Why Dr. Susan Elza followed Matt Rhule to Nebraska as the Huskers’ chief administrator

As a newly hired softball coach at Allen High School in Texas, there wasn’t room for Elza to have her own office. She instead sat with the school’s football coaches, watching film and charting plays.

Despite developing a love for the game, Elza never saw herself working solely within the sport of football — but all that changed the day she met Matt Rhule.

A relationship that dates back several years led to Rhule hiring Elza as Nebraska’s football chief of staff, the program’s lead administrator who oversees both day-to-day functions and long-term planning.

Elza previously worked as the director of athletics for the University Interscholastic League, the governing board of Texas high school sports. After teaching and coaching for several years, Elza said she “poured my heart and soul into getting to that job,” a position she held for over seven years.

Elza handed out state trophies. She chatted with high school coaches, enacted policy changes and oversaw a wide-ranging athletic network.

It was a dream job for Elza — and in January 2023, she left it. Why?

“My number-one goal was to be (the) athletic director of the state of Texas, but once I met him (Rhule), I knew I wanted to stay associated with him in some way,” Elza said last Thursday. “… There probably wouldn’t be too many people that I’d go and work for and leave those Texas boundaries, and there probably wasn’t another university that I would’ve had in my line of sight.”

Rhule and Elza’s relationship began like that of many Texans reacting to an East Coast outsider being hired as Baylor’s head coach.

The Bears’ previous coach, Art Briles, was a native Texan who’d coached in the state for over three decades. Among the state’s high school coaches, there were initial feelings of distrust that made their way to Elza.

Then Rhule hired a trio of highly respected high school coaches: Joey McGuire, David Wetzel and Shawn Bell. Rhule began developing relationships within the state’s coaches association, the THSCA, and embraced the straight-line recruiting setup that high school coaches had advocated for.

Quickly, Elza began hearing good things instead — and when she took in a Baylor practice for herself, she saw the real deal in person.

“He’s super intense, and I love intensity; I think that’s what makes things go,” Elza said of Rhule. “He’s like a magnet; you want to go and take all that information between his intelligence is off the charts and he pulls his inspiration from so many different things.”

Working with a leader of Rhule’s caliber began to intrigue Elza — and in 2020 she nearly followed him to the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. The timing wasn’t right, though, as Elza felt she needed to guide the UIL through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two-plus years later, the stars aligned. Elza arrived in Nebraska and immediately got to work building the Huskers’ transition plans for their new football facility. With the facility in action this spring, Elza said she “got goosebumps” watching Nebraska conduct a lifting session with the entire team present — and her impact goes further than facilities.

From preparing for NU’s road trips to conducting daily administrative functions and tackling big-picture questions, there is a “vast landscape” of tasks that Elza handles. She also oversees Nebraska football’s support staff.

“I want every person that’s on our staff in any role, including myself, to be the best in college football,” Elza said.

Nebraska’s setup is simple — the more that Elza handles, the less lands on Rhule’s plate.

Both pride themselves on the small details and on being meticulous in the pursuit of perfection. It’s for that reason that Elza found herself drawn to the opportunity at Nebraska, and it’s why she believes the program has a strong foundation to build upon.

“I feel like I owe Matt a ton of loyalty and a ton of commitment,” Elza said. “What I want to pour my efforts into is us winning a national championship. I’m not afraid to talk about it, I think that’s what we’re here to do.”