Matt Rhule
Matt Rhule

The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the West Division of the Big Ten. The team is coached by Matt Rhule, who was named Nebraska's thirty-first head coach on November 26, 2022.[1]

Six past Nebraska head coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Eddie N. Robinson, Fielding H. Yost, Dana X. Bible, Biff Jones, Bob Devaney, and Tom Osborne. Osborne is the program's all-time leader in most major categories; his .836 career winning percentage is fourth-highest in major college football history.[2] Thirteen Nebraska coaches have won a conference championship at the school, and Devaney and Osborne combined to win five national titles.

The program's first extended period of success came under the leadership of W.C. Cole and Ewald O. Stiehm. Between 1900 and 1916, Nebraska had five undefeated seasons and completed a stretch of thirty-four consecutive games without a loss, still a program record.[3] Despite a span of twenty-one conference championships in thirty-three seasons, the Cornhuskers did not experience major national success until Devaney was hired in 1962. In eleven seasons as head coach, Devaney won two national championships, eight conference titles, and coached twenty-two All-Americans, but perhaps his most lasting achievement was the hiring of Osborne as offensive coordinator in 1969.[4] Osborne was named Devaney's successor in 1973, and over the next twenty-five years established himself as one of the best coaches in college football history with his trademark I-form offense and revolutionary strength, conditioning, and nutrition programs.[5][6][7] Following Osborne's retirement in 1997, Nebraska cycled through five head coaches before hiring Matt Rhule in 2022.

Coaching history

No. Coach[A 1] Tenure Overall Conference Accomplishments‡
Langdon Frothingham 1890 2–0 (1.000) –
Theron Lyman 1891 0–1 (.000) –
J. S. Williams 1892 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000)
1 Frank Crawford 1893–94 9–4–1 (.679) 3–3 (.500) WIUFA champion (1894)
2 Charles Thomas 1895 6–3 (.667) 2–1 (.667) WIUFA champion (1895)
3 Eddie N. Robinson 1896–97 11–4–1 (.719) 4–1–1 (.750) WIUFA champion (1897)
College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1955)[9]
4 Fielding H. Yost 1898 8–3–0 (.727) – College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1951)[10]
5 Alonzo Edwin Branch 1899 1–7–1 (.167) –
6 Walter C. Booth 1900–05 46–8–1 (.845) –
7 Amos Foster 1906 6–4 (.600) –
8 William C. Cole 1907–10 25–8–3 (.736) 5–2–1 (.688) MVIAA champion (1907,1910)
9 Ewald O. Stiehm 1911–15 35–2–3 (.913) 14–0–1 (.967) National champion (1915)
MVIAA champion (1911–15)
10 E. J. Stewart 1916–17 11–4 (.733) 5–1 (.833) MVIAA champion (1916,1917)
11 William G. Kline 1918 2–3–1 (.417) –
12 Henry Schulte 1919–20 8–6–3 (.559) –
13 Fred Dawson 1921–24 23–7–2 (.750) 14–1–2 (.882) National champion (1921)
MVIAA champion (1921–23)
14 Ernest Bearg 1925–28 23–7–3 (.742) 16–4–1 (.786) Big Six champion (1928)
15 Dana X. Bible 1929–36 50–15–7 (.743) 33–3–4 (.875) Big Six champion (1929,1931–33,1935,1936)
College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1951)[11]
16 Biff Jones 1937–41 28–14–4 (.652) 17–6–2 (.720) Big Six champion (1937,1940)
College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1954)[12]
17 Glenn Presnell 1942 3–7 (.300) 3–2 (.600)
18 Adolph Lewandowski 1943–44 4–12 (.250) 4–6 (.400)
19 George Clark 1945, 1948 6–13 (.316) 4–7 (.364)
20 Bernie Masterson 1946–47 5–13 (.278) 5–5 (.500)
21 Bill Glassford 1949–55 31–35–3 (.471) 23–18–1 (.560)
22 Pete Elliott 1956 4–6 (.400) 3–3 (.500)
23 Bill Jennings 1957–61 15–34–1 (.310) 6–19 (.240)
24 Bob Devaney 1962–72 101–20–2 (.829) 62–14–1 (.812) National champion (1970,1971)
Big Eight champion (1963–66,1969–72)
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1971)[13]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1971)[14]
College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1981)[15]
25 Tom Osborne[A 2] 1973–97 255–49–3 (.836) 153–22–1 (.872) National champion (1980–84,1993,1994,1995,1997)
Conference champion (1975,1978,1981–84,1988,1991–95,1997)
Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year (1978)[17]
AFCA Coach of the Year (1994)[18]
College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1998)[19]
26 Frank Solich 1998–2003 58–19 (.753) 33–15 (.688) Big 12 champion (1999)
27 Bill Callahan 2004–07 27–22 (.551) 15–17 (.469)
28 Bo Pelini[A 3] 2003†, 2008–14 67–27 (.713) 38–17 (.691)
Barney Cotton[A 4] 2014† 0–1 (.000) –
29 Mike Riley[A 5] 2015–17 19–19 (.500) 12–14 (.462)
30 Scott Frost 2018–22 16–31 (.340) 10–26 (.286)
Mickey Joseph[A 6] 2022† 3–6 (.333) 3–5 (.375)
31 Matt Rhule 2023–present 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–)

† Interim head coach

‡ Claimed national titles in bold

Notes

  1. ^ Nebraska's earliest coaching history is unclear. Many were nominal in their roles and likely only coached single games, if any. Nebraska played with no official coach until Frank Crawford was hired in 1893[8]
  2. ^ Osborne, then interim athletic director, appointed himself interim head coach following the firing of Bill Callahan in 2007. This was only for recruiting purposes, and Osborne did not coach any games[16]
  3. ^ Pelini served as interim head coach for the 2003 Alamo Bowl
  4. ^ Cotton served as interim head coach for the 2014 Holiday Bowl
  5. ^ Trent Bray briefly served as interim head coach after Riley was fired in 2017, but did not coach any games[20]
  6. ^ Joseph served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season

References

  1. ^ Matt Rhule to Lead Nebraska Football Program.
  2. ^ "NCAA Coaching Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2008. pp. 189, 192. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  3. ^ "Nebraska Football Schedules 1910–1919". HuskerMax. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  4. ^ "Tom's Time: Devaney Selects His Successor". HuskerMax. October 3, 2017. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  5. ^ "The 150 greatest coaches in college football's 150-year history". 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  6. ^ "The Greatest Coaches in College Football History". Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  7. ^ "Epley leaving Huskers". Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  8. ^ "usurped title" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2020-06-05. Retrieved 2020-06-11. ((cite web)): Cite uses generic title (help)CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "EDWARD "ROBBIE" ROBINSON". Archived from the original on 2020-02-09. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  10. ^ "FIELDING YOST". Archived from the original on 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  11. ^ "DANA BIBLE". Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  12. ^ "LAWRENCE "BIFF" JONES". Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  13. ^ "The Walter Camp Coach of the Year". Archived from the original on 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  14. ^ "ALL-TIME EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD WINNERS". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  15. ^ "BOB DEVANEY". Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  16. ^ "Recruiting Tool: Osborne Names Himself Interim Coach". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  17. ^ "Previous Winners". Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  18. ^ "Awards". Archived from the original on 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  19. ^ "TOM OSBORNE". Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  20. ^ "Nebraska updates coaching web site with Trent Bray as interim head coach, no other assistants listed". Omaha World Herald. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
General

Categories