Matt Rhule returns from Las Vegas after checking on a California pipeline target

Matt Rhule flew from Callville Bay Airport in Nevada to Lincoln Airport (KLNK) on May 28 in the university-owned Learjet 45 (N45HF), a 2-hour, 17-minute return leg. The flight doubled as the final hop of a recruiting loop: the same aircraft had operated a Lincoln-to-Las Vegas trip the previous day. Landing on a Thursday during the spring evaluation period, when coaches can visit high schools and attend off-campus events, the trip fits Nebraska's playbook of covering distant talent beds from a Lincoln home base.

Why Las Vegas? Per a 247Sports report this week, Nebraska has emerged as a serious contender for class-of-2027 quarterback A.J. Jimerson, a Southern California transfer to powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. Jimerson holds early offers from Georgia and Oregon, and Matt Rhule's program sent multiple assistants to his spring practice. The Husker coaching staff sees the Las Vegas area—and Bishop Gorman specifically—as a pipeline to elite West Coast skill players that can be flown into Lincoln without a cross-country commitment.

This trip underscores the recruiting geography of Nebraska's rebuild. With the Board of Regents spending heavily on private aviation—$1.14 million in 2025, second in the FBS—Matt Rhule pursues prospects in regions that commercial flights from Lincoln don't easily reach. The Nevada stop adds to the pattern of long-haul recruiting visits to Texas, California, and the Southeast, all logged on this jet in recent weeks.