Whop-de-do. Matt Rhule is still the HC. Doesn’t give me much reason to be optimistic. I do hope to be proven wrong.
I’m curious as to who you think we could or should hire.
I’m hopeful for the new QB, from the early season, looking at the plays DR made, it’s obvious we need better play from the QB
We can’t hire anyone. We’re stuck with Rhule.
If Nebraska’s recent history is any indication, Nebraska’s AD will leave shortly for another school and the new AD will fire Rhule in another year or two despite the recent contract extension.
(Only somewhat tongue-in-cheek.)
It’s a vicious cycle, but I also think it will play out that way. I don’t think Rhule should be fired (yet), but I am upset about the extension.
I get being unhappy about extension. But if NU had finished the season reasonably well, I expect PSU would have hired him away. Then we are trying to steal a decent coach from another school.
At least we might then have a decent HC. 
I would have told Rhule to go for it and hire James Franklin.
Personally I can’t stand Franklin
I do not see a big difference one way or the other between MR and Franklin. If NU and PSU had swapped coaches, I am not certain anyone would be happy in 3 years.
If they could have swapped coaches without 8-figure buyouts for both coaches, people might have been a bit less unhappy.
Personally, I cannot forgive Franklin for cancelling a contract with Northwestern on very short notice, apparently just because NU was beating Vandy.
I’m happy to see the Huskers bringing in a more mobile dual-threat QB, Raiola struck me as a talented square peg in a round hole. I hope his injury heals well, and that he lands somewhere with a rock-solid offensive line that he can stand behind, and stand and stand.
I’m thinking if Rhule’s next two seasons need to show marked improvement (whatever that subjectivity means) before the fire gets too hot. Hovering around the 50% mark may be acceptable for a two/three year rebuild but it’s not going to satisfy longer term.
And, if the team hadn’t finished so abysmally this year, I’d be more optimistic about his future. Losing the last three games is bad but losing them in blow-outs isn’t showing “marked improvement” in my mind.
Scott Buffington
In some ways I think 2026 may really be season 2 for Rhule, factoring out the two years where he was seduced by the dark side. I’m sure I’m in the minority on that, and 5 years is probably about as long as anyone is likely to get at a power 5 school these days, especially one with expectations of returning to the elite level of college football.
I’m not keyed in on the dark side. Please shed some light on the topic.
Thanks,
Jim Dean
Nebraska’s offense is geared towards a balanced run/pass with a mobile QB.
Raiola is very talented but he really didn’t fit into that offensive picture, so they had to retool it to his skills, and probably didn’t have the front line to do that. There are teams where he should be able to light up the scoreboard all day, Nebraska wasn’t really one of them.
LJS is reporting that Minchey has changed his mind and is now headed to Kentucky.
Mike Nolan
Honestly - just drop the football program at this point and put all the money into basketball and volleyball. It’s pretty clear UNL doesn’t have a clue how to navigate this era of major college football (which to be fair - is a gigantic mess that feels less appealing every year).
But, but, but, we have the program builder, Matt Rhule, who is worth every penny of his $9.25 million pay package.
Personally, I think there is a lot to like about Rhule, which seems to put me in the minority these days. I think he understands the Cornhusker legacy and represents it better than any coach since Solich. He’s likable, he likes Lincoln, and I really want him to have success. That being said, this feels somewhat like 2003. Solich was coming off the worst season for Nebraska since the 60s, and retooled his coaching staff. 2003 was then a season of seeing if the changes worked. Not going to rehash whether the changes were successful or not, but I feel like 2026 will be a “show me that the changes worked” year.