We need to talk about Nebraska football
First, let’s get something straight- Scott Frost was the right move. We don’t need any revisionist history here. He was an excellent offensive coordinator at Oregon, turned UCF into a national brand almost overnight, and the last time Nebraska was truly relevant, they had Scott Frost at quarterback.
On paper, this was a match made in heaven, and no amount of revisionist history can say anyone could have anticipated he’d go 5-22 in one-score games.
With the amount of support and resources afforded to Nebraska football, enough to do right by Frost and pay him his full buyout instead of waiting three weeks for it to be cut in half, there should be no excuse for Nebraska to miss on a third consecutive hire.
And here are some of the names I think you should pay attention to:
First- Washington’s Kalen DeBoer.
I know Huskies fans think I’m being a shit-stirrer, but take it from a man that watched Willie Taggart and Mario Cristobal leave not very long after they got to town- if the money is right, and Mel Tucker can tell you that Big Ten money is right, there’s nothing the Huskies are going to be able to do. DeBoer had success as a Big Ten offensive coordinator at Indiana, he’s shown he can be a successful head coach while at Fresno State, and he has Washington looking relevant again.
Second- Carolina Panthers Coach Matt Rhule
Matt Rhule is getting the Nick Saban treatment right now from the national media, and while I don’t think he deserves it, the media is pointing out that Saban had successful runs with multiple colleges before an average run in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins as a way to compare Matt Rhule making Tempe relevant and resurrecting Baylor. It doesn’t matter that he stinks in Carolina- most of the gripes about him are that he’s running a pro franchise like it’s a college team anyway. The problem for Nebraska is that they won’t be the only school trying to land Matt Rhule.
Third- Iowa State’s Matt Campbell
Matt Campbell has been linked to so many jobs in the last three years that people are starting to wonder if something’s wrong with him- like a Mel Kiper top 10 pick slipping into the second round of the NFL draft. Nebraska might be a good fit for Campbell though- he recruits the same areas, has shown he can develop three star recruits into NFL prospects, and his players love him.
Last up, a name I haven’t hear anyone mention, BYU’s Kilani Sitake
I’m convinced that as long as the Cougars get a chance to hold onto Offensive Coordinator Aaron Roderick, they’ll be fine. And it might be hard to lure a former BYU player away from a school that just inked a deal with the Big 12, and someone that is 28-6 in their last 34 games, including wins over six ranked opponents in the last 4 seasons. And if you’re a Nebraska fan thinking to yourself “only six?” Let me remind you that Scott Frost had none.
And the only thing about Sitake is, he actually figured out how to win one score games. After a rough start, going 5-11 in one score games in his first 3 years at BYU, Sitake has gone 9-6 in those games since 2019, including last week’s double overtime win over top-10 Baylor.
BYU was a program carried by nostalgia that has actually built a successful modern brand- isn’t that what Nebraska is looking to do?
Look, it’s been forever since Nebraska showed it was even competitive, much less relevant. But the fan support is there, the money is there, and the team has plenty of untapped potential on its current roster. They just need a coach that can mix the ingredients correctly and cook up something that doesn’t taste like 3-9.
Let that sink in
