Latest news with #DanaHolgorsen
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nebraska's Matt Rhule drops ‘dynamic duo' declaration on Dylan Raiola, Dana Holgorsen
The post Nebraska's Matt Rhule drops 'dynamic duo' declaration on Dylan Raiola, Dana Holgorsen appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Matt Rhule era hasn't quite kicked off just yet at Nebraska football, but the Cornhuskers are hoping that this is the year where they break out as contenders in the Big Ten. Rhule has overseen a number of incredible turnarounds in his third seasons at Temple and Baylor, and he plans on doing the same in Year 3 in Lincoln. Advertisement If that is going to be the case, there are going to have to be some changes and some major improvements from this Nebraska team. The Cornhuskers struggled mightily on offense last season with true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, causing them to bring in renowned offensive mind Dana Holgorsen midseason. Despite the duo's struggles last season, Rhule believes that the pair is going to lead one of the best offenses in the Big Ten at Nebraska next season, according to On3 Sports. 'His body looks great,' Rhule said of Raiola. 'And he and Dana [Holgorsen], I think are going to make a dynamic duo. I think we have a chance to be really special on offense.' Raiola had an up-and-down freshman season, but he showed flashes of potential greatness in the future at times. He has strong pocket presence and feel for the game, but inconsistency in accuracy and decision making hurt him at times. Still, he was able to throw for 2,819 yards and 13 touchdowns as a true freshman. Advertisement Despite the highs and lows, Rhule has been impressed with Raiola heading into Year 2 at Nebraska and is expecting big things out of his young quarterback. 'To me, it's not about his highs being any higher. It's about his lows not being so low,' Rhule said of the Nebraska quarterback. 'It's the same for our whole team. What I've loved about Dylan is the consistency he's shown and bought into. He's the same guy every day. He's holding people accountable, starting with himself.' The Big Ten is one of the most loaded conferences in college football and that should be no different next season. Nebraska football will have to be one of the best teams in the nation on both sides of the ball in order to compete, and Rhule is planning on Raiola and Holgorsen lifting the Cornhuskers' offense to that level. Related: Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart gets offseason win in Bulldogs-Florida rivalry with homegrown commit Related: South Carolina football's LaNorris Sellers doesn't back Thomas Castellanos' Alabama diss
New York Times
20-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Dana Holgorsen finds a comfort zone at Nebraska: ‘I'm back doing what I love'
LINCOLN, Neb. — A whiteboard covers the east-facing wall in Dana Holgorsen's office at the Osborne Legacy Complex. On it, scrawled terminology and diagrams of plays mark the signature of an offensive wizard in his comfort zone. 'I'm back doing what I love, what I probably know that I'm better at than the CEO-type stuff,' Holgorsen said in the third week of June, his eighth month as the Nebraska offensive coordinator. Advertisement His office windows allow a view to the north, and a glass door opens to a balcony with a table, where he can sit and watch over the practice fields below. Rain splashed the table on this Wednesday morning during an interview in his office. Holgorsen said he doesn't care about getting wet. Nor does he care about the temperature as it soars to 100 degrees in June or when it dips to 15 below in January, when he would walk to work, slightly less than a mile, from his pad in the Haymarket district. He cares about comfort. He didn't feel that at Houston, where he coached for the last five of his 13 seasons as a head coach. He'll always go back to visit his three children. He's closing on the sale next week of one home that he owns there, and he wants to unload the other. Holgorsen hasn't owned a car for more than a year and a half. When he was fired as the head coach at Houston in November 2023, the dealer who provided the vehicle came to retrieve it and made an effort to sell him another set of wheels. Holgorsen said no thanks. The dealer offered to let Holgorsen keep the car he'd been driving. He declined. Houston is paying Holgorsen's $14.8 million buyout over a four-year period. He inked a two-year deal with Nebraska in December that pays him $1.2 million annually. 'I'm in a good headspace,' he said. Holgorsen is wrapping his busiest three-week stretch of the year, he said. Nebraska hosts recruits and stages camps on a seemingly endless loop for much of June. Mixed in, the coaching staff is allowed eight hours per week with the current roster in organized team activities. The OTAs are generally broken into short segments. They don't include hitting or work in pads, but Holgorsen values the time to reinstall plays and concepts. The Huskers conduct film and meeting sessions and run individual drills, routes on air, and review motions and alignments. 'To me, it just gets you ready for camp,' Holgorsen said. Advertisement Training camp starts July 28, one month before the season opener against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Meanwhile, Holgorsen is continuing a deep review of video cut-ups from spring practice. He's scripting the full first week of offensive install for camp. He'll be done with it this weekend. Then what? 