Matt Rhule could be headed to corn country.

ESPN’s Chris Low reports that Nebraska has “zeroed in” on Rhule and that “the two sides hope to finalize a deal in the coming days.”

Rhule was fired as head coach of the Carolina Panthers early in his third year on the job. The Panthers were 1-4 when they fired Rhule, after going a combined 10-23 in 2020 and 2021.

Nonetheless, the 47-year-old Rhule is an attractive head coaching candidate in the college football market. He got the Panthers job on the basis of engineering turnarounds at Baylor and Temple.

Rhule went 2-10 in his first year at Temple in 2013. His final year there, 2016, saw the Owls go 10-3. Meanwhile, at Baylor, he took over a program in ashes after forcing out Art Briles. Baylor went 1-11 in his first year, 2017. Two years later, the Bears went 11-3, and then Rhule got hired by Carolina.

Nebraska has had a rough go of it in recent years. They fired Scott Frost in September just three games into the season. Frost went 16-31 in just over four seasons with the Cornhuskers.

Frost succeeded Mike Riley, who lasted just three years in Lincoln, going 4-8 in each of his final two seasons.

Nebraska, which was once at the zenith of the sport, has finished under .500 for six straight seasons and has not won 10 games since 2012.