Whether Husker football fans are fully aware of it or not, the clock has started ticking on head coach Matt Rhule’s tenure at Nebraska. Winter conditioning has started, meaning the 2025 football season is underway. Since Rhule’s arrival at Nebraska fans and media have been pointing towards this season. As the head man, every program Rhule has led made a significant leap in its third year.
After going 5-7 in his first year and 7-6 in his second, it’s easy for Husker fans to say anything short of nine wins will be seen as a failure. Eight wins will be acceptable, but certainly not what fans are expecting. Saying that may sound unfair, but part of the hype comes from Rhule himself, who has brought up year three of his programs throughout his time as Nebraska’s head man.
Like most Husker fans I’m excited about the upcoming season, but personally I’m more interested in years four, five and six. Rhule has never stayed anywhere long enough to show he can sustain success once it’s been achieved. Where this Nebraska program goes after year three will be interesting because it could define Rhule’s future at Nebraska. An eight-win season won’t put him on the hot seat, but there can’t be any regression after year three.
Whatever happens this season, there will be fingers pointed at this new staff. Many are calling the changing of staff a reset rather than a rebuild. A rebuild sounds too harsh, maybe in this case reset is the right term as Rhule didn’t completely tear down his staff, he drastically improved it.
During the offseason Rhule brought in Patrick Stewart as General Manager, Mike Ekler as the special teams coordinator, Terry Bradden as defensive line coach, Addison Williams as defensive backs coach, Dakiel Shorts as wide receivers coach, Phil Simpson as outside linebacker coach, and Phil Snow as associate head coach. Plus, he hired Dana Holgorsen as the offensive coordinator and promoted John Butler to defensive coordinator. It’s hard to imagine this staff not being able to motivate and get the best out of a young and inexperienced group. Rhule also gets off easy with the 2025 schedule, getting Michigan, Michigan State, USC, and Iowa at home. The Huskers will travel to Minnesota, UCLA, and Penn State.
But don’t fool yourself into thinking this sort of change is only happening at Nebraska. It’s happening throughout the B1G and across college football. There are multiple coaches at blueblood programs who are on the clock, and some are under far more pressure than Rhule. Here are seven schools whose coaches will be as pressured as Rhule, if not more.
Penn State – James Franklin has been criticized for not making the CFP, but with the expansion to twelve teams the Nittany Lions made it to the semifinals. Even so, Franklin was forced to overall his staff after multiple coaches took positions with other schools. He hired defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from Ohio State after Tom Allen left for Clemson. He then hired former Temple head coach Stan Drayton to replace running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider who left for Norte Dame. He also hired a new defensive line coach in Deion Barnes. The top games on their schedule are, at Oregon, UCLA, Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan State. Home games to watch are Indiana and Nebraska. Franklin and Penn State fans know this is the closest they’ve been to winning a national championship since Joe-Pa. The time is now.
Ohio State – Not even national champion Ohio State was safe from staff changes. With Knowles leaving for Penn State, Ryan Day hired former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patrica as DC. And the changes didn’t stop there, with OC/QB coach Chip Kelly leaving for the Las Vegas Raiders, Day made wide receivers coach Brain Hartline the OC. He also hired a new offensive line coach in Tyler Bowen and made Billy Fessler his QB coach to replace Kelly. Day took the heat off by winning the national championship, but repeating will be a dauting task. If he wants to stay on the good side of fans and boosters he must beat Michigan. Teams to watch at home, Texas and Penn State. Away games, Washington, Illinois and Michigan. A fifth consecutive loss to the Wolverines could once again put day’s job in question.
USC – Lincoln Riley isn’t yet on the hot seat, but fans have taken notice of the steady decline over the last three season. USC posted an 11-3 season in Rilley’s first year, then went 8-5 in 2023 and 7-6 last season. Riley’s big staff mix-up happened last season as Anthony Jones RB coach, D’Anton Lynn DC, Eric Henderson DL/CO-DC, and Doug Belk DB coach are all entering their second year. Still struggling on defense Riley added longtime NFL coach Rob Ryan as linebacker coach. He also added Chad Savage as inside receivers/tight end coach. USC’s schedule appears to be a typical B1G schedule with home games consisting of Michigan State, Michigan and UCLA. The away game are Illinois, Notre Dame, Nebraska and Oregon. This is a big year for Riley as another year going backwards could end his stay in the city of angels.
