List of Nebraska Cornhuskers head football coaches explained
The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the West Division of the Big Ten. The team is coached by Matt Rhule, who was named Nebraska's thirty-first head coach on November 26, 2022.[1]
Six past Nebraska head coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Eddie N. Robinson, Fielding H. Yost, Dana X. Bible, Biff Jones, Bob Devaney, and Tom Osborne. Osborne is the program's all-time leader in most major categories; his .836 career winning percentage is fourth-highest in major college football history.[2] Thirteen Nebraska coaches have won a conference championship at the school, and Devaney and Osborne combined to win five national titles.
The program's first extended period of success came under the leadership of W.C. Cole and Ewald O. Stiehm. Between 1900 and 1916, Nebraska had five undefeated seasons and completed a stretch of thirty-four consecutive games without a loss, still a program record.[3] Despite a span of twenty-one conference championships in thirty-three seasons, the Cornhuskers did not experience major national success until Devaney was hired in 1962. In eleven seasons as head coach, Devaney won two national championships, eight conference titles, and coached twenty-two All-Americans, but perhaps his most lasting achievement was the hiring of Osborne as offensive coordinator in 1969.[4] Osborne was named Devaney's successor in 1973, and over the next twenty-five years established himself as one of the best coaches in college football history with his trademark I-form offense and revolutionary strength, conditioning, and nutrition programs.[5] [6] [7] Following Osborne's retirement in 1997, Nebraska cycled through five head coaches before hiring Matt Rhule in 2022.
Coaching history
| Langdon Frothingham | 1890 | 2–0 | – | |
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| | 1891 | 0–1 | – | |
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| J. S. Williams | 1892 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
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| 1 | | 1893–94 | 9–4–1 | 3–3 | WIUFA champion |
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| 2 | | 1895 | 6–3 | 2–1 | WIUFA champion |
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| 3 | | 1896–97 | 11–4–1 | 4–1–1 | WIUFA champion
College Football Hall of Fame [8] |
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| 4 | | 1898 | 8–3–0 | – | College Football Hall of Fame [9] |
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| 5 | | 1899 | 1–7–1 | – | |
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| 6 | Walter C. Booth | 1900–05 | 46–8–1 | – | |
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| 7 | | 1906 | 6–4 | – | |
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| 8 | | 1907–10 | 25–8–3 | 5–2–1 | MVIAA champion |
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| 9 | | 1911–15 | 35–2–3 | 14–0–1 | National champion
MVIAA champion |
|---|
| 10 | | 1916–17 | 11–4 | 5–1 | MVIAA champion |
|---|
| 11 | | 1918 | 2–3–1 | – | |
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| 12 | | 1919–20 | 8–6–3 | – | |
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| 13 | | 1921–24 | 23–7–2 | 14–1–2 | National champion
MVIAA champion |
|---|
| 14 | | 1925–28 | 23–7–3 | 16–4–1 | Big Six champion |
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| 15 | | 1929–36 | 50–15–7 | 33–3–4 | Big Six champion
College Football Hall of Fame [10] |
|---|
| 16 | | 1937–41 | 28–14–4 | 17–6–2 | Big Six champion
College Football Hall of Fame [11] |
|---|
| 17 | | 1942 | 3–7 | 3–2 | |
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| 18 | | 1943–44 | 4–12 | 4–6 | |
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| 19 | | 1945, 1948 | 6–13 | 4–7 | |
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| 20 | | 1946–47 | 5–13 | 5–5 | |
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| 21 | | 1949–55 | 31–35–3 | 23–18–1 | |
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| 22 | | 1956 | 4–6 | 3–3 | |
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| 23 | | 1957–61 | 15–34–1 | 6–19 | |
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| 24 | | 1962–72 | 101–20–2 | 62–14–1 | National champion
Big Eight champion
Walter Camp Coach of the Year [12]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year [13]
College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1981)[14] |
|---|
| 25 | Tom Osborne | 1973–97 | 255–49–3 | 153–22–1 | National champion
Conference champion
Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year [15]
AFCA Coach of the Year [16]
College Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1998)[17] |
|---|
| 26 | | 1998–2003 | 58–19 | 33–15 | Big 12 champion |
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| 27 | | 2004–07 | 27–22 | 15–17 | |
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| 28 | Bo Pelini | 2003†, 2008–14 | 67–27 | 38–17 | |
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| Barney Cotton | 2014† | 0–1 | – | |
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| 29 | Mike Riley | 2015–17 | 19–19 | 12–14 | |
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| 30 | | 2018–22 | 16–31 | 10–26 | |
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| Mickey Joseph | 2022† | 3–6 | 3–5 | |
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| 31 | | 2023–present | 5-7 | 3–6 | | |
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† Interim head coach
‡ Claimed national titles in bold
References
- General
- Web site: Nebraska Coaching Records . College Football Data Warehouse . 2009-11-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100216043508/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/big12/nebraska/coaching_records.php . 2010-02-16 .