'Dana things,' said Holgorsen, who turns 54 on Saturday. Holgorsen took control of the Nebraska offense in the second week of November after the Huskers lost four consecutive games. He'd been out of a full-time role in coaching for just short of a year and was living in Texas when Matt Rhule called. The move by Rhule, in his second season, hinted at desperation. At minimum, it was a gamble. But the Huskers needed to take a big swing. In 10 victories under Rhule before Holgorsen came on board, Nebraska allowed an average of 9.2 points, and not once more than 14. The problem was on the offensive side. Finishing the season with Holgorsen calling shots, Nebraska won two of four games, allowing 24 and 15 points. In its 20-15 win against Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl, the Huskers' offense was able to run out the final 4 minutes, 11 seconds of the clock. Quarterback Dylan Raiola took a knee three times at the end to secure the victory. It represented a big step. To that point, in four games with Holgorsen at the helm, Raiola completed 71.7 percent of his passes for 6.5 yards per attempt, with three touchdowns and three interceptions. In the four games prior, he connected on 58.5 percent for 5.4 yards per attempt, with one touchdown and six picks. Nearly six months after the bowl victory, Nebraska's first since 2016, Holgorsen sees more growth from his QB. 'He's not a freshman anymore,' the coach said. 'Having a year under his belt, I see that leadership stuff start to stand out. He's doing a really good job in the locker room. He's doing a really good job off the field. He's bonding with his teammates better. I think those are all signs of maturity.' Advertisement Raiola took receivers Dane Key and Jacory Barney to the College World Series in Omaha this week. That trio joined other pass catchers on a Raiola-sponsored trip to Texas for training exercises last month. Raiola is a former five-star signee who spurned Ohio State and Georgia to play for his father's alma mater. When it comes to his QB, Holgorsen believes that to whom much is given, much is required. 'He understands that component of being the starting quarterback,' the OC said. 'I've been very impressed with how he's attacked this summer. I think it's awesome. I see a different side to him now than I did when I got here.' The integration of Holgorsen's offense and how to build it with pieces at his disposal, he said, 'makes sense to me now.' In November, he had to adjust his standard approach to running an offense to avoid disrupting players. 'Going into Year 3 with coach Rhule, the continuity just makes a lot more sense,' Holgorsen said. 'And it's night and day compared to what we were doing toward the end of the year.' On Sunday, Holgorsen will travel to Key West, Fla. There, he plans to reunite with Hal Mumme and Kliff Kingsbury. They connected at the memorial service for Mike Leach in December 2022, days after Leach died of complications from a heart attack at age 61. They're a tight group. Mumme contributed heavily to the development of the air raid offense as head coach at Iowa Wesleyan from 1989 to 1991. Leach was Mumme's OC; Holgorsen played wide receiver for them. They all moved to coach at Valdosta State. During that stint, Holgorsen first visited Key West with Leach. Leach and Mumme went to Kentucky before Leach reunited with Holgorsen at Texas Tech in 2000. Holgorsen served as Leach's OC in Lubbock for eight years. They designed plays for Kingsbury, the QB who became Tech's head coach in 2013 and now coordinates the offense for the Washington Commanders. While at Leach's memorial, the air raid crew vowed to gather someday to celebrate Leach. Part of the group is doing it next week in Leach's favorite beach spot to relax. The legendary coach, who last worked at Mississippi State, visited Key West often and lived there between jobs at Texas Tech and Washington State. Advertisement 'He would just walk around Key West and talk to strangers all day long,' Holgorsen said. 'That was him.' The multi-day event was coordinated by Eli Manning's TV series, 'Eli's Places,' produced by NFL Films and ESPN. The idea calls for Holgorsen, Mumme, Kingsbury and possibly some others — Holgorsen doesn't know many details — to simply pay homage to their lost friend. 'We're just going to go to different bars and spots and tell stories about Mike,' Holgorsen said. From Florida, Holgorsen is headed to Europe with his son, Logan, to attend the F1 Austrian Grand Prix and tour the Swiss Alps. Dana said he might stay for a few days in Italy or Greece, then head to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico with his two daughters and Logan. 'Where I head after that is a mystery,' he said. He'll be back in Lincoln a couple of days before camp in late July, ready to change the trajectory of Nebraska's offensive play. He'll do it by starting each day on his feet, getting outside and walking. It clears his mind. 'There's scientific evidence,' Holgorsen said, 'that sunlight for the first hour or two in the morning, that's the best thing for you to wake up.' The walking, too, allows him to feel a connection to Leach, who famously walked to work often while at Washington State. Holgorsen said he feels a responsibility to help carry Leach's legacy. In a place like Lincoln, that's not difficult, with its affection for football. Holgorsen has taken well to this state — and to his place in the Nebraska football machine — since a hurried introduction last fall.
