A Look at the Nebraska coaching search

*updated 9/27/22
In December 2017, Scott Frost left UCF after an undefeated season and accepted the head coaching position at his alma mater, Nebraska. This was a slam dunk hire. A perfect fit. An A+ on everyone’s coaching hire grades.
Frost at Nebraska never took off. It started with a disappointing 4-8 in 2018 and never improved. After last season, and 4 years leading the Cornhuskers, his record was a miserable 15-29. In reality, anyone else would’ve been fired. Frost was given another year, but agreed to a restructured contract that included a lower salary and buyout.
As part of the restructured contract, Frost’s buyout dropped from $15 million to $7.5 million on October 1st. Nebraska’s season was in such a tailspin that Athletic Director, Trev Alberts, didn’t wait for the October 1st buyout decrease and fired Frost on September 11th.
Bruce Feldman reported a few issues that lead to the downfall of Frost at Nebraska.
We believe Nebraska is ready to spend top dollar for its next head coach. And we’ve heard Nebraska will prioritize coaches with Power 5 head coaching experience.
The names we hear for Nebraska coaching candidates.
THE FAVORITES

Nebraska is not satisfied with Aranda’s lack of experience as head coach and questions how much of his success his tied to previous Baylor coach, Matt Rhule’s recruiting.
Some smoke
Dave Doeren – NC State
Doeren is rumored to be looking for other jobs. His style seems like a great fit for Nebraska and the Big Ten.
Matt Rhule – Carolina Panthers
NFL Insider, Ian Rapoport, reports that Carolina ownership will be patient with Rhule. We believe Rhule will ultimately be let go by the Panthers, but college teams may have already headed in a different direction.
Jim Leonhard – Wisconsin DC
He’ll be a head coach soon. Wisconsin might move on from current coach, Paul Chryst to elevate Leonhard to head coach before he goes elsewhere. His lack of head coaching experiences makes a move to Nebraska unlikely.
Urban Meyer – Free Agent
Initially, Dan Patrick shared an update from his source that Meyer to Nebraska is a legitimate possibility.
Word since is that Meyer will remain at Fox and not return to coaching. Still, we believe that some team, likely in the Big Ten or SEC, will make Meyer an offer he can’t refuse.
And there’s this from the Nebraska Athletic Department.
Mark Stoops – Kentucky
It’s been said that Stoops is growing tired of coaching football at a basketball crazed university. Maybe Nebraska has a shot if Stoops likes his chances better against Michigan and Ohio State than Georgia and Alabama.
OTHER NAMES WE’VE HEARD
Chris Klieman – Kansas State
His style of football and personality seem to be a good fit for Nebraska. There’s not much smoke here.
Jeff Lebby – Oklahoma OC
We’ve heard this one a few times as well. We don’t anticipate Trev Alberts taking a hard look at someone without head coaching experience.
OUR PREDICTION
Lance Leipold. Aranda and Stoops turn down Nebraska and receive pay raises at their respective schools. After both Nebraska and Leipold consider other options, they both realize they are perfect for each other.
Darkhorse – Matt Rhule
*updated 9/27/22.
We will continuously update this article as we hear new names or eliminate coaches as a possibility.
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