Dana Holgorsen in talks to join Nebraska coaching staff

Nebraska is in talks to add former Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen to its coaching staff, HuskerOnline’s Steven Sipple has confirmed. Matt Zenitz first reported the news.

Holgorsen spent the last five years with the Cougars and was let go after a 4-8 record in 2023. All told, he had a 31-28 record with Houston and took the program to three consecutive bowl games before a rough first season in the Big 12 led to his departure.

Prior to his time with the Cougars, he was the head coach at West Virginia, where he had a 61-41 record before his resignation in 2018.

Before he became a head coach, Dana Holgorsen was an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas Tech, Houston and Oklahoma State. He worked under the late Mike Leach at Texas Tech and ran a version of the Air Raid, which learned from Leach and Hal Mumme as a player at Iowa Wesleyan. He later coached under the duo at Valdosta State at the start of his career.

Nebraska looking for a big step forward in Year 2 under Matt Rhule

Nebraska is coming off the first season under Matt Rhule, finishing with a 5-7 record to just miss out on a bowl game. The Cornhuskers made a big splash on the recruiting trail, though, landing top quarterback Dylan Raiola after getting him to flip his commitment from Georgia. Raiola checked in as the No. 16 overall recruit and the No. 3-ranked quarterback from the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Landing a player of Raiola’s caliber is huge for Rhule and the Cornhuskers. It’s part of his plan to build the program up, and he called Raiola’s commitment “special.”

“Well, I think anytime that you feel good about the guy you bring in at quarterback, it’s special,” Rhule said on Big Ten Network. “Obviously, for us, even this year, you know, we know we’re gonna play great defense. So to have a guy behind center that we believe in, we know we can win championship games. I think it means a lot. And probably on a more macro level like to have one of the best players in the country choose Nebraska, maybe signals to people that hey, there’s something special happening here. 

“He’s one of six sons of former players that are joining our team. And I think that that really speaks to what we’re trying to do, the place that we’re trying to build in the future that we want to have.”