Tony White is now the second-highest paid defensive coordinator in the Big Ten and the highest-paid assistant coach in the 133-year history of Nebraska football.
The Huskers defensive coordinator has agreed to a restructured contract with Matt Rhule and Co. after guiding the Blackshirts to their best defensive performance since their move to the Big Ten in 2011. White's annual salary will see an increase to $1.6 million each year for the two remaining seasons on his contract. That's a bump of $600,000 per year after he initially signed last offseason for $1 million per year.
As he heads into his second year with the program, White has not only become the second-highest paid defensive coach in the Big Ten and highest-paid Husker assistant ever, he's also now tied with Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline as the second-highest paid assistant in the conference on either side of the ball. And he's now ranked inside the top 15 of highest-paid assistant coaches across all of college football.
“I am proud of what our players accomplished this year and am excited to build on that success moving forward,” White said after signing the new deal. “It is a privilege to have the opportunity to coach at Nebraska, and to work for a great leader in Coach Rhule, and I feel honored to work alongside our defensive staff every day. Go Big Red!”
>> Inside Nebraska was on top of the Tony White news this week: First detailing his candidacies at both Syracuse and San Diego State. Then, on Friday morning just a few hours before news of White's restructured contract broke, we reported that USC was not a threat to Nebraska's goal of keeping him.
>> If you want accurate reporting on behind-the-scenes coach and player movement this offseason before anyone else, consider signing up for all-access to Inside Nebraska for our premium articles and message boards for less than $2.50/week.
Note: Michigan State OC Jay Johnson ($1,462,500) and Michigan State DC Scottie Hazelton ($1,191,667) would also be in the top 10, but both were fired after the season.
The 2023 Nebraska defense was the nation’s third-most improved unit against the run and ranked as the fourth-most improved in total defense. Eight Nebraska defensive players earned All-Big Ten recognition for their play this fall.
“Tony White has all the attributes you look for in a coordinator or assistant coach,” Huskers coach Matt Rhule said. “He builds great relationships with his players and fellow coaches and is an elite teacher and communicator. We made great strides on defense this past season, and I look forward to continuing to work with Tony as we move forward and build this program.”
RELATED: Friday Morning Update: Latest on Tony White and USC opening
As a two-time Broyles Award nominee — he made the initial cut once at Syracuse in 2022 and again at Nebraska in 2023 — White’s name has been connected with multiple head coaching vacancies, including at two programs he once coached at: Syracuse and San Diego State.
Syracuse has since hired Georgia defensive backs coach and former Matt Rhule assistant, Fran Brown, to be its next head coach. San Diego State, a program with a strong tradition of defense and the place where White learned his 3-3-5 scheme, went in a different direction and hired former Colorado offensive coordinator and Kent State head coach Sean Lewis to take over the Aztecs.
White’s name also emerged as a candidate for the open defensive coordinator job at USC under Lincoln Riley. Riley moved on from his longtime DC, Alex Grinch, with two games left in USC's regular season. Grinch reportedly had a three-year contract worth $5.4 million, paying him $1.8 million annually.
Note: Former Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby (HC at Mississippi State) at $1,900,000 ($1.9M), former Michigan State OC Jay Johnson (fired this week) at $1,462,500 ($1.46M) and former Texas A&M OC Bobby Petrino (OC at Arkansas) at $1,420,000 ($1.42M) were all ranked in the top 20 previously before taking new jobs this cycle.
After spending three seasons at Syracuse coordinating the Orange’s defense from 2020-22, White made an immediate impact with Nebraska’s Blackshirts in his first campaign in Lincoln.
Led by White, the Huskers saw dramatic improvement in several key categories in 2023. Nebraska allowed 18.3 points per game in 2023, which ranked 17th in the country at the end of the regular season. In 2022, the Huskers finished with 27.6. Nebraska also saw a jump in total defense from 2022 (414.4, 100th) to 2023 (303.5, 14th).
The largest leaps came in run defense. In 2022, the Huskers allowed 189.08 yards and 4.55 yards per carry, marks that ranked 108th and 101st in the country, respectively. In 2023, those averages dropped to 92.92 and 2.97, ranking ninth and seventh overall.
The Huskers raised more havoc in the backfield this season than in the past, too. Nebraska recorded 76 tackles for loss this season, 30th in the country and the most the program has had since 2014 (80). In 2022, they had only 60 TFLs (109th). The Blackshirts also racked up 32 sacks, good for 28th in the country and the most since 2013 (38). In 2022, there were only 21 sacks (101st).
As he always does, White deflected his own praise and instead gave others credit when asked about his future at Nebraska prior to the Black Friday rivalry game against Iowa.
"Anything like that is a reflection of the young men playing and the other coaches and the work that they put in," White said. "That's where I take that — that has nothing to do with me. It's all those guys running around. I didn't make one tackle this year. I didn't make one sack this year. Those young men perform and those assistant coaches got them in a position to perform."
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Rhule, who hired White knowing the defensive coordinator would gain interest elsewhere after the season, was honest about what he tells search firms that call him and ask about White.
“I said, ‘Yes, you should hire Tony White. Tony White should be a head coach. He's excellent,” Rhule said during the season.
While Rhule would never want to stand in the way of an assistant moving up in his career, the Husker head coach does give advice. The most important piece of info Rhule says is simple: don’t take the wrong job.
“Don't take a job with no resources. Don't take a job with no support. Don't take a job without a great recruiting base,” Rhule said of his advice. “Don't take a job — and hear me when I say this, this is deep — where the expectations outweigh the commitment.”
Expectations that outweigh commitment. Rhule used metaphors to explain that thought. If you want to get in better shape, don’t work out one day out of the week. In football, if a program wants to have a 10-win team, that program can’t be middle-of-the-pack in its conference in spending.
“We're gonna be really good on defense for a while if Tony decides to stay,” Rhule said. “If he gets a head coaching job and wants to take it, I'm gonna hug him, wish him the best and then we'll continue to play good defense.”
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