One of the off-season surprises for Nebraska football was the sudden dismissal of the defenders coach Evan Cooper. At the time of your departure, Cooper was coming in his second year as the Huskers’ defensive backs coach. The school said Cooper resigned for personal reasons.
Head coach Matt Rhule quickly hired John Butler as the new defensive backs coach. Butler joins the Cornhuskers after holding the same position with the Buffalo notes since 2022. He left his position with the Bills in February 2024, citing a desire to become a defensive coordinator. Rhule said he is excited to bring in someone with NFL experience.
John is a guy I’ve known for a long time, and I think any time you can hire someone on your staff as a position coach who has been a coordinator, he comes in with another set of eyes. I had the opportunity to coach against John when I was at Temple, he was at Penn State. Obviously, in the NFL, he was in Buffalo.
Butler also trained with the Houston Texans from 2014 to 2017. Rhule said the new coach’s track record is already paying dividends in the recruiting process.
Just think about the draft, for those guys who want to go to the NFL and are talking to us, you know, I’ve been in those draft rooms, but John coached Micah Hyde, he coached Jordan Poyer. He coached all five majors. It was a shame we moved so late in the year, but we wouldn’t have gotten John sooner.
He also talked about Butler’s hiring process and how he will work with the new coaching staff.
He was at a point where he was ready to come back and start training. Turns out I was on vacation at the beach, two towns away from where he was, so it was all very fortuitous. We sat down. Tony White is one of the best coaches in college football. He’s an incredible defensive coordinator. Terrance Knighton is an incredible defensive line coach. Rob Dvoracek, excellent young linebacker coach. I think John will bring some experience, a second set of eyes and a guy the players can trust will make them better.
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