Report: Matt Rhule working on hiring Texas high school head coach to staff

According to a report from FootballScoop Tuesday morning, Arlington Martin (Texas) High School head coach Bob Wager is "a strong candidate" to join new Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule's staff for the 2023 season.

What exactly Wager's role within Rhule's program will be isn't yet known.

Wager has been involved in coaching the last seven Under Armour All-American Games in Orlando, as well as serving on the game’s board of directors. He’s made the Texas high school state playoffs the past 17 years. His team went 10-2 last season, losing in the second round of the Texas state playoffs.

Wager currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas High School Coaches Association as well, which is something Rhule has drawn a strong connection to.

Rhule's first Nebraska staff has largely consisted of assistants he's worked with before. But Rhule also has shown a willingness to hire people outside of his circle to help him lead a new program.

A good example of that was at Baylor, where he hired three key power players from the Texas high school football ranks in Shawn Bell, Joey McGuire and David Wetzel. McGuire is now the head coach at Texas Tech, and has the Red Raiders bowl-bound in his first season. That trio helped his transition from Temple to Texas.

Bell, McGuire and Wetzel were instrumental in showing Rhule around his new surroundings and introducing him to who he needed to know. The result was a sped-up transitioning process and strong recruiting classes. According to Rivals, Baylor finished third in the Big 12 recruiting rankings in 2017 and fourth in both 2018 and 2019.

Now, it appears Wager is the next former high school head coach who will help Rhule — this time at Nebraska.