It’s now or never for Matt Rhule with Nebraska football

We haven’t even completed two full seasons of the Matt Rhule experiment with Nebraska football, but it already feels like his tenure has reached a critical juncture.

Nebraska football started 5-3 in Rhule’s first season on the job, only to lose four games in a row — all by one score — to miss out on a bowl game.

In 2024, the Huskers started 5-1. It felt like that sixth win was only a matter of time. Then, Indiana reminded Nebraska football just how far it needs to go. There was the valiant effort against Ohio State, followed by predictable faceplants against UCLA and USC.

Now, the season is on the brink. So is Rhule’s Nebraska football coaching career.

Matt Rhule needs to win now, or face the hot seat

The move to Dana Holgorsen, nine games into the season, tells you that. It was an act of desperation. Rhule knows how badly this program needs six wins. He knows how badly he needs it for his job security.

Make no mistake: if Nebraska football loses out and fails to make a bowl, Matt Rhule will be on the hot heat going into 2025, and he should be.

The man is getting paid $8 million a year and regardless of what some Nebraska football fans will say, Scott Frost didn’t leave the program in such tatters that six wins is unattainable.

We have all seen this team blow winnable game after winnable game, including each of the last three. That has nothing to do with Frost and everything to do with Matt Rhule.

Any coach worth his salt would have gotten this team to six wins in 2023. The same can be said for 2024.

Rhule has failed to meet ridiculously low expectations

Rhule didn’t take over a program ready to compete or win conference titles. But there was more than enough in the cupboard to win six games and that’s all that was expected.

Even that low bar he hasn’t been able to cross.

There is a lack of talent, sure. But Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and others have won without that much talent for years. It takes good coaching, something the Huskers haven’t had since Bo Pelini left.

It felt like Rhule would finally solve that. But it’s been the same comedy of errors. The quarterback play, this year and last year, has been atrocious. The offense is bad. The defense is average and the kicker is that most of the starters on this defense, including its best defensive lineman are all leaving.

And there is no viable replacement for Ty Robinson or Nash Hutmacher, on the roster, not one. The secondary could also lose its two best corners, which again, is a scary thought heading into 2025.

The schedule in 2025 isn’t incredibly difficult next season. But six wins will be far from guaranteed and if Rhule fails to reach that milestone three years in a row, he can’t continue as head coach.

That’s why this weekend’s game against Wisconsin is a must-win.

A loss might be the beginning of the end, an end that won’t come until after the 2025 season, at the earliest. But another 5-7 season makes that outcome feel inevitable.

That’s why it’s now or never for Matt Rhule.

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