College football news is nonstop, and we’re breaking it all down week by week this season.
Here’s the latest on what’s happening around college football entering Week 15:
Kentucky has sights set on next head coach
Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein is the target to be the next coach at Kentucky, and both sides are actively working toward a deal, according to multiple reports. Kentucky fired Mark Stoops, the SEC‘s longest-tenured coach, on Monday, ending his tenure in his 13th season with the Wildcats after back-to-back losing records.
Stein, a Kentucky native, would be the sixth SEC head coach hired in the past few days. Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss to take over for conference rival LSU, the Rebels promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding to take over, Florida hired Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, Arkansas hired Memphis‘ Ryan Silverfield and Auburn hired South Florida‘s Alex Golesh.
Nebraska fires defensive coordinator
Nebraska first-year DC John Butler was fired Monday after the Cornhuskers lost four of their past six games and struggled all season to stop the run. Head coach Matt Rhule named associate head coach Phil Snow the interim DC for the Huskers’ bowl game and said he hoped to hire a permanent replacement for Butler in the coming weeks.
The Huskers (7-5, 4-5) are 14th in the Big Ten in rushing defense, allowing 171.3 yards per game and 183 yards in nine conference games. They are 15th in the Big Ten and tied for 104th nationally with 19.0 sacks. Nebraska was outscored 77-26 by Penn State and Iowa in its last two games, gave up a combined 444 rushing yards and recorded one sack.
Nebraska is second-to-last in the nation in red-zone defense, with opponents coming away with points on 30 of 31 (96.8%) of their trips inside the 20-yard line. The Huskers are last in stopping touchdowns in the red zone.
Butler was hired by Rhule after spending six seasons in the NFL as the Buffalo Bills’ defensive backs coach. He spent the last two years there as the Bills’ passing game coordinator. He previously was on the Houston Texans’ staff for four seasons. Snow was Rhule’s DC with the Carolina Panthers from 2020 to 2022. He also has been a DC at Arizona State, UCLA, Washington and Baylor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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