After Nebraska moved on from Dana Holgorsen, the search for the next offensive coordinator has already started to take shape - and one of the biggest names floating around is also the least believable.
Kliff Kingsbury was included on a Yahoo Sports list of possible replacements, and just seeing his name in the mix is enough to get attention. He’s currently on Sean McVay’s staff with the Los Angeles Rams, and the résumé is loaded with high-end quarterback work. Kingsbury was the last coach to take the Arizona Cardinals to the playoffs in 2021 with Kyler Murray at quarterback, and he later oversaw Jayden Daniels’ breakout rookie season with the Washington Commanders in 2024.
His best-known quarterback connection, though, is still Patrick Mahomes. Kingsbury coached Mahomes at Texas Tech from 2014 to 2016, and that run is part of why his name carries so much weight whenever an offensive opening comes up. The idea, at least on paper, is obvious enough: Kingsbury has spent time around McVay’s pre-snap, motion-heavy system, and his Air Raid background could make him appealing to Matt Rhule.
But the fit feels shaky. Kingsbury has been a bad head coach, but he’s a strong offensive coordinator, which is why his name gets traction. Even so, he doesn’t look like a natural match for Nebraska.
The biggest issue is that Kingsbury doesn’t seem eager to jump back into the college game. That’s part of why he’s basically serving as an analyst for the Rams this season.
If he wanted an OC job over the offseason, he likely could have had one. Someone would have come calling.
There’s also the question of style. Kingsbury’s Air Raid roots are exactly what might make some people think he’d be a clean replacement for Holgorsen, but Nebraska may not want to go back down that road. The Big Ten results over the last two years have not been kind to that approach.
If Rhule decides Glenn Thomas’s time as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator should be temporary - and that’s the move he should make, even if the offense gets a little better after Holgorsen - the Huskers would probably lean back toward a more run-heavy identity.
That doesn’t mean the triple option is returning. It does mean the recent offensive profile has been hard to ignore.
Over the last three games, Nebraska has thrown at least 40 passes in each one and still scored fewer than 20 points. That’s happening with three decent, if unspectacular, running backs and a quarterback who ran for nearly 700 yards last season.
Anthony Colandrea has had some rushing production, 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. He’s also had just one run longer than 20 yards since that Maryland game, a 39-yard touchdown run that briefly made it look like the Huskers might pull off an upset of the defending national champion.
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For USC, the takeaway is less about any one final score than the opening those results can create as the season unfolds. The Trojans are watching a conference landscape where contenders are taking turns stumbling and surviving, and that kind of volatility can matter later when standings, tiebreakers and momentum start to carry more weight. The path is still wide open enough to reward the team that keeps stacking wins, and the latest round only reinforced how much is still in play. [Read more 🡒]