC before, so right away I said ‘Here you go John, take this over and run with it.’ He’s done a great job this season with putting together game plans and passing game plans with Tony.”
Rhule added a “lot of guys love John” among the assistants and the players. Late last week, Nebraska football released a social media graphic touting Butler’s experience coaching NFL players, and the accumulated contract money those NFL players had earned.
Butler previously served as Penn State’s defensive coordinator in 2013 before embarking on a long career in the NFL, first with the Texans and later with the Buffalo Bills. Butler coached some of the top-performing secondaries in pro football before leaving the Bills, last offseason, when he didn’t get the DC job in Buffalo. He spent five months out of the game before the resignation of Cooper — now headed to Florida State — opened a coaching spot at Nebraska.
“To say this was out of the blue would probably be an understatement from the standpoint of, the timing, where my mindset was,” Butler said Aug. 6 of taking the defensive backs assistant role. “But when the opportunity came — and it came quick — I had relationships with some people in this building, and, obviously, was very impressed with the programs Matt has built through the years.”
Snow, defensive coordinator for Rhule at Temple, Baylor and the Carolina Panthers, opted not to take the DC job at Nebraska when Rhule arrived in 2022. Rhule instead hired White, who posted two top-20 scoring defenses in his two seasons. Rhule kept Snow on as an occasional consultant, and in November more fully extended Snow’s consultant role at the same time Rhule hired Dana Holgorsen as a three-game offensive coordinator. Holgorsen is now the full-time OC.
Bradden spent eight years with the Chiefs, including the last four as an assistant defensive line coach. Prior to that, he spent three years as a defensive quality control coach and one year as a defensive assistant. He was a college quarterback at Howard University.
On Monday, NU’s new edge rushers coach, Phil Simpson, announced his return to the school, as Rhule intends to have two coaches oversee the defensive line. While Snow, a longtime defensive coach, could oversee the secondary, NU could also hire a separate defensive backs coach as Snow consults with Rhule. The NCAA lifted its limit on countable assistant coaches, which gives Nebraska flexibility to add another coach to the defense.
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The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
The “Signee Spotlight” provides all the information you need on the Huskers’ 2025 class, including rankings, evaluations and a look at how they landed at Nebraska.
