Nebraska to Hand Over Offensive Play Calling Duties to Dana Holgorsen

Dana Holgorsen is going to return to his roots as an offensive play caller this Saturday. In keeping with the theme of his new role on the Nebraska staff being one that would progress each week, Matt Rhule announced that Holgorsen will call the plays as offensive coordinator when the Cornhuskers travel to Los Angeles to meet USC.

Holgorsen was revealed as working with Nebraska on Nov. 5 after previously serving on TCU’s staff throughout the 2024 season.

“It’s what we needed. It’s the right thing,” said Rhule when asked about the decision on Monday. The Cornhusker are 5-4 after suffering three consecutive losses. They have failed to surpass 20 points in any of those three defeats.

“It’s what we needed. It’s the right thing.”

Matt Rhule is working to do whatever it takes at Nebraska to address its offensive problems now. The midseason appointment of Dana Holgorsen as OC speaks to the urgency at hand.https://t.co/QYj7aVOQby

— Mitch Sherman (@mitchsherman) November 11, 2024

Holgorsen joined the TCU staff after being fired by Houston following the conclusion of the 2023 season.

The 52-year-old Holgorsen finished his Houston tenure with a 31-28 record in five seasons. Houston went 4-8 in 2023, the program’s first year in the Big 12 Conference. One of those four wins was over WVU.

After eight years at West Virginia, Holgorsen left the Mountaineers following the 2018 season to take over a then budding Group of 5 Houston program with the thought he would help guide the Cougars through an eventual transition into a major conference.

Dana Holgorsen led WVU to a 61-41 overall record, two 10-win seasons and an Orange Bowl trophy. Holgorsen addressed his divorce from WVU in August during his introductory press conference with TCU.

Dana Holgorsen Addresses WVU Departure at TCU Introduction: ‘I Had Reasons’

“I had reasons why I did that. I had been at West Virginia for eight years and was very successful. But there was a couple of things that I was concerned about that made me do that. I do not regret that. You look at what happened at Houston. I mean, we were 4-8 in the first year in the Big 12 I guess that’s not good enough. But a couple years prior to that in the American, which is why I went there, we won 20 games in two years. We had some success and I don’t regret that either.”

Holgorsen did compliment the people within the West Virginia program when he talked about the death of former Mountaineer offensive lineman Dale Wolfley in October.

For a related story, WV Sports Now’s Mike Asti put Holgorsen’s overall West Virginia tenure in its proper perspective leading up to his matchup with WVU during the 2023 season.