Reports out there that Husker DC will move to FSU as their DC.
I certainly did not expect him to stay at NU, we really already hired his replacement, but I certainly thought he would wait for a HC opportunity instead of settling for a DC position again. IMHO, he has earned the chance to run a team.
Also speculation that Dana Holgorsen will go back to WVU as that job is open again.
Being the head coach means being in charge of a lot of stuff that isn’t really hands-on football coaching, I can see how someone might prefer being a coordinator. And top coordinators are getting over $1 million now.
We’ve actually seen several head coaches step down to take coordinator jobs at another school, such as Chip Kelly going to OSU.
USA Today lists 7 candidates for the WVU job, Holgorson isn’t one of them, though Rich Rod and Jimbo Fischer are on that list, along with the head coaches at Liberty, UNLV and Toledo. But I agree it will be a challenge for UNL to keep Dana for 2025, there are going to be several choice jobs open, plus a double handful of lesser jobs that could be seen as challenges, like Purdue.
I’ve seen speculation that Kirk Ferentz could retire, but I doubt it’ll happen this year, when he’s only a few games away from being the winningest coach in Big Ten history.
Holgorsen has signed a $1.2 M deal to stay at NU.
On a bummer note starting DE Jamari Butler has entered the transfer portal. I’m shocked he didn’t declare for the NFL.
Yeah, but does it have a buyout clause?
A second Nebraska assistant coach is reportedly leaving for Florida State.
Defensive line coach Terrance Knighton will be joining former Husker defensive coordinator Tony White with the Seminoles.
John Papenhagen
Does that mean the 5-3-3 is out the window?
It’s kind of a mixed blessing when assistant coaches are hired away, it means the team had good coaching but it means Rhule needs to find replacements that are equally good or better.
Mike Nolan
Rhule said in today’s post-signing press conference (the Huskers signed all 20 committed players) that he still wants to run the 5-3-3. BTW, former OC Marcus Satterfield will remain at Nebraska as the tight ends coach. New OC Dana Holgorson will be bringing in Daikiel Shorts to help with receivers, a position he held at Kentucky this season. Secondary coach John Butler will serve as DC for the bowl game and is ‘definitely’ a candidate to be DC next season.
He also noted that with 9 departures via the transfer portal so far, expect more–a lot more. Haarberg will explore moving to a new position this spring, presumably to get more playing time, but that may leave Nebraska with just 2 QBs on the roster, so a transfer portal add is possible.
He also said that if other schools are after our players and coaches, that’s a sign that we’re doing things right.
LJS link: Nebraska's Matt Rhule addresses program departures, Iowa controversies in Signing Day presser
It seems clear to me that Nebraska won’t be the only school that has to cut down to 105, so there are going to be a lot of good players in the portal that may not find a new school.