If Matt Rhule comes up with the idea for the next hit children's animation series that is then sold to Disney or one of its competitors, the proceeds from that idea would go to the Nebraska athletics department.
According to documents obtained by the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska has paid $5 million to Rhule's LLC for the rights to his intellectual property, as well as his name, image and likeness.
The funds, provided through a donor, now give Nebraska the contractual right to monetize Rhule's "House Rhules" podcast, as well as the right to sell memorabilia with Rhule's face on it.
As part of that one-time payment, Rhule will earn $13.5 million in 2026, the first of a 7-year extension Rhule signed back in October. Rhule signed the extension after Penn State, Rhule's alma mater, fired James Franklin during the middle of the season. In reality, Rhule was never a serious candidate for the job.
Still, Rhule will be among the highest-paid coaches this season, and then slip to "just" $10 million in 2027, with a raise to $11.5 million in 2028, $12 million in 2029, and then top out at $12.5 million a year from 2030-32. He's in line for a $1 million raise if Nebraska makes a 12- or 16-team CFP, with $1 million retention bonuses due March 1 of next year, March 1, 2029, and Dec. 30, 2030.
Roughly 75 percent of Rhule's salary will be paid to him directly, and the remaining quarter will go to Rhule's LLC, which was created in 2018, after the coach's first season at Baylor.
Rhule is 19-19 (10-17 Big Ten) in three seasons at Nebraska. His Cornhuskers went 6-6 in the regular season with a Pinstripe Bowl win in 2024, and then went 7-5 and lost to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl last season.