The shoving out of the door of Cooper was a great mystery for a few weeks this past summer, primarily because of how close to the regular season it came. The change at the position became a big more irritating as the season went on, and the Huskers’ secondary was seen as underachieving, especially from November on.
Former Buffalo Bills assistant John Butler took over for Cooper once he was gone. While Butler has a reputation for being an elite secondary coach, NU’s defensive backfield struggled mightily in games against Indiana, UCLA, and USC, routinely leaving receivers wide open.
Despite those struggles, Butler is considered the odds-on favorite to become the Nebraska football defensive coordinator, though such a move hasn’t been announced yet.