Florida State – It’s no mistake to say head coach Mike Norvell stripped his staff to the bare bones and is now in a rebuild. After going 13-1 in 2023 and not making the CFP, Florida State had a complete meltdown in 2024 going 2-10. Norvel kept his job, but several assistants were let go. OC/OL coach Alex Atkins was replaced by former UCF head coach Gus Malzahn as OC. Defensive coordinator Adam Fuller was replaced by former Nebraska DC Tony White. Both outgoing coordinators had been with Norvell since his arrival at Florida State. New offensive line coach Herb Hand and wide receivers coach Tim Harris Jr. followed Malzahn from UCF, replacing Atkins and Ron Dugans. Defensive line coach Odell Higgins was promoted to associate head coach, and his position was filled by Terrance Knighton from Nebraska. Special teams coordinator John Papuchis added linebacker coach to his title as former LB coach Randy Shannon was let go. Evan Cooper was added as a safety coach. People will be watching Florida State to see if they can rebound from a dismal 2024 season. From a schedule standpoint, there are four big names to look out for, Alabama, Miami, Clemson, and Florida. The question now becomes how many wins are needed for Norvell to keep his job.
Florida – Billy Napier is 19-19 after three seasons as head coach. The program took a step forward last season finishing 8-5 with four consecutive wins to end the season. Thay had a bowl win over Tulane and conference wins over LSU and Ole Miss. Napier was under extreme heat before the season and bought himself some time with the teams 2024 performance. But rest assured with one of the tougher schedules in 2025 Gator fans will be watching closely. Away games for the Gators include LSU, Miami, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss. They have home games with Texas, Tennessee, and Florida State, and finally a neutral site game with Georgia. Even with the upcoming schedule Napier evidently feels good about his staff as the only change was adding Vinnie Sunseri and Deron Wilson. Sunseri will join Ron Roberts as CO-DC and safeties coach, replacing Austin Armstong. Wilson will coach defensive backs and replace Will Harris after he left for Miami.
LSU – Brian Kelly starts his fourth season at LSU. with a record of 29-11. After two ten-win seasons in his first two years, LSU dropped to 9-4 last season. Most fans would be delighted to be able to have that record. But part of the fan’s discontent lies in Kelly saying he left Norte Dame because he didn’t have the tools needed to win there. Tiger fans will tell you he does have the tools to win in Baton Rouge. The last three head coaches at LSU have won a national championship. It didn’t help his former team Notre Dame made the CFP last season and played in the championship game under Marcus Freeman. Meanwhile LSU missed making the CFP. It’s safe to say Kelly feels the heat. For 2024 Kelly brought in DC/LB coach Blake Baker, Edge coach Kevin Peoples, DB coach Corey Raymond and safeties coach Jake Olsen. This season he replaced defensive line coach Bo Davis with Kyle Williams, and STC/TE coach Slade Nagle with former Florida State OC Alex Atkin. Atkin takes over the TE room while special teams analyst Aman Anand from Grambling is the only coach listed by LSU with special teams attached to his title. Kelly may survive a couple more 9-to-10-win seasons, but he can’t continue to miss the CFP’s. Games to watch are at Clemson, Ole Miss, and Alabama. At home, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas A&M.
Oklahoma – Sooner fans were more than excited when Brent Venables was hired as the head man. He was their DC under Stoops and had helped Dabo Swinney win national championships at Clemson. His return was highly anticipated. But the excitement has worn thin with Venable’s record of 22-17 and two 6-7 seasons. The biggest complaint with Venables is that he is a defensive guy and fails to understand what is needed on offense. Perhaps new OC Ben Arbuckle, the former OC/QB coach at Washington State will, as he replaces Seth Littrell. The rest of the offensive staff remains intact. Venables also hired a pair of linebacker coaches in Nate Dreiling, the former head coach at Utah State and Wes Goodwin, former DC/LB coach at Clemson to replace Zac Alley. Goodwin will coach outside linebackers and Dreiling inside backers. But the biggest change may be Venables naming himself as the defensive play caller. With one of the toughest schedules in college football for 2025, OU could easily be looking at a 4-to-5-win season. At home they have Michigan, Auburn, Ol Miss, Missouri and LSU. They have the Red River Rivalry with Texas in Dallas. And away games at South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. It seems as if Venables has decided if he is going to go down with the ship, the only finger he’ll be able to point is the thumb.
There are plenty of other coaches on the clock, but the seven I’ve listed are top tier jobs with fans who have little patience and expectations of competing for national titles.
Go to Off The Cob for more on Husker football.