How Important Is a Winning Season for Matt Rhule This Fall?

Nebraska head coaches who have had losing records their first year haven't fared well

Nebraska Athletics photo

Questions

Over the past 60 years, there have been seven head football coaches at Nebraska: Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne, Frank Solich, Bill Callahan, Bo Pelini, Mike Riley and Scott Frost. Only three had losing records their first year: Callahan (5-6), Riley (6-7) and Frost (4-8). Besides their losing records, what else do these coaches have in common?

The answer is below.

Gopher the Gold?

Matt Rhule will begin his first season as the Husker head football coach next month when Nebraska travels to Minnesota.

If Nebraska wins that game, Rhule's coaching career could be off to a 4-0 start. That's assuming the Huskers also beat Colorado, Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech before hosting Big Ten and national powerhouse Michigan on Sept. 30.

Nebraska would need just three more wins to have a winning record. That would seem doable even in Rhule's first year. But what if the Huskers lose to Minnesota and then to Michigan? The Huskers would be 0-2 in conference play and 3-2 overall going into October

Would an 0-2 conference record give Husker fans pause to believe  Rhule is the savior of Husker football?

Maybe.

With a 3-2 record, The Huskers would have to eke out four more wins over the next seven games just to have a winning record.

It's possible. The remaining games after Michigan are @Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, @Michigan State, Maryland, @Wisconsin and Iowa. Last year, Nebraska faced five of those same teams (Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa), losing to all but Iowa.

Yes, I know that was last year. There's a new sheriff in town this year. For now, the Minnesota game may prove to be much bigger than just another game.

The answer

So what else do Bill Callahan, Mike Riley and Scott Frost have in common?

All three were eventually fired.

How ’Bout Them Huskers

In this week's podcast episode, Will and I review the new Husker football commits, including 4-star TE Carter Nelson (Nebraska), 4-star athlete Jacory Barney (Florida), 4-star DL Carlon Jones (Texas), 3-star RB Kewan Lacy (Texas) and 3-star WR Quinn Clark (Montana). We also talk about Amy Williams' latest '24 commit, 6-2 forward Amiah Hargrove from Christopher, Illinois.