Matt Rhule makes cameo appearance in HBO’s Lanterns finale

Matt Rhule made a surprise cameo appearance in the finale of the HBO series Lanterns. The episode, which premiered on Sunday night, showed the Nebraska head coach appearing during a football sequence involving Noah Macon (Sean Pritchard). Rhule gave a Nebraska hat to Macon, indicating that he will play for the Cornhuskers next season. One of the smaller storylines of the show was Macon, a highly recruited quarterback, deciding where he wanted to play college football. An enormous week for Nebraska football kicks off with Matt Rhule making a cameo, and having dialogue in the season finale of Lanterns on HBO. Just when I thought I’d seen it all. pic.twitter.com/rlRTZ9JaMk— Jacob Bigelow (@JacobABigelow) October 5, 2026 Lanterns is based on the DC Comics Green Lantern characters Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). The show focuses on Jordan and Stewart investigating a murder on Earth (specifically Nebraska) that leads to a bigger mystery. [ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ] Matt Rhule’s appearance comes as his team is off to a hot start this year. The Cornhuskers are 5-0 after beating Maryland 48-23 on Saturday. It’s the first time since 2016 that Nebraska has won its first five games. Matt Rhule speaks on Nebraska being better in November Rhule is in his fourth season with Nebraska and has not won more than seven games during his time in Lincoln. “We didn’t come to Nebraska to go 7-6,” Rhule said during Big Ten Media Days in July, via Michael Bruntz of 247Sports. “We came to compete for this. Being here today with teams who have won the national championship, it’s inspiring; speaks to this conference, speaks to the people that run it, coaches and players that are in it. We understand we have to take a step this year. We’re excited to do that.” Rhule also discussed what his team needs to do better moving forward. “We have to be better in November,” he said. “We’ve gotten off to good starts. Champions are made in those winning moments in the cold, on the road, late in the season. Those are championship moments. For us, we have to excel in those.” Before joining Nebraska, Rule was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers from 2020 to 2022 (fired during the 2022 season). He also spent time as the head coach at Baylor (2017 to 2019) and Temple (2013 to 2016). In his career, Rhule won the AAC championship at Temple in 2016 and was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year at Baylor in 2019.