- Web site: Year-by-Year Results (1890–2008) . Huskers.com . 2010-01-27 . 2009-10-07 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20091007192815/http://www.huskers.com/pdf5/638605.pdf .
Notes and References
- Web site: Matt Rhule to Lead Nebraska Football Program. . 2022-11-26 . 2022-11-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221126153427/https://huskers.com/news/2022/11/26/matt-rhule-to-lead-nebraska-football-program.aspx . live .
- Web site: NCAA Coaching Records. NCAA. 2008. 189, 192. 2020-05-31. 2020-11-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20201129223409/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/D2/2008/Coaching%20Section.pdf. live.
- Web site: Nebraska Football Schedules 1910–1919. September 2, 2010. HuskerMax. June 3, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120603124353/http://www.huskermax.com/allgames/1910s.html. live.
- Web site: Tom's Time: Devaney Selects His Successor. May 24, 2019. HuskerMax. October 3, 2017. May 25, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190525021841/https://hailvarsity.com/s/2362/toms-time-devaney-selects-his-successor. live.
- Web site: The 150 greatest coaches in college football's 150-year history. 10 December 2019. 2020-05-30. 2019-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20191216161057/https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/CFB150coaches/the-150-greatest-coaches-college-football-150-year-history. live.
- Web site: The Greatest Coaches in College Football History. 2020-05-30. 2020-06-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20200604075809/https://www.si.com/college/2019/08/12/best-coaches-college-football-history-rankings. live.
- Web site: Epley leaving Huskers. May 24, 2019. May 25, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190525021731/https://journalstar.com/sports/football/college/epley-leaving-huskers/article_f396dae1-28b9-54da-92ce-271e763236f0.html. live.
- Web site: EDWARD "ROBBIE" ROBINSON. 2020-05-31. 2020-02-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20200209171437/https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1317. live.
- Web site: FIELDING YOST. 2020-05-31. 2018-11-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20181116070623/https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1235. live.
- Web site: DANA BIBLE. 2020-05-31. 2023-10-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20231011193718/https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1501. live.
- Web site: LAWRENCE "BIFF" JONES. 2020-05-31. 2023-10-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20231011193852/https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1500. live.
- Web site: The Walter Camp Coach of the Year. 2020-05-31. 2020-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20200731053440/https://waltercamp.org/coach-of-the-year/. live.
- Web site: ALL-TIME EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD WINNERS. 2020-05-31. 2011-07-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724081557/http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/robinson/winners.html. live.
- Web site: BOB DEVANEY. 2020-05-31. 2022-04-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20220415200039/https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1961. live.
- Web site: Previous Winners. 2020-05-31.
- Web site: Awards. 2020-05-31. 2020-05-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20200529030611/https://www.afca.com/. live.
- Web site: TOM OSBORNE. 2020-05-31. 2024-02-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20240206072656/https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=2044. live.
