Nebraska Football OC Dana Holgorsen Wants ‘To Help This Great Program’

Heads turned across the country when Nebraska football demoted offensive coordinator, Marcus Satterfield, and brought in veteran offensive guru Dana Holgorsen to be their new playcaller.

It was a shocking change for Nebraska to make so deep into the season, but it is a move that could benefit the Huskers a great deal in the long run. In head coach Matt Rhule’s second season, Nebraska is still trying to recapture what made the football program special for all those years under former head coach Tom Osborne.

In fact, it has been so long since Nebraska football was relevant, that most players today do not remember Nebraska as a powerhouse. However, new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen certainly does.

“I grew up 30 minutes south of Iowa City,” Holgorsen said. “So I grew up a fan of theirs… I knew what Nebraska football was all about.”

After many successful seasons as a head coach at West Virginia and Houston, Holgorsen found himself without a job. He was interested in working for Nebraska and Rhule, but at first the time was not right.

“I was bored,” Holgorsen joked. 
“I have a great deal of respect for Coach (Matt Rhule). We visited in December and I didn’t think it was fair to him, me or the program at that point. I was tired, I had been through a lot. Just didn’t have to do it at that point and I didn’t feel like I was ready to give it my all.”

Fast forward to November of 2024, and Holgorsen and Rhule made it work. He is now fully focused on his job of bringing Nebraska’s offense to the greatest heights that he can. It will be a long process that cannot be fixed immediately, as evidenced by the offense’s struggles against USC, but Holgorsen is the right man to lead this offense.

After serving as a consultant at TCU for the first part of the season, Holgorsen got a phone call from Rhule. That call led him to where he is now.

“I was slated to go back to Fort Worth on Sunday night and Coach Rhule called and said ‘let’s come try to figure this out. I need your help.’ I was grateful to him for saying that he needed my help. I think a great deal of him. I think a great deal of this program. I was excited to jump on it. Rules allow it. In years past, rules wouldn’t have allowed it. I just wanted to insert myself and try to help Coach Rhule and help this football team and try to help this great program.”

MORE: Big Ten Football Head Coach Hot Seat Index After Week 12

MORE: Another One-Possession Loss! But Reason for Optimism! USC Defeats Nebraska 28-20

MORE: Carriker Chronicles: Dawson Merritt on Choosing Nebraska Over Alabama & More

MORE: Huskers Have Two Chances for Win No. 6

MORE: Nebraska Volleyball Remains at No. 2 in Latest AVCA Rankings

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.