After Nebraska fired offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, some big names have already surfaced as possible replacements. Perhaps the biggest name mentioned on a Yahoo Sports list also feels the most unrealistic, but since the Huskers likely won’t hire a new offensive coordinator until after the season is over, it’s fun to dream about someone like Kliff Kingsbury.
“Kliff Kingsbury is one name to closely monitor here. Kingsbury is on Sean McVay's staff with the Los Angeles Rams but is the last coach to take the Arizona Cardinals to the playoffs in 2021, when he coached then-quarterback Kyler Murray. He later oversaw Jayden Daniels' breakout rookie season with the Washington Commanders in 2024.”
“Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, though, rises as Kingsbury's most prized quarterback pupil during their Texas Tech run together from 2014 to 2016. Kingsbury absorbing McVay's pre-snap, motion-heavy offense while having his Air Raid background could convince Rhule to make a run.”
Kingsbury is certainly a big name, and while he’s proven to be a bad head coach, he’s a great offensive coordinator. So, while his name will draw attention, he doesn't seem like a great fit for the Huskers, even with Patrick Mahomes on his resume.
Kliff Kingsbury emerges as Nebraska football OC name thrown around after Dana Holgorsen firing
Chief among the reasons this hire wouldn’t make much sense is that it’s well known that Kingsbury isn’t all that keen on returning to the college game. There’s a reason why he’s essentially just an analyst for the Los Angeles Rams this year. If he wanted to take an OC job this past offseason, he almost certainly could have. Someone would have come calling.
While Kingsbury’s love of the Air Raid offense is why some might think he would be a great Holgorsen replacement, it doesn’t feel like Nebraska will want to go back to that offense, considering how poorly it’s worked in the Big Ten the last two years.
If Rhule keeps Glenn Thomas’s stint as Nebraska’s OC temporary (and that’s the move he should make, even if the offense has a slight uptick in the post-Holgorsen world), the Huskers will likely return to a more run-based attack.
That doesn’t mean the triple option is coming back, but over the last three games, the Cornhuskers have attempted at least 40 passes in each game while scoring fewer than 20 points. That’s with three decent, if unspectacular, running backs and a quarterback who ran for nearly 700 yards last season.
Anthony Colandrea ran for 66 yards against Michigan State and 108 against Maryland, but he hasn’t run for more than 50 yards in any game since Nebraska's win over the Terps. He’s also only had one run for more than 20 yards since the Maryland game. That run was a 39-yard TD run that briefly made it look as though the Huskers would upset the defending national champion.
One can hope whoever Nebraska hires as the offensive coordinator this offseason is a home-run hire. Names like Kliff Kingsbury are certainly fun to dream about, but they’re not particularly realistic or particularly sensible.
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