Huskers hire secondary defensive coach from Buffalo Bills
John Butler heading to Nebraska after six seasons in NFL
LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - Nebraska has added an assistant defensive coach with both college and NFL experience to the staff roster.
John Butler, whom Huskers Head Coach Matt Rhule called “one of the premier defensive backs coaches in football,” will take on a secondary coaching role as defensive pass game coordinator, according to a Thursday release from Nebraska Athletics.
“He has a diverse coaching background and a history of being part of winning organizations, and elite defenses at the highest level of football. He will be an outstanding addition to the Nebraska football program and our defensive staff,” Rhule said in the release.
With 19 years of college football experience and 10 with the NFL, Butler comes to Nebraska after spending the last six seasons with the Buffalo Bills, who made it to the AFC playoffs in each of the past five seasons and took the AFC East divisional title the last four years.
“I am excited to join Coach Rhule, this staff and the great tradition of Nebraska Football and the Blackshirt Defense. I look forward to working with our players to develop them as players, students and young men, Day by Day!”
Butler served as the Bills’ defensive back coach from 2018-21 before becoming the team’s passing game coordinator.
“Buffalo has been among the top defenses in the league throughout Butler’s time on the coaching staff,” the release states.
Butler also coached at Penn State from 2012-2013, helping the Nittany Lions rank second in the Big Ten and 16th nationally in scoring defense during that time. He then joined the Houston Texans coaching staff from 2014-2017 for a defense that ranked first in total defense and allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game in 2016.
Butler got his start in coaching while he was a graduate assistant at Texas in 1997-98, beginning his coaching career in earnest in 1995-96 at his alma mater, Catholic University. Graduating in the Class of 1995, he played both football and basketball at the Pennsylvania school.
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