It’s official: John Butler joins Nebraska staff
It’s official.
Nebraska formally announced Thursday the hiring of John Butler as its new secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator. He replaces Evan Cooper, who resigned Friday for “personal reasons,” according to school officials.
The 51-year-old Butler, a Philadelphia native, possesses a wealth of college and NFL experience. His career includes a stint in 2013 as Penn State’s defensive coordinator, with the Nittany Lions finishing 7-5 that season despite scholarship reductions and a bowl ban in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Butler’s latest job was defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator for the Buffalo Bills (2022-23), with his secondary being a strength during most of that period.
There is a prior connection to Nebraska’s staff. Butler coached current Husker general manager Sean Padden at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., in 1995-96. He was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach during that period.
Butler has significant Big Ten experience
In addition to his time at Penn State, Butler has Big Ten experience as Minnesota’s special teams and linebackers coach from 2007 to 2010. From there, his journey had a stop as South Carolina’s special teams and linebackers coach (2011) before he moved on to Penn State as the secondary coach in 2012. He was promoted to coordinator in 2013.
Then, Butler turned his attention to the NFL. He was the Houston Texans’ secondary coach (2014-17) before taking the same job with the Buffalo Bills (2018-21). He was promoted to defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator in 2022 and served in that role until this past season.
According to the Athletic, Butler decided to move on from the Bills after being passed over for the defensive coordinator job.
Now, it’s official: Butler will try to help improve a Nebraska defense that was 11th nationally last season in total yards allowed per game (303.5) and 13th in points allowed (18.2).
Cooper enjoyed success under Rhule
As for Cooper, he played for Temple when current Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule was an assistant coach there, and Cooper had been serving on Rhule’s coaching staff for the 10th consecutive year.
Rhule has said he trusts Cooper at a high level for in part for his ability to evaluate talent. What’s more, Cooper’s first season coaching Husker defensive backs was a success by most any measure.
Nebraska’s pass defense in 2023 limited opponents to 6.1 yards per attempt, a total that ranked ninth nationally. The Huskers also ranked 15th nationally in passing efficiency defense, their highest finish in that category since 2014. The secondary held two opponents under 100 yards passing and seven opponents to fewer than 200 yards through the air.
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