Crushed Playoff Hopes Force Matt Rhule to Turn to Nick Saban’s Mantra in Nebraska’s Complete Reboot

Matt Rhule and his Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-4) have had a tumultuous season, rather expectantly. With a true freshman under center, the preseason was a period of immense hope as well as underlying caution. Dylan Raiola has shown moments of greatness and moments of growth in year one. In an effort to permeate some experience into a young quarterback, Rhule has promoted former West Virginia HC Dana Holgorsen through the ranks. Rhule says this is him tearing a page out of Nick Saban’s playbook.

Holgorsen is now the offensive coordinator till the end of the season. He initially came over to the Huskers in a consultant’s capacity after being given his marching orders as HC of the Houston Cougars in November 2023. This is reminiscent of Nick Saban’s “School of Coaching Rehabilitation”. Saban is credited with resurrecting the careers of a number of notable head coaches by hiring them on his staff after they were deemed expendable by other programs. Rhule didn’t shy away from these comparisons and even hinted at it being a deliberate decision to do the same.

Inadvertently, Huskers fans began speculating whether this would work. Amidst the discourse, one Nebraska expert is rather pessimistic. “We’re not gonna entertain this idea. Matt Rhule cannot. He’s not gonna be able to do this”, said Mitch Sherman of The Athletic via the Locked on Nebraska podcast.

Sherman expanded on why he doesn’t believe Rhule would be able to mimic Saban and his Alabama Crimson Tide’s success over in Lincoln.“You have to be very good. You have to be winning national championships, in order to bring coaches in, elevate them from analysts to coordinator spots, and then get them back into the head coaching realm. Like you have to be making the College Football Playoff. So Nebraska is several steps behind in this trek. But, we can dream”.

Saban has a plethora of big names in coaching, such as proverbial patients at his rehab clinic. The likes of Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian, Bill O’Brien and Mario Cristobal are just a few names who used their opportunity on the GOAT’s coaching staff as a launching pad onto success at the helm of major programs. Matt Rhule’s decision to implement this method is a far cry from what his calling card was until Holgorsen’s hire.

Holgorsen decision is a mirror image of Matt Rhule’s previous philosophy

During the aforementioned podcast, co-host and Nebraska fan Connor Happer questioned whether this is a new direction for Rhule’s ideology in picking his staff or just a one-off scenario. “As far as this being a trend, I still think that Rhule appreciates, you know, developing young coaches and then having them sort of, you know, fly out of the nest and go spread their wings in other places”.

Ironically, this averse way of staffing is also marked by Nick Saban’s lineage. Saban helped former subordinates Kirby Smart and Curt Cignetti learn the ropes and blossom into who they are today. That’s just Nick Saban’s footprint on the sport. As for Matt Rhule, an instant impact with 3 games of football left is on the agenda.

Dana Holgorsen’s first challenge will be versus USC. Although, he doesn’t know who his signal caller will be. Raiola got injured in the Huskers’ last game against UCLA and, despite a bye week to shrug it off, is a doubt to play. Holgorsen has little opportunity left to vindicate both himself and Rhule. The Huskers’ are a +8.5 underdog for their trip to the Pacific coast.