USA Today
28-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Nebraska coordinator Dana Holgorsen says it was 'an easy decision' to return for 2025
Nebraska coordinator Dana Holgorsen says it was 'an easy decision' to return for 2025 Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen met with the media on Thursday following the Huskers' spring practice. Holgorsen is entering his second season with Nebraska after joining Matt Rhule's coaching staff with four games remaining in the 2024 season. Holgorsen will earn $1.2 million this season, but he won't be the highest-paid member of the offensive staff. Tight ends coach Marcus Satterfield will make $1.4 million in 2025, his salary as offensive coordinator before being replaced by Holgorsen. The Huskers won't play a traditional spring game this year. The Husker Games will take place on Saturday, April 26, allowing fans to preview Nebraska football, volleyball and soccer teams for the 2025 season. On the football field, the Huskers will feature 7-on-7 games and skills competitions similar to the NFL's Pro Bowl games. Nebraska greats of the past will also participate in various skills competitions. There will also be a women's flag football game between Midland University and the UNL all-star intramural team. Nebraska volleyball will also participate in the day's festivities. The Huskers will face the Kansas Jayhawks in a spring match with a 6:30 p.m. CT start time. The soccer team will host a spring exhibition match against the Wyoming Cowboys. The game starts at 4:30 p.m. CT with free admission. On figuring out an identity 'It was challenging to come in and dissect everything and figure out who we wanted to get the ball to and figure out what plays we wanted to run. I did narrow it down by about 50 percent and then came up with the call sheet. Over the course of those four games, every game I was calling it, I understood it more. January 2nd I came back. Coach (Matt) Rhule wanted me to come back on January 1, but I needed a couple of days off. I've never worked so hard in my life. It was good that I didn't go out on the road, so I sat here for a month, watched every cut-up, and figured out stuff I wanted to do and didn't want to do. On changes to the scheme "If there are subtle changes in terminology, sets or plays, a majority of it's going to stay the same. We have good coaches here. This is a good scheme. It makes sense to Dylan (Raiola). It makes sense to Coach (Dominic) Raiola. From an o-line perspective, it is incredibly important. I made some changes in the passing game and different sets that make sense. I came up with three good installs that we've been through a couple of times. I have to figure out what our team is and what our offense is regarding the direction it goes." On the importance of spring football "I can take the same offense we had. I can be comfortable with it, but I'll tweak it based on what I see as good and bad. That's what spring football is all about, so excited to be in it. I've been here working with them for four weeks, and in the offseason, mat drills and commitment week, but we got some football stuff. Now, it's just figuring out who our players are and what we are doing well.' On the value of coaching the last four games of the season 'Those four games were valuable. When I was here in January, I learned all of their names for the first time. I knew who they were and what they could do. I spent a lot of time recruiting on campus with all the guys coming in. I did a lot of that. Those four games were valuable. If I had just taken over and started rolling in January, my head would be spinning right now. I can't explain how valuable it was over those four weeks. Although it was challenging, I was so happy. I was glad Coach Rhule allowed me to do it. On the decision to come back "It was an easy decision to come back. Knowing the guys, we've got a pretty good quarterback and good coaches. The program's direction with Coach Rhule is that I'm growing as that coach. I learn new things every day, a new way of doing things. Nebraska is a great place. I wake up happy and walk my butt to work every day, even when it is minus 15, and I am walking to work questioning my sanity and decision for the 12 minutes it takes me to get here. On where the team is right now "It is an exciting time. The offseason was great. I learned a lot. And three days into spring, the effort and energy are excellent, so I am fired up about where we are right now.' On taking time off 'Nobody was here, everybody was on the road recruiting. The whole month of January is a challenging recruiting month. I think Coach was out for about two weeks, so he wasn't even in here. And a lot of the players weren't here. Then they started coming in mid-January, had a lot of meetings with those guys, and did a lot of recruiting dinners. Then, on February 1, we took two weeks off. That was cool. Then we came back for four weeks, and that is when the staff meetings started. That is when we started meeting as an offensive staff. I gave them all my thoughts. This is what we are going to do. On the changes to the coaching staff "You guys know, talking to the staff, this is what I have decided it is going to look like. They had no learning curve. They were with Coach (Daikiel) Shorts Jr. because he was the only new guy. We started meeting as a staff, and it made sense to everybody. This is what it is going to look like, and this is how we are going to do it, so they were fired up about it.' The Huskers will continue with spring practice on Saturday.
