After Nebraska moved on from offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, the search chatter started fast, and one of the loudest names attached to the opening is also the one that feels the least likely: Kliff Kingsbury.
A Yahoo Sports list put Kingsbury near the top of the conversation, and the appeal is obvious. He’s with Sean McVay’s staff on the Los Angeles Rams right now, he was the last coach to get the Arizona Cardinals to the playoffs in 2021 with Kyler Murray at quarterback, and he later guided Jayden Daniels through a 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.”
That kind of résumé is going to get attention anywhere, and Nebraska is no exception. Kingsbury would bring name recognition and offensive credibility. But the fit is where this gets shaky.
For one, Kingsbury has not exactly looked eager to jump back into the college game. He’s basically serving as an analyst for the Rams this season, and if he wanted another college offensive coordinator job this past offseason, the phone likely would have rung. Someone would have made the call.
There’s also the matter of style. Kingsbury’s Air Raid background is part of why his name keeps popping up, but Nebraska may not be eager to circle back to that lane after how things have gone in the Big Ten over the last two years.
If Matt Rhule decides Glenn Thomas’s time as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator should stay temporary - and that’s the move he should make, even if the offense gets a small bump after Holgorsen’s exit - the Huskers probably head back toward a more run-heavy approach.
That doesn’t mean the triple option is walking back through the door. It does mean Nebraska has reason to rethink an attack that has asked for volume through the air without much payoff. Over the last three games, the Cornhuskers have thrown at least 40 passes in each one and still failed to reach 20 points.
That’s been the case despite having three decent, if unspectacular, running backs and a quarterback who ran for nearly 700 yards last season.
Anthony Colandrea has had some rushing moments, including 66 yards against Michigan State and 108 against Maryland, but he hasn’t topped 50 rushing yards in a game since Nebraska’s win over the Terps. Since then, he has had only one run of more than 20 yards, and that was a 39-yard touchdown that briefly made it look like the Huskers might pull off an upset of the defending national champion.
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