Report: Former Penn State Defensive Coordinator John Butler To Join Nebraska

Former Penn State defensive coordinator and secondary coach John Butler is coming back to the Big Ten.

Butler is expected to become Nebraska’s new secondary coach, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Saturday. Butler was on the Nittany Lions’ staff under former head coach Bill O’Brien from 2012-13 before heading to the NFL.

During the 2013 season, Butler’s Penn State defense was ranked 49th in the nation in total defense, allowing 381.3 yards per game, and 58th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 26.2 points per game. During the 2012 season, Butler served as the Nittany Lions’ defensive backs coach.

Prior to Penn State, Butler was the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Minnesota from 2007-10. After Penn State, Butler followed O’Brien to the Houston Texans to become their secondary coach from 2014-17.

Most recently, Butler spent the last six seasons with the Buffalo Bills as the passing game coordinator and secondary coach.

Butler is expected to replace former Cornhuskers’ defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator coach Evan Cooper, who resigned Friday due to personal reasons.