With spring ball just around the corner, Nebraska football still has a major question mark hanging over its special teams unit - who’s going to coach it?
Matt Rhule addressed the topic before Mike Ekeler’s departure to USC, hinting at a possible internal promotion. One name that stood out at the time was Josh Martin.
Martin had previously served as a tight ends coach under Rhule and worked as an analyst under both Ed Foley and Ekeler. He also brought two years of special teams coordinator experience from his time at SMU, which made him a logical candidate despite the potential risk of elevating someone without Power Five coordinator experience.
But that option is now off the board. On Monday, Martin accepted a head coaching position at a high school in Texas - a move that likely signals he wasn’t in line for the Nebraska special teams job after all. If he had been the frontrunner, it’s hard to imagine him stepping away from a Big Ten program for the high school ranks, regardless of the offer.
That leaves two internal candidates still in the mix: Brett Maher and Nick Humphrey.
Maher is a name Husker fans know well. He was a standout kicker at Nebraska and carved out a solid NFL career before joining Rhule’s staff two seasons ago. While his playing pedigree is unquestioned, coaching special teams at the Power Five level is a different kind of challenge.
Then there’s Humphrey, a former Tennessee linebacker who followed Ekeler to Lincoln and served as a special teams analyst last season. Like Maher, he’s respected within the program, but neither coach brings extensive coordinator experience to the table.
That’s where things get interesting. If Rhule is serious about elevating Nebraska’s special teams - a unit that, like offense and defense, makes up a third of the game - he may need to look beyond his current staff.
Promoting from within can work, especially if those analysts have been quietly laying the groundwork behind the scenes. But it’s a gamble, especially with the kind of schedule Nebraska is staring down next season.
This isn’t the time for guesswork or growing pains. Special teams can swing games - a blocked punt, a missed field goal, a busted return coverage - and in a conference where margins are razor-thin, Nebraska can’t afford to roll the dice.
If Rhule does have an outside candidate in mind, now would be the time to make a move. And if he doesn’t, then whoever takes over this unit internally needs to be ready to hit the ground running. Because come fall, every detail matters - and special teams will be under the microscope.