Rhule hires Holgorsen as ‘another set of eyes’ to find way to bring spark to Nebraska offense

LINCOLN, Neb. — Former Houston and West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen is working with the Nebraska staff to help the Cornhuskers increase their offensive production, the school confirmed Tuesday.

The Cornhuskers (5-4, 2-4) averaged just 18.3 points and 320 yards per game against Big Ten opponents under second-year offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield. They have lost three games in a row and have an open date this week. They visit Southern California on November 16.

ESPN reported, citing unnamed sources, that Nebraska coach Matt Rhule brought in Holgorsen as an offensive consultant.

Holgorsen was in Lincoln, Nebraska media relations director Keith Mann said in a text to The Associated Press. He did not confirm his official hiring. Mann described Holgorsen’s role as “another set of eyes”.

Rhule said at a press conference Monday that the team would bring in outside football people to help make adjustments on offense.

“One of the first things I did this week was, I have a lot of friends in this business, some people from the outside came in and told me what they saw,” he said. “In my history, one of the best things you can do is look at it with new eyes.

Holgorsen, 53, earned a reputation for designing high-production offenses working for Texas Tech’s Mike Leach and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy.

Holgorsen had a 31-28 performance as Houston’s coach in 2019-23 and a 61-41 performance at West Virginia in 2011-18.

Holgorsen also worked as an offensive consultant at TCU this season.

The Huskers are averaging just 4.69 yards per play in conference games, the worst mark in the Big Ten besides Northwestern’s 4.49.

Freshman Dylan Raiola, the Huskers’ highest-graded player in program history, has thrown five touchdowns and seven interceptions in six Big Ten games. His passing efficiency rate is the lowest in the conference, as he completed less than half of his attempts against Rutgers on Oct. 5.

The ground game also struggled, averaging 101 yards per game against conference opponents.