Matt Rhule opened his weekly Monday press conference by addressing the coordinator he fired, and he did not dress it up. Nebraska is 5-4, it has lost four straight, and the offense is the reason Dana Holgorsen is gone.
“As we flew back from the game, I just felt like as I watched us play, it just isn’t working the way that we want it to work,” Rhule said, per Nebraska Athletics’ transcript.
He acknowledged the yardage. “We can point to the yards and stand on we’re third in the Big Ten in total offense, fourth in rushing, whatever, those things,” he said, “but we’re not scoring enough points. I felt like the time was now.”
What happened
Rhule relieved Holgorsen of his duties on Saturday, the day after the 24-13 loss at Illinois, according to Nebraska Public Media and KLIN. Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas takes over play-calling. Rhule’s statement Saturday said “our offensive plan and execution is simply not working,” and that he would keep evaluating the program through the season and after it.
Holgorsen had run the offense since late in the 2024 season, when he took over play-calling for the final four games.
“I don’t think the offense is broken”
Rhule was clear that he is not tearing the system down with three games left. He pointed to the drives that worked and the ones that died on Nebraska’s own mistakes.
“You have the ball at the 10, you have the ball at the 13, you have the ball at the 21. All of those come back with a penalty,” he said.
A moment later: “I don’t think the offense is broken. I don’t think we have bad players. I don’t think we have bad coaches.”
He said Thomas and the rest of the offensive staff will run it from here. “Glenn Thomas will take over along with the offensive staff. I think we have good coaches in that room.”
Two more years for Aurich
The other staff news went the other direction. Rhule said defensive coordinator Rob Aurich agreed to an extension. “I’m excited, we went to Rob (Aurich) and he signed an extension to stay with us for two more years,” Rhule said.
KLIN reported that the details are still being worked out. Aurich is in his first season at Nebraska, and the Blackshirts rank 12th nationally in total defense and 17th in scoring defense, per Nebraska’s game notes.
Next up
Thomas’s first game calling plays is Saturday at Rutgers, 11:30 a.m. CT on BTN. Nebraska needs one more win for bowl eligibility. Rhule said Rutgers running back KJ Duff, who did not play last week, is “one of the best players in college football,” and that Nebraska is not sure of his availability.
Featured image: Photo: Bobak Ha’Eri. CC BY 3.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2017-0718-Big12MD-MattRhule.jpg.
