Matt Rhule doesn’t want to put all the blame for Nebraska’s offensive woes on Marcus Satterfield. He keeps suggesting the players must play better and make plays when needed. I could buy into that if Satterfield was putting his players in a position to be successful. But too often he is predictable with personnel and formations. And he has yet to establish an offensive identity after nine games. Two weeks ago, Satterfield himself admitted he hasn’t been running the ball as much as needed. And yet, two weeks in a row we have been unable to get the ball in the endzone in short yardage. With a first down at the ten-yard line against UCLA, the Huskers picked up almost 5 yards on a first down run. Then turned the ball over on downs after three consecutive passing plays. Let’s face it, whatever struggles this offense has starts with Satterfield.
I stated a couple of weeks ago, bowl bound or not, at the end of the season we would learn where Matt Rhule’s loyalties lie. Would it be with his coaches or with his players? Coaches will tell you, their players come first. And they should. Rhule made promises to these young men and their families. Those promises need to be kept.
But as the head coach of Nebraska, those loyalties must be deeper than just with the players. The university chose him, they showed a belief in him, and he receives a large paycheck to represent the university while teaching excellence in sportsmanship, character, and a desire to compete.
And finally, Rhule can’t forget the fans. In this new era of college sports the NIL is the bottom line. As the NIL goes, so goes the team. Win or lose, Nebraska fans will support their team. But even more than winning, fans want to see a team that executes, plays hard, and competes. They know if their team does those things, then the wins will come.
After the players, university, and the fans, Matt Rhule can be loyal to his coaches. His relationship and his past with his coaches is irrelevant to why he is at the University of Nebraska. There can be no choices made in the interest of a coach over the players, the university, or the fans.
It is for these reasons that a change needed to be made during the bye week. I didn’t say Marcus Satterfield needed to be fired. I wouldn’t expect Rhule to do that during the season. In fact, I’d be disappointed in him if he did. What I said was, a change was needed. Rhule has coached in 21 games at Nebraska. He had the opportunity to qualify for a bowl game in 7 of those games. Opportunity number 8 is coming up.
What Matt Rhule is missing on this staff is an elite X’s & O’s guy. I feel safe in saying that because we haven’t seen it. It’s clear Marcus Satterfield isn’t that guy. And if there is someone else on this staff that fits that bill, then Rhule should have pulled that rabbit out of his hat long before now.
Enter Dana Holgorsen
Last week I stated UCLA held the answer to Nebraska’s season. Rhule must have felt the same way, because he didn’t hesitate in showing where his loyalties lie. After that game, he knew immediately something had to change. It was announced Tuesday Rhule has added Dana Holgorsen as an offensive consultant to work with the offense. It should be noted, Holgorsen’s position is to evolve as the season goes forward. Is Holgorsen the elite X’s and O’s guy I was talking about? His track record certainly is far more impressive than Satterfield’s.
Holgorsen visited Nebraska last winter and there were rumors then that he would be joining the staff, however the timing wasn’t right. Holgorsen moved on and Glenn Thomas was hired not long afterwards.
Most of Holgorsen’s career has been in the Big XII. He made his name as an offensive assistant and quarterback coach, first working for Mike Leach at Texas Tech and then as offensive coordinator for Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. He then took the head coaching job at West Virgina, were he served for eight years before going to Houston as head coach. He left Houston at the end of last season.
Before coming to Nebraska, Holgorsen was working as an analyst at TCU. TCU may not come to mind as an offensive juggernaut, but consider they are in the top 40 nationally in both yards and points this season. The Horn Frogs average almost 100 yards and 10 points more a game than Nebraska. It isn’t clear how involved Holgorsen was with the offense at TCU, but his offenses have always been known for scoring points.
Rhule has said since the beginning of the season he wanted to be physical up front and be able to run the ball, especially in the fourth quarter. Rhule knows a running game would benefit Nebraska’s quarterback more than anything else these coaches could do. Holgorsen has been involved in Air-Raid offenses throughout his career. But has also shown the ability to put together effective running games as well.
Before hiring Holgorsen, my initial thought was that Rhule would demote Satterfield and either take over the play calling himself or hand it off to Glenn Thomas. And while both he and Thomas have been offensive coordinators, Rhule’s introspection told him neither of them were the elite X’s & O’s guy needed.
When Thomas was hired there were questions about who would call the plays. Rhule made it clear it would be Satterfield, that he and Thomas had a good working relationship when at Baylor and the offense would be a collaboration between them. In his Monday press conference Rhule implied he wasn’t sure the problem was as much play calling as it was game planning each week.
Rhule won’t turn both game planning and play calling over to Holgorsen out of the gate but look for him to be heavily involved. Satterfield and Thomas will continue to be part of the offense, but they will make fewer decisions as the season goes on. The key was Rhule saying Holgorsen’s position would evolve as the season progressed. Don’t be surprised if he isn’t game planning and calling plays by the Iowa game, and if things go as Rhule hope’s, he’ll be Nebraska’s offensive coordinator in 2025.
It was time for Matt Rhule to put his words into action. Fans were starting to doubt what he was saying. If there wasn’t some sort of change during the bye week, anything Matt Rhule said going forward would have been lip service. This change was needed for this team to have a chance of being successful. Rhule said he would do whatever needed to be done for this team to win. This was a first step.
Now we sit back and wait for something good to happen.
Go to Off The Cob to read, Rhule Not Standing Still.
