Nebraska Football 2026-2027

[Louie]

I think this year's UCLA team is smoke and mirrors, and teams should be very cautious about chasing after their coaching staff. Per ESPN, UCLA has had by far the easiest schedule in the Big Ten thus far.

Ill add that I, too, am leery of that approach, but its all the rage nowadays. Thats why I say if ya aint trying, ya aint trying. But I totally see what youre saying. Is the Huskers schedule that much harder? I mean, we had 6 "guaranteed" wins and we lost one of them. Im not saying what he does guarantees success at Nebraska, but why not? We're already a revolving door.

I compare Matt Rhule to Bo pelini, and if anybody says they're "okay" with this, they're full of it. Bo would have been fired if he started .500 too. But Rhule has a long ways to go. We hit rock bottom, bur we're only just a whiff away from being back there.

Matt Rhule wishes he could have a crumb of Bo's success at NU.

[Busguy2010]

Solich was fired solely because Pederson was the AD. Was there fans that wanted Solich gone because of the 2002 season? Yes. Would most rational ADs understand that things were on the upswing after hiring new assistants? Also yes. Pederson had previously been at Nebraska as a recruiting coordinator so he and Solich had an established relationship before he came in as AD, I’m guessing that relationship was poor.

That's a shame. I would have been one of the people screaming "Noooooo!" How anxious would you be as a fan that wanted to keep him? Knowing the future of Husker football relied on that decision. I would have been stupified.

I’ll give you one piece of anecdotal evidence to try and illustrate how upset some fans were with Solich’s firing. My grandfather was in his 70s at the time and was gifted a Nebraska jacket shortly after Solich’s firing. He threw it on the ground and said he was no longer a Nebraska fan due to the firing.

Thats just what I was looking for and hope to hear more from others.

Are you referring to the 2001 Colorado game where Nebraska was blown out? If so I recall before the game everyone was extremely confident and it was just another team before we inevitably went to the national championship. After the game I recall being shook with the only comparable feeling at that time to the 1996 ASU game where Nebraska was just completely outmatched. For reference I would have been 16 for the Colorado game so my frame of reference was not as large compared to older fans.

I have to believe the majority of fans were okay getting back to 10-3 after 7-7. It wasnt sustained failure. Was that the pulse? I see that he was starting lose bigger toward the end, so I can equally understand the others that complained. It was uncharted territory. Why was Bill Callahan seen as better? Did Pedersen not properly assess the available suitors to him at the time? Was there another coach they really wanted and couldnt land? Was there a giant lump in Pedersen's throat after he fired Solich? Bill Callahan really had no pedigree other than that single Super Bowl Oakland had no business playing in. Then he went on to leave a trail of failure everywhere he went.

Finally, with the extension just given to Aurich it looks like Rhule will be here next year. Between this and the season ticket reshuffling things are about to get very very bad around here with fan sentiment. As I’ve gotten older the losses still sting but I just don’t care as much anymore. Football success for Nebraska has so many hurdles it has to clear between regents, an AD, donors, and other administration officials that all have their own idea what they think will work. Simply, too many hands in the cookie jar without a cohesive vision for what Nebraska should be.

I strongly believe Rhule will have another par for the course year. For what? I see no benefit in keeping him another year. Itll just be wasted time. Devaney, TO, and Bo didnt start 5-7 and essentially not improve over the course of 5 years. Bob Devaney took a |expletive| team and immediately brought success. TO sustained it. It can be done again. We all thought Scott Frost was the answer. He was uniquely bad, how that blew up in our faces.

At some point every coach has to get it done, and I dont think we have that in Rhule. He stabilized us, and I thank him for that, but I just don't think he has what it takes. This was his "prove it year". Halloween was the "prove it" game. Illinois was the "prove us wrong" game. They came up disasterously. This year also held a lot of optimism for the Iowa game, and aint no way the Huskers are winning In Iowa. I say if he loses that game, thats the final nail. And I honestly hope it happens this way, rather than waiting til next year for the third strike.

[Busguy2010]

Matt Rhule wishes he could have a crumb of Bo's success at NU.

Thats my opinion too.

[mrsticka]

Fans weren't satisfied with Bo Pelini winning at least 9 games every year. But now they probably long for those days.

[thenewguy]

i'd kill to have pelini there.

[Linkin5]

I have to believe the majority of fans were okay getting back to 10-3 after 7-7. It wasnt sustained failure. Was that the pulse? I see that he was starting lose bigger toward the end, so I can equally understand the others that complained. It was uncharted territory. Why was Bill Callahan seen as better? Did Pedersen not properly assess the available suitors to him at the time? Was there another coach they really wanted and couldnt land? Was there a giant lump in Pedersen's throat after he fired Solich? Bill Callahan really had no pedigree other than that single Super Bowl Oakland had no business playing in. Then he went on to leave a trail of failure everywhere he went.

Bill Calahan was by no means the first choice for Pederson, it was a very drawn out coaching search where you could tell things were not going well. At one time Houston Nutt at Arkansas was the desired candidate, the stories are that he had basically accepted the job and then changed his mind. Other coaches I have heard Pederson targeted were Dave Wanstedt, Al Saunders, and Mike Sherman. Urban Meyer has a pretty interesting quote from this time saying “I would be very leery of coaching at a school that fired a 9-3 coach.”