“Husker Nation’s probably having a lot of doubt and a lot of uncertainty. It’s up to them. I think we’re gonna roll into these next two games and roll into the bowl game”, claimed a smug Dylan Raiola after his Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-5) lost to USC a fortnight ago. He sure lived up to his promise. The following weekend, the Huskers snapped an 8-year streak and finally became bowl-eligible. They scored 44 points en route to achieving that- and one man deserves a ton of credit.

Dana Holgorsen’s appointment as OC has been a revelation in Lincoln. He has taken a flailing offense and permeated his extensive experience into it. The results are very tangible. The 44 points Nebraska put up in their win against a competitive Wisconsin side stands as evidence of Holgorsen’s instantaneous impact. However, success breeds suitors. When Matt Rhule hired Holgorsen to his staff, he knew it would be a challenge keeping him beyond the season. The Huskers have elongated their season with a Bowl game. Yet, discourse around his future has swiftly commenced.

Holgorsen himself has evaded the questions pertaining to his future endeavors on Tuesday. He has yet to commit his long-term disposition in Lincoln, which led Huskers insider Mitch Sherman to read about this precarious situation. He took to the “Locked on Nebraska” podcast to say, that though it is believed that since Nebraska’s season is prolonged, Holgorsen will have to wait before making a decision and it will be easier for the program to retain him, “that’s not the way it works.”

When the regular season is over, the coaching carousel is open, in fact, the coaching carousel is already open and has been open for several weeks. You’re seeing coaches get fired. You’re seeing coordinators get fired…He [Holgorsen] is gonna entertain options. it’s the reality of it”.

When Nebraska HC Matt Rhule called Dana Holgorsen on November 3 in an attempt to improve his offense, it was seen as a desperate move. Just a week after his appointment as an offensive analyst, he was promoted to offensive coordinator. His first game as OC ended in defeat against USC, which meant the Huskers had gone from a 5-1 start to 5-5. But the next game against Wisconsin saw Nebraska snap their losing streak and end their wait for bowl eligibility. This has surely raised the stock of the former Houston and West Virginia coach.

With the season approaching finality, head coaching positions around the CFB landscape are opening up. On November 24, Tulsa fired Kevin Wilson after a  3-12 record in the ACC. Two days later, North Carolina announced Mack Brown has retired and will not return next season. So will Holgorsen consider a head coach offer for the new season? While that might be difficult, given how he feels he is in a much better position at Nebraska, an opportunity from one of the bigger programs could prove to be tempting. 

Sherman’s podcast co-host and Nebraska native Connor Happer agrees with this notion. “Dana Holgorsen is having success. All that does is show other people in the country that he’s really good at what he does, right? So they could come in and say ‘hey we need a quick fix for our offense’. Look what he did to Nebraska immediately”. Holgorsen’s future will be up for debate once the season ends and the OC didn’t come clean on his future during the Tuesday press conference as well, adding fuel to the fire.

When asked whether he wants to be a head coach again, Holgorsen replied, “I’m happy being here right now. I love what I’m doing. I had more fun on Saturday than I’ve had in a long time you know. I mean there’s there’s an element of being head coach 13 years not being able to enjoy it like I did on Saturday…So I don’t know, I ain’t going to think about it. I ain’t going to worry about it you know. I’m happy here and appreciate the opportunity…I’m not going to answer the question as far as what I want to do next.”

In case, Holgorsen decides to take up an offer at some other program, it would put Matt Rhule under pressure to find a replacement.  Holgorsen was brought in to take over from Marcus Satterfield after the underwhelming results under him. During the three-game losing run, they had only mustered 354.1 yards per game and averaged only 14.7 points. Holgorsen has come in and made an instant impact which Nebraska wanted.  Interestingly, the now-in-demand Holgorsen was a bit of an outcast not long ago.

The decision to hire Dana Holgorsen was an attempt to imitate Nick Saban’s strategy

Matt Rhule initially hired Dana Holgorsen as a consultant. He was not working in football at the time, after being given his marching orders as HC of the Houston Cougars in November 2023. It was only before the USC game in Week 12 that he was promoted to OC. The decision was seen as a last throw of the dice to salvage the season. Mission accomplished!

This hire was reminiscent of Rhule tearing a page from Nick Saban’s playbook. Saban is credited with the “School of Coaching Rehabilitation”, where he resurrects the careers of a number of notable head coaches, by hiring them on his staff after they were deemed expendable by other programs. Matt Rhule in fact acknowledged this and didn’t shy away from the comparison. He agreed it was a deliberate decision.

It turns out that mimicking the greatest coach in CFB history is a recipe for success. As the Huskers prepare for the final weekend of the regular season, a cloud of uncertainty around their OC looms over them. Dylan Raiola would perhaps be enticed to spend as much time as possible picking Dana Holgorsen’s brain. While he still can, that is.