All eyes are turning to the Nebraska football team’s new staff members after the firing of some key pieces ahead of its bowl game on Dec. 31.
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule announced the firing of defensive coordinator John Butler on Dec. 1, offensive line coach Donovan Raiola Saturday and defensive line coach Terry Bradden Tuesday afternoon. However, the coach is wasting no time finding their replacements, officially announcing the hiring of Rob Aurich as defensive coordinator and Geep Wade as offensive line coach on Tuesday.
Aurich comes to Nebraska from San Diego State after, where he served as defensive coordinator for one year coaching edge rushers in 2024. Under his guidance, the Aztecs finished the season ranking No. 5 in scoring defense, giving up 12.6 points per game. They ranked 97th the prior season. They also concluded the season at No. 5 in passing yards, No. 12 in third-down conversion percentage and No. 7 in total defense.
After signing a three-year deal with Nebraska, Aurich is tasked with revamping a struggling Husker unit that gave up 40 and 37 points in their last two games.
“The biggest thing with Rob is purely the tape,” Rhule said Tuesday afternoon. “When I watch the tape, it’s the play style that I want. You just see people flying around, you see people playing at a really high level, and to me, for both stops, whether it was Idaho or whether it was San Diego State, it was in his first year as coordinator. It wasn’t like ‘Hey, this is going to take two years, this is going to take three years,’ it was right off the bat. So, I just fell in love with the tape, fell in love with the film.”
Before joining San Diego State in 2024, Aurich spent two years at Idaho serving as defensive coordinator, in 2022 and 2023. During his time with the Vandals, he helped lead the team to a 28th-ranked scoring defense after a No. 93 finish before his arrival. He also helped recruit Andrew Marshall to Idaho in 2023, where he spent two years before transferring to Nebraska. Marshall gave his endorsement for the hiring of Aurich.
“Coach Aurich, that’s my guy,” Marshall said. “He coached me my freshman year at Idaho. I love his scheme. I love his coaching style. Great guy to be around, funny guy to be around. So I’m ready to get to work.”
Rhule announced the firing of Raiola on Saturday, after serving as Nebraska’s offensive line coach for four seasons. He made it official on Tuesday.
“I made the decision to go in a different direction, just as we try to take another step offensively, and just kind of go in a different manner,” Rhule said. “But I have to thank him for all that he’s done, and no one’s worked harder, and I’m very appreciative to him.”
Wade is coming to Nebraska as an experienced offensive line coach with more than 20 years of coaching including stops at Midwestern State, UT Martin, Chattanooga, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, East Carolina, Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and Georgia Tech.
Most recently, Wade spent time at Georgia Tech serving as the offensive line coach from 2022 to 2025. During the 2025 season, the Yellow Jackets ranked No. 19 in rushing with 203 yards per game, No. 12 in total offense with 466.3 yards per game and No. 28 in scoring at 33.1 points per game. His unit held strong in pass protection, allowing only nine sacks, while enforcing their will in the trenches with 30 rushing touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per tote.
Now, he’s bringing his knowledge to Nebraska.
“Geep is really respected as one of the top offensive line coaches in the nation,” Rhule said. “He has 22 years of experience. Over the past three years, Georgia Tech is ranked seventh nationally in the fewest sacks allowed, ninth in rush yards per attempt and 13th in rush yards per game. He’s a guy that I’ve known for a long time — never truly worked with but been around him. He’s excited to be here.”
The head coach also announced that Bradden will not be retained after just one year with the program. The team is currently looking for his replacement.
Now, Nebraska is turning its attention to its upcoming bowl game against No. 15 Utah on Dec. 31. Rhule gave an update on freshman quarterback TJ Lateef, who suffered a hamstring injury in Nebraska’s 40-16 loss to Iowa on Nov. 28.
“TJ practiced yesterday,” Rhule said. “I thought it would be a little bit longer, but he was out there at practice. He was doing indi and things like that. This is a big week for (redshirt freshman quarterback Marcos) Davila to get a bunch of reps, so we really are kind of working him a ton. He’ll take some team reps tomorrow. He looks way further ahead than I would have envisioned.”
For now, the Huskers are preparing for Utah, with bowl game practices starting Monday. The Utes are coming into the game sitting at a record of 10-2 with their only losses coming against BYU and No. 4 Texas Tech.
“You just hear the word Utah and you know what it means, right?” Rhule said. “Great defense, great running game. You watch their offense, it’s exotic, it’s exciting; the quarterback runs, it’s a lot of different things. They know exactly what’s at stake, and they’re also unhappy with how we played the last two games, and so ‘TJ’s going to have to get healthy. We can’t have him not be able to move around in the bowl game.”
Facing a team like Utah is a big opportunity for a Nebraska team that went 7-5 in the regular season. Rhule gave the fan base most of the credit for sending the Huskers to Las Vegas.
“I just think the one thing that is really special it really speaks to our fan base,” Rhule said. “It speaks to Husker nation that this bowl game wanted us. There’s a pecking order, and they jumped some people that maybe had a better record than us, but they were like `Hey, we want Nebraska fans there.’ So I think that that’s really cool.”
The Huskers will travel to Allegiant Stadium to take on Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec 31. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
