Nebraska Head Coach Bill Callahan announced on Tuesday that Joe Rudolph has been hired to fill the open assistant position on the Husker offensive staff. Callahan has also announced that third-year assistant coach Ted Gilmore will take over the role of recruiting coordinator for the Nebraska staff.
Rudolph will coach the Nebraska tight ends and joins the Huskers after spending the past three seasons at Ohio State. In 2006, Rudolph was a member of the Buckeyes’ strength and conditioning staff, where he developed position-specific training for OSU’s tight ends, offensive linemen and fullbacks. Prior to spending this past season as part of the Buckeyes’ strength and conditioning unit, Rudolph spent two seasons on Coach Jim Tressel’s staff as a graduate assistant with the Buckeye offense.
The Buckeyes had great success while Rudolph was part of the program. In 2006, Ohio State compiled a perfect 12-0 regular season before losing to Florida in the BCS National Championship Game. While serving as a graduate assistant, Rudolph helped guide the Buckeyes to a trip to the Alamo Bowl in 2004. He also assisted with the Ohio State offense in 2005, as the Buckeyes finished ranked fourth nationally with a 10-2 record, including a victory over Notre Dame in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
“Joe has a strong work ethic and will bring great energy to our staff,” Callahan said. “He has an excellent football mind and a history of success. He was a part of winning teams on both the collegiate and professional level as a player, and has been part of one of the top programs in the country the last three years.”
Rudolph spent the majority of his time at Ohio State working with the offensive line. During his stint as a graduate assistant, the Buckeyes averaged better than 420 yards of total offense and nearly 33 points per game in 2005. OSU offensive guard Rob Sims was a first-team All-Big Ten pick in 2005, while center Nick Mangold was a second-team all-conference selection.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to join the Nebraska football program,” Rudolph said. “I hope to complement the outstanding coaching staff and the elite football tradition at the University of Nebraska. I am excited and plan to hit the ground running.”
The 34-year-old Rudolph joined the Ohio State staff before the 2004 season. He entered coaching after earning his master’s degree in business administration in 2004 from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Rudolph also played two seasons in the National Football League, earning a roster spot with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1995, before playing with the San Francisco 49ers in 1997. He played for the Eagles while Callahan was in charge of Philly’s offensive line.
Rudolph was a standout offensive lineman at Wisconsin in the early 1990s, earning three letters from 1992 to 1994, while playing for Callahan, then the Badgers’ offensive line coach. Rudolph was a first-team All-Big Ten pick in 1993 and 1994. He helped the Badgers to a Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl in 1993, when UW finished with a 10-1-1 record and averaged better than 450 yards of total offense per game, including 250.8 yards per game on the ground.
Rudolph was a Badger team captain in 1994, aiding Wisconsin to an 8-3-1 record. He helped provide the push for an offense that averaged better than 420 yards per contest, including 244.5 rushing yards per game. A three-time academic all-conference pick, Rudolph was Wisconsin’s Scholastic Award Winner in 1994 and played in the East-West Shrine Game and Senior Bowl following his senior season. He earned his bachelor’s degree in zoology from Wisconsin in 1995.
“Joe Rudolph was one of the people that helped turn our program around here at Wisconsin," former Wisconsin coach and current athletic Barry Alvarez said. "He was one of our captains and showed great leadership with our program. I know Joe was held in high regard at Ohio State and there is no doubt he will do an outstanding job at Nebraska.”
A native of Belle Vernon, Pa., Rudolph becomes the youngest member of Nebraska’s coaching staff. Rudolph and his wife, Dawn, are expecting their first child this summer.
Callahan also finalized the recruiting coordinator role, handing the duties to Gilmore, who will continue to tutor the Nebraska wide receivers. Gilmore has played a leading role in Nebraska’s recruiting efforts the past two seasons. This year, Gilmore was a key factor in the Huskers’ recruiting success in the state of Texas, as NU signed seven players from the Lone Star state, the most for Nebraska from Texas since 1989.
“Ted will do an outstanding job working with our staff to organize our recruiting efforts,” Callahan said. “He has great rapport with young prospects and is an excellent representative of the University of Nebraska. Ted has contacts in the high school ranks throughout the country and that will continue to be a benefit to our program. This is an excellent step forward in Ted’s career and one that he has certainly earned.”
Both the recruiting coordinator and tight end positions came open after Shawn Watson was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in late January. Watson served as NU’s tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator in 2006, before replacing former offensive coordinator Jay Norvell, who left NU in January to join the UCLA staff.
