Nebraska football has had its fair share of struggles when it comes to head coaches in its program. While some might see Matt Rhule as a struggle at the position, there have definitely been worse, and CBS Sports has named one of them to their top 25 worst coaching hires this century list.
As much as Nebraska fans may want him to be on there, or think he is, Scott Frost did not make it in this list, but he almost did. Instead, another former Nebraska coach did, one that might not have had a worse record than Frost, but he certainly did not have a great time at Nebraska, and that was Mike Riley.
Former Nebraska head coach Mike Riley on a coaching list he really doesn't want to be on
Mike Riley ended his time at Nebraska with a 19-19 overall coaching record, which was better than Frost's, but there are other reasons he made it onto this list and Frost didn't. The coach that came before Riley, Bo Pelini, was fired from the Cornhuskers after going 9-3 in the 2014 season and had won nine games in seven consecutive seasons, so his replacement had to be someone who was basically going to win championship after championship.
Instead, the Cornhuskers hired Riley, who certainly wasn't the greatest replacement. Riley had only won nine games once in five years before coming to Nebraska, and in his final two seasons at Oregon State before heading to Nebraska, he had a 12-13 record.
Riley's struggles shouldn't have been a surprise for anyone, as he went just 93-80 at Oregon State over 14 seasons. Yes, that is a record over .500, but it doesn't necessarily make it a stellar one. For Nebraska to fire a head coach who showed consistent success and then bring in Riley, who only had one nine-win season in three seasons at Nebraska was not what fans wanted.
Riley started Nebraska on their eight-year bowl drought, which was not a good look for a program with three National Championships in the 1990s. So while Frost certainly wasn't a great hire either, he was also taking over a program run into the ground already by Riley.