By Rock Westfall
Following its soul-crushing 13-10 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the regular season finale, Nebraska needed a diversion from its anguish. By Sunday night, head coach Matt Rhule had more than enough distractions to keep him busy and his mind off of Iowa.
Defensive coordinator Tony White departed for the same position at Florida State, where the Seminoles are coming off a catastrophic season. White will have more control over his defense than he did at Nebraska, where the defensive-minded Rhule would actively oversee the defense. Still, White did outstanding work at Nebraska, confounding initial skepticism about his 3-3-5 approach.
Next, Rhule flipped White’s loss into a major gain on the offensive side of the ball. Dana Holgorsen, who helped save the season by taking over as offensive coordinator for the final three games, signed a two-year contract to stay at Nebraska. By all accounts, Holgorsen impressed everyone with his work, and Rhule was determined to lock him down.
Finally, with the chaos of the coaching staff situation and players declaring for the transfer portal, Nebraska finished with an impressive recruiting class.
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Rhule Vows Nebraska Will Remain a Strong Defensive Team
At his Wednesday signing day press conference, Rhule was philosophical about White’s departure. He vowed that Nebraska would continue to be a defensive team with a strong unit and that the Big Red would stick with the 3-3-5 that worked so well under White.
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Rhule long touted White as head coaching material and knew he would eventually depart. However, it was somewhat surprising that White made a lateral move to a decimated Florida State program.
Rhule appointed secondary and defensive pass game coordinator John Butler as the interim DC. Butler arrived this summer from the Buffalo Bills and had coached in the NFL for ten years. His goal has been to become a defensive coordinator, and he will get the bowl game as a trial run.
Rhule said he will interview several other candidates and that currently serving Power Four DCs reached out to him with interest.
Rhule’s top priority and coaching strength is defense. Thus, Husker fans should not be concerned about the future of the Blackshirts.
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Rhule Delivers Dana
While Rhule is a defense-first coach, he will compensate for that with the hiring of Holgorsen as his offensive coordinator. In just three games, Holgorsen made an impact while learning the Husker playbook on the fly. Although Holgorsen has an Air Raid reputation, his offenses have usually had a strong running game element to keep defenses off balance.
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Freshman phenom Dylan Raiola had a good but not great season at quarterback. After a hot start, he lost confidence in the middle of the schedule. But Raiola rallied to finish well under Holgorsen, sparking optimism for a breakout sophomore season.
Keeping Holgorsen was imperative in keeping Raiola, who is no doubt getting calls from teams willing to pay big to poach him. Holgorsen has the credibility to stabilize the offense and will be an effective salesman for the transfer portal and future recruiting.
Nebraska will be significantly better on offense in 2025. Under Holgorsen, the offense won’t even be recognizable to the 2024 edition.
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A Top 20 Class Demands Top 20 Results
Through all of the chaos and emotional swings of the past week, Nebraska hauled in an impressive class that ranked 20th nationally in most recruiting service rankings. Wide receiver Cortez Mills and linebacker Christian Jones headline the list, but the most interesting signee could be quarterback TJ Lateef.
Lateef signed with Nebraska out of Orange, CA, knowing that Raiola is the undisputed #1 quarterback. But Rhule is obsessed with having a quality QB room with depth. Lateef is rated as a superior passer who brings a legitimate running element. If Lateef can push Raiola, so much the better.
Mills is touted as an eventual #1 receiver, while Jones is the top player in Nebraska, making for a big win.
Many naysayers would be surprised to learn that Nebraska has been a consistently good recruiter over the past eight years.
Per ON3, Rhule’s 2024 class ranked 24th after patching together a 29th-ranked class in 2023 just days after arriving. Although Scott Frost’s final class ranked 39th in 2022, he had classes ranked 22nd in 2021, 20th in 2020, 17th in 2019, and 18th in 2018.
The record shows that Nebraska’s recruiting results are often in the top 20 and almost always in the Top 25. It is well past time to turn those recruiting results into Top 20 results on the gridiron.
As the portal prepares to open, Nebraska has a vastly improved NIL program, its first bowl game berth in eight years, the best fans and facilities in college football, and a relentless head coach who has vowed to do whatever it takes to succeed.
Matt Rhule, Nebraska’s Great Communicator, has again changed the narrative.
Now, what about those kicking and return teams, Coach?
