A review of all the first-year head coaches and where they’ll have their teams at the end of the 2023 season bodes well for Nebraska football.
We’re a little more than a month away from Nebraska football officially kicking off it’s “fall” camp, and the excitement around the program is only growing. One of the reasons there is so much excitement is undoubtedly because Husker fans all over the country and the world want to finally see whether Rhule can bring Lincoln success.
While we wait, there is at least one article out there that is busy giving us the answers already. Brad Crawford of 247Sports took on the task of projecting where every Power 5 program with a new head coach would be at the end of the 2023 season.
The good news is that Crawford believes Nebraska football fans will be quite happy by the time the snow begins to fall. Specifically, he believes Rhule has “resuscitated” Nebraska football.
Is Nebraska football off life support?
"By the end of November, college football will discuss the Huskers and their first-year coach as a tandem on the rise in the Big Ten. Rhule doesn’t yet have a stockpile of talent at Nebraska, but it’s coming. He’ll use the same techniques he perfected at Temple and Baylor to win at a program where he faces considerably more pressure. However, expectations are low for 2023 and that’s a good thing for Rhule and his coaching staff. They can go out there, reach bowl eligibility, and be told ‘well done’ at season’s end."
Yes, obviously we all have to wait until the season to see whether this is accurate. It’s worth pointing out though that Crawford wasn’t as sunny in his predictions for quite a few other schools.
Purdue is one that might not be as happy with its new hire. Ryan Walters is taking over and installing what the Boilermakers’ hope is a dominant defense. However Crawford thinks the offensive coordinator hire of Graham Harrell is one to watch and calls the 2023 season a “wild ride.”
Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Arizona State are three schools that the 247Sports writer believes won’t be thrilled about their hires. To some degree, all three will have to wait longer to see if they can have the same kind of success as what is expected for Nebraska football.
On the flip side is Wisconsin, who according to the analyst won the college coaching carousel with Luke Fickell. It’s a shame that Nebraska football and the Badgers won’t see that much of each other after this season.