Report: Three frontrunners emerge in Nebraska head coaching search

The Nebraska coaching search appears to be ramping up. Three potential candidates are reportedly moving up on the Cornhuskers’ wish list.

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reported Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell and Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien are “high” on the Cornhuskers’ list of potential targets to replace Scott Frost, who was fired Sept. 11 after a 1-2 start to the season.

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Kansas recently extended Leipold’s contract by one year and he has the Jayhawks off to their first 3-0 start since 2009, just one year after winning just two games in his first season at the helm. He also was an assistant coach at Nebraska from 2001-03, so he has ties to the program — much like Frost and Joseph.

Campbell’s name has been a hot one around coaching circles given his success at Iowa State. He turned the program from a 3-9 record in his first year in 2016 to a 9-3 record during the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season. The Cyclones went 7-6 last year and have appeared in five straight bowl games.

O’Brien has a wealth of experience at the collegiate and NFL levels and currently serves as the offensive coordinator at Alabama, where he helped Bryce Young become the first Crimson Tide quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy in 2021. He and Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts go back to O’Brien’s time at Georgia Tech, and Feldman reported Alberts “has great admiration” for how he rebuilt Penn State head coach from 2012-13.

Mickey Joseph took over the Nebraska program in the interim, and his tenure got off to a rough start. The Cornhuskers fell to Oklahoma 49-14 last week and Joseph decided to make another change to the staff by firing defensive coordinator Erik Chinander. Nebraska has a week off this week before taking on Indiana Sept. 30.