Roundup of this week’s reports and rumblings

Another week is almost in the books without the next Nebraska coach being named as we hit Day 69 of the search.

This week has been even busier than normal with more reports, rumblings, rumors, speculation and smoke (the biggest buzzword) about who Trev Alberts is going to hire and when it will happen.

Below is a roundup of all the updates and reports from national and out-of-market local reporters about the Nebraska coaching search. These updates and reports are restricted to only those that were provided on a free platform such as Twitter, podcasts, TV shows, etc. If the report or update was made on a subscription site and is behind a paywall, they are not listed.

Head to the following link for our own reporting and analysis of the coaching search:

Five Essential Reads: Coach Search & Nebraska-Wisconsin

Matt Rhule is unlikely to be the next head coach at Nebraska, according to the latest report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Thamel gave an update on Rhule in regard to the Huskers’ search during his appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday. Thamel, college football senior writer at ESPN and one of college football’s top insiders, talked about Rhule and Nebraska beginning at the 1:47:00 mark of the show.

“I would think that Matt Rhule is in listening mode right now, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to listen to anyone,” Thamel said. “My instinct is that he doesn’t coach in college football next season right now. I don’t think he’ll be the next coach at Nebraska. … I think there’s an allure, if you’re Matt Rhule to staying out (of college coaching for a year). This is not the best coaching cycle in terms of high, high-end jobs, especially after the last coaching cycle which was far and away, in my time covering this, the most high-end jobs that have ever opened.”

Rhule is going to be making roughly $10 million over the next year through his buyout after being fired by the Carolina Panthers. Thamel’s last point in that report is the key factor that we debated on Tuesday in our profile of Rhule as a potential candidate:

Thamel also updated the Auburn coaching search, which is tied in with Rhule’s candidacy at Nebraska, speaking about the Tigers’ search beginning at the 1:45:55 mark of the show.

“I think that when you look at his Auburn candidacy – and he did wonders at both Temple and Baylor – you have to wonder if they would be leaning toward someone with a little more SEC experience and experience in the South,” Thamel said.

Despite that report, Thamel said that he still believes the next coach at Auburn will come from the three-man group of Rhule, Lane Kiffin or Hugh Freeze.

“I would be extremely surprised if the next Auburn coach doesn’t come from that group of three,” Thamel said. “Now, it’s Auburn, so crazier things have happened. But nothing has emerged from my reporting in the last week or two that has shown that there’s gonna be some kind of distinct outlier that emerges.”

In contrary to Thamel’s report, college football insider Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and The Athletic still has Rhule as one of the top candidates.

Feldman appeared on Thursday’s episode of The Jim Rome Show and listed Rhule, Jeff Monken and Bill O’Brien as the three candidates he is still looking at as the key possibilities, with discussion of the Huskers beginning at the 9:30 mark of the show.

“I heard there’s a lot of interest in Matt Rhule, and the question is, does he really wanna be back and jump in for this job, which is a heavy lift?” Feldman said. “He did an amazing job fixing Baylor when it was in disarray. I think Jeff Monken at Army is a guy who (Trev Alberts) has some connections to. Bill O’Brien is another guy he’s got some connections too.

“I’m interested to see what direction Matt Rhule wants to (go). Does he want to sit it out for the year and do TV? I mean, we’ll see. That’s a tricky job right now. Scott Frost looked, on paper, to be really good and it was disastrous. So that’s a tough job right now.”

As for a timeline, Feldman’s stance on Alberts’ decision is in line with the vast majority of peoples’ opinions: “I think he would love to do it as soon as possible because the early signing period is coming fast.”

Lance Leipold reportedly has a contract extension on the table but has not yet agreed to it.

Kansas insider Mike Vernon reported on Thursday that Leipold is putting off extension talks until “later,” and that those discussions won’t come until “likely after the season.”

Gary Patterson’s name emerged in the first week of November as a potential lead candidate for the job.

But the former TCU head coach, now an analyst on Steve Sarkisian’s staff at Texas, commented about the reports on Twitter on Tuesday: “For all that care one way or another I am committed to Sark and this staff to finish the journey! So please don’t believe any reports otherwise! #Wenotme”