Former Houston and West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen is in talks about a possible role on the Nebraska football staff, Matt Zenitz reports. Holgorsen was fired in November after five seasons with the Cougars. Holgorsen was in Lincoln this weekend and although the role on the Huskers staff is unclear, it could include an analyst or quality control position, according to Husker247.
Holgorsen has almost 25 years of coaching experience at the Power Five level, including each of the past 13 as head coach at Houston (2019-2023) and West Virginia (2011-18) where he produced a 92-69 (.571) overall record with one Big East Conference title with the Mountaineers in 2011. Holgorsen previously served as an offensive assistant at Texas Tech (2005-07), Houston (2008-09) and Oklahoma State (2010) before becoming a head coach.
Holgorsen started his college coaching career at Valdosta State (1993-95) with the late Mike Leach before reuniting at Texas Tech five seasons later in 2000. While with the Red Raiders, Holgorsen served as the offensive coordinator for three seasons, helping Texas Tech produce one of the top offenses nationally. Holgorsen later transitioned to Houston and eventually Oklahoma State where he became recognized as one of the promising offensive coaches in college football. He led an Oklahoma State offense that set numerous school records during the 2010 season, including total yards (6,451), scoring (539) and passing yards (4,256).
Nebraska had one of the worst offenses in the entire FBS during its first season under head coach Matt Rhule in 2023. The Huskers ranked 123rd nationally in scoring (18.0), 117th in total yards (312.8) and 129th in passing yards (135.9) per game under offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield.
Nebraska made a big move on the recruiting trail for the 2024 class, landing top-ranked quarterback Dylan Raiola, flipping the five-star recruit from Georgia just a couple days before the early signing period in December. Raiola is the highest-rated signee for the Huskers during the modern era of recruiting.
Raiola expects to compete for the starting quarterback role next season following the transfer departures of Chubba Purdy and Jeff Sims, who started a combined five games for Nebraska this season.
“Everyone can look at the negatives, the turnovers, and all those things,” Rhule said in November. “When I go back and look at our quarterbacks this year, I also see a lot of positives. I saw a lot of positives with the way that Chubba Purdy played. If Chubba had played more throughout the course of the year, he would have been further along. He has a high ceiling. Heinrich Haarberg wasn’t even in quarterback meetings last year. I’m really proud of him. With further development, those guys have two years left; they’re going to be good players. I’m not stupid. It doesn’t mean that I’m not looking for everything. I’m just trying to be very diligent about the process and making sure that we always think long term unless someone’s like a huge impact player.”
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Nebraska opens the 2024 season against UTEP on Aug. 31